THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LIVER AND LUNG CANCER:CURRENT AND FUTURE RESEARCHProfessor Dr. Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn MahidolPresides over Opening Ceremony of important conference on cancer research        On January 8th, 2019, Professor Dr. Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol, President of the Chulabhorn Research Institute (CRI), presided over the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Liver and Lung Cancer: Current and Future Research, which was co-organized by the Chulabhorn Research Institute (CRI) and the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the Chulabhorn Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand.        Cancer is presently one of the leading causes of mortality globally and in Thailand it is now the number one cause of deaths. Through the leadership and vision of Professor Dr. Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol, cancer has been the basis for much of the research conducted at CRI, whether it be anti-cancer properties of natural and synthetic compounds, etiological factors of key cancers in the region, such as liver cancer, or molecular changes and markers associated with different types of cancer. Liver cancer is an important cancer in the northeastern part of Thailand and is the subject of collaborations between researchers in Thailand, including at CRI, the Chulabhorn Hospital, the Thai National Cancer Institute, Chiang Mai University and Khon Kaen University, and the US NCI,...

Special Seminar on Water and Wastewater Microbiology On 16 November 2018, Chulabhorn Research Institute held a special seminar on two presentations entitled “The (not so) odd couple – enteric human viruses and free-living amoeba co-existing in complex water matrices” and “Interactions between Arcobacter and free-living amoebae in wastewater” by Dr. Mats Leifels and Mariem Oloroso, both visiting from the School of Public Health, University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Professor Emeritus Dr. Skorn Mongkolsuk, the Director of Laboratory of Biotechnology at CRI delivered a welcome speech for the speakers. Dr. Mats Leifels presented the work being co-authored by Dr. Rafik Dey, Alyssa Wiedemeyer, and Professor Nicholas. J. Ashbolt. He summarized that the role of the ubiquitous free-living amoeba (FLA) as a reservoir of enteric bacterial pathogens in natural and artificial water bodies and an important factor in the acquisition of virulence for water-based pathogens like Legionella pneumophila are well described (Thomas and Ashbolt, 2011). At the same time, it has been shown that enteric viruses such as human Adenovirus (HAdV) could be detected in the water phase, biolithic Biofilms and Sediments –both latter are environments known as habitats of freshwater FLA such as various Acanthamoeba, Naegleria and Vermamoeba species- of an Urban River in Essen, Germany making it likely that interaction occurs in between those pathogens which have been shown...

Three international Courses on Occupational Health and Safety and Environmental Health are planned for summer 2017: “Global Occupational and Environmental Determinants of Diseases: a multidisciplinary approach for prevention“, July 10-14, at the University of Brescia, Italy; “Advanced International Training Course in Occupational and Environmental Health“, July 17-21, at the Chulabhorn Research Institute in Bangkok, Thailand; “Teaching interventions crossing borders“, August 21-September 1, at the Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich, Germany. In addition to high-quality, hands-on training in occupational health and safety, these courses provide unique opportunities for networking among OEH professionals from both high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries and for developing multi-national approaches to continuing education that extend beyond the courses. Students and faculty attending the three courses are encouraged to provide information about occupational and environmental health in their countries including such aspects as OHS services coverage and organization; workers’ benefits and compensation; ratification and implementation of ILO and WHO policies; preventive interventions in environmental health; and remediation of hazardous waste sites. To provide an opportunity for young OEH professionals to publish their work in a peer-reviewed journal, students and faculty participating in the courses are invited to submit publications in a special issue of the Annals of Global Health that will be specifically dedicated to Occupational and Environmental Global Health and guest edited by the Directors...