The Center of Excellence for the Hill tribe Health Research (CEHR) was established in 2014 by Dr.Tawatchai Apidechkul with the supports of Mae Fah Luang University and Prof.Dr.Samlee Plianbangchang, former WHO-SEARO. The center, through various research approaches, aims to understand the health of the hill tribe and stateless populations living in Thailand and countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). The ultimate goal is to help in development of countries’ public policies for improving the health and health care delivery systems for these populations.
Today, the center has strong a network with the Network for World Health Organization Collaborating Centers and Centers of Experts in Thailand, National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), and Thailand-Ministry of Public Health. The center is also regularly supported in technical aspects including providing a training program for improving technical skill of the center’s staff from WHO-Thailand (Dr.Daniel A Kertesz), CDC-USA (Dr.Wolfgang Hladik, and Dr. Christopher S Murrill), and HKU-Pasteur Research Pool (Prof.Dr.Roberto Bruzzone).