July 3, 2008
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| Win Surachetpong has received a prestigious award to present his malaria research at the Keystone Symposia in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS—Win Surachetpong, a graduate student researcher and doctoral candidate in the malaria research lab of Shirley Luckhart, University of California, Davis, has just been awarded a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation health travel award to present his research in Bangkok, Thailand.
He will present his work at the Keystone Symposia Global Health Series on Pathogenesis and Control of Emerging Infections and Drug-Resistant Organisms, set Oct. 22-27 at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, Bangkok. The scientific meeting is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Win was one of only 60 awardees worldwide, so this is quite an honor,” said Luckhart, his major advisor. Luckhart, a noted malaria researcher, is an associate professor of medical microbiology and immunology at UC Davis and a faculty member of the Graduate Groups of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Microbiology; Immunology; and the Graduate Program in Entomology.
Malaria, caused by the parasite Plasmodium and transmitted by infected anopheline mosquitoes, strikes some 350 to 500 million people a year, killing more than a million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Win’s presentation will demonstrate for the first time that signaling pathways that are well known for immune responsiveness in humans to Plasmodium infection are also important for the mosquito response to parasite infection,” Luckhart said.
The conference “will help Win to establish current relevant contacts in infectious diseases in Thailand and in other Southeast Asian countries that will facilitate his transition to a waiting faculty position at Kasetsart University, Bangkok,” she said.
A native of Thailand, Surachetpong joined the Luckhart lab and the Immunology Graduate Group in the fall of 2005. He is seeking his doctorate in Immunology, with a designated emphasis in vectorborne diseases.
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| Shirley Luckhart serves as Win Surachetpong's major professor. |
His research was also recently recognized with an award of merit by UC Davis Graduate Group in Immunology, “an honor that is difficult to achieve with the number of excellent students in our program,” Luckhart said.
Surachetpong received his doctor of veterinary science degree at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok in 2000, ranking first in his class, and his master of science degree in pathobiology in 2005 from the University of Arizona, where he received the “Above and Beyond Award” from the Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology.
He has authored or co-authored seven publications.
The Keystone scientific meeting will review the most recent developments in the molecular and cellular analysis of infectious disease processes, and how discoveries in this field can be translated into innovative tools, such as diagnostic assays, new drugs, vaccines and other therapeutics, for better surveillance and control, according to the coordinators.
Emphasis will be on the neglected infectious and parasitic diseases that plague the developing world, and on issues such as drug resistance that are common themes, regardless of geographic and economic situations.
In 2006, the Colorado-based Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology received a 3- year grant of $2.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to expand its global health meetings. Since 1972, it has held internationally recognized conferences focusing on the cutting edge of biomedical research and seeking out the world’s most respected and productive research scientists.
Its mission is to benefit society by serving as a catalyst for the advancement of biomedical and life sciences. Of its some 55 annual scientific meetings, 15 percent focus on infectious diseases that affect the developing world.
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
