International Women’s Day 2020: Celebrating Southeast Asian women in research

This is the first of a weekly blog in March 2020 that coincides with International Women’s Day. Each blog will feature 2-3 amazing women in research.

There are many remarkable Southeast Asian women who work in important areas in research institutions, governments, universities and pharmaceutical companies. This project aims to celebrate these amazing women and to inspire young women to take up careers in research and research-related fields.

Mallika Imwong教授

Mallika Imwong is Head of Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit’s Molecular Malaria Laboratory, and a Professor in the Department of Molecular Tropical Medicine and Genetics, Mahidol University. Mallika is the recipient of both a Wellcome Trust Training Fellowship and a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellowship. Her research has focussed on how drug resistance emerges and spreads in malaria parasites in Asia and Africa, on the true epidemiology of malaria in low transmission settings, and on the biology of relapse of vivax malaria.

她说:“研究对我非常重要。”“这是一种调解方式。在我的领域中建立一个好的研究问题非常重要。我的方法是首先对这个主题形成自己的看法,然后我研究别人的见解,最后结合在一起。”

她在泰国的祖国,她从事的领域的看法已经走了很长一段路。马利卡说:“三十年前,当我年轻的时候,许多人不了解我们每天在做什么。如果您告诉家人这就是您想做的,他们会问:您如何在职业中拥有这种情况?人们对科学和健康的认识更加了解,现在人们知道更多。”

Mallika每年都会组织泰国科学训练营,吸引约150名高中生。他们花了几天时间学习科学家的工作。“人们可能知道如何成为医生或成为老师,但很少有人知道如何成为科学家。没有多少人知道它给自己沉浸在您正在学习的学科中带来了多少喜悦。”

Where Mallika sees herself in a decade from now? “Needless to say, I would like to leave a mark in research. Malaria kills 400,000 people per year, and I’m hoping that I can contribute to its elimination in any way possible, especially in Thailand as it’s my country.

Mallika Imwong教授,,,,Photo taken by Nicky Almasy and John Bleho.
Mallika每年都会组织泰国科学训练营,吸引约150名高中生。

Dr. Vilada Chansamouth

Vilada Chansamouth是一位老挝政府医生,在微生物学实验室,Mahosot医院,Vientiane和老挝 - 牛津 - 莫霍索特医院医院信任研究单元的研究人员中工作。

In 2019, Vilada received the prestigious Wellcome International Training Fellowship and started her DPhil in Clinical Medicine with the University of Oxford. Her research involves evaluating the impact of a Lao-language mobile phone application on adherence to antibiotic prescribing guidelines.

维拉达(Vilada)说,作为一名研究人员是一项艰巨的工作,尤其是在像妇女大多负责家庭工作和照顾儿童的老挝这样的国家。但是,现在这有了很大的改善,尤其是在某些家庭共同承担责任的首都。她说:“我认为为了改善这一点,至关重要的是,家庭了解女性研究员的热情以及她能做多少帮助他人。在某些国家,女性研究人员只是保持单身,非常幸福,这没有什么错。”

但是根据维拉达博士的说法,她的职业有些误解。“有些人认为这不是一项真正的工作,如果有人有时间,这项工作是针对更可用的人或可以说英语和数学良好的人的。这部分是正确的,因为每个人都可以做到,但是我们需要花更多的精力来进行研究质量。

Finally, when asked what advice can she give women thinking about a career in research, Vilada says, “Just go for it! If you have a current job now, you don’t have to quit your job to be a researcher, you can do research within your current job, starting from exploring around, talking to people and keeping an open eye on what people doing in the field you are interested in.”

Vilada Chansamouth
Dr. Vilada Chansamouth Photo taken by Nicky Almasy and John Bleho.

Sanann Nou

Currently, Sanann is working as part of a malaria elimination project for the University Research Co. Llc. She was previously the head of Public Engagement at the Pailin site of the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit working on a malaria elimination study. Before joining MORU, she worked with FHI360.

“我在职业生涯中组织了许多有关疟疾和其他健康问题的社区参与活动。从2016年到2019年,我在莫鲁(Moru)领导了一个名为“反疟疾村戏剧”的项目,该项目赢得了2019年牛津大学副校长选择公众参与奖。我最喜欢VDAM项目的孩子如何传达信息并教育自己的父母,亲戚和邻居就疟疾的治疗和预防进行教育。”

当被问及她作为女人的工作领域中最大的困难是什么时,她特别忽略了“女人”方面,并突出了通常在农村地区工作或被忽视的疾病的任何人通常难以做的。“如您所知,疟疾发生在森林和偏远村庄中。进行研究,您一定是在位置。但是很难到达这些领域。道路状况非常糟糕,有危险的河道,大多数地方都无法进入互联网。”

尼基·阿尔马西(Nicky Almasy)和约翰·布莱(John Bleho)拍摄的桑南·诺(Sanann Nou)照片。
目前,Sanann是大学研究有限责任公司的疟疾消除项目的一部分。

查看有关健康主页的最新帖子

Comments