The Center of Excellence for the Hill tribe Health Research (CEHR), School of Health Science, Mae Fah Luang University, organized a final model (4th) on “One-year field epidemiological training program” for 93 public health and medical doctors who are working in disease prevention and control in the Asia-Pacific Region including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Cambodia. The program has been fully funded by the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund Project under the project “Frontier Public Health Personnel Capacity Development for Preparedness for Future Severe Human Health Threats in the Region.” The training was operated between 15-17 December 2025 at Asawin Grand Convention Hotel, Bangkok.Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tawatchai Apidechkul, who is the project leader, had emphasized the importance of regional preparedness for the emerging diseases that could emerge in the countries located in the tropic zone and a large people living in the region.
On the first day, fellows presented the prestigious project that they have been working on over the past few months on disease prevention and control. Fellows were assigned to work on a project using knowledge and skills gained from previous modules (no.1-no.3) on disease prevention and control in their setting. During the period working on their project, fellows were supported by the faculty from Mae Fah Luang University (MFU) and the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), Thailand. The first day provided a dynamic platform for fellows to showcase their projects, fostering academic exchange and strengthening public health networks. During the presentation, two experts, Dr. Panithee Thammawijaya and Dr. Rapeepong Suphanchaimat, from the FETP program at the Department of Disease Control, MOPH, Thailand, provided critical and insightful feedback on their work. In addition, Dr. Montira Inkochasan from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) presented “Risk Communication,” which is the key competency for leaders working in a crisis.
The second day, Dr.Peeriya Watakulsin, M.D., MPH from the MOPH-Thailand provided updated information on “Vaccines for Disease Control”, followed by Dr. Pawinee Doungngern, MD, MPH, PhD, from MOPH-Thailand, who led a discussion on the topic “Adverse Event Following Immunization Surveillance System in Thailand”. In the afternoon session, Dr. Sungmok Jung from the National University of Singapore, who is one of the global modelling scientists, lectured on the topics of “Concepts and Applications of Infectious Disease Modelling” and “Application of Infectious Modeling: Disease Control and Vaccination Monitoring.”
On the final day, Dr. Soawapak Hinjoy, DVM, MSc, MPH, DrPH, expert from MOPH-Thailand, presented on “One Health and Disease Control.” Dr. Suriwan Thaiprayoon, PhD, from the Global Health Division of MOPH, shared information on “The Policy Landscape in Global and Regional Health,”. Finally, Dr. Alisa Yannasan from WHO-Thailand delivered the topic “Essential Leadership Skills for Global Health Professionals,”. This special one-year training program was designed into four modules covering concepts of epidemiology, implementation science, concepts of disease investigation, biostatistics, vaccine and vaccination, and epidemiology leader skills development. The program has been effectively operated by the experts from MFU, MOPH-Thailand, and WHO. A total of 31 outstanding projects were completed and presented at the end of the program.
