The new study, in establishing the potential harmful effects of prenatal exposures, provides a possible method of screening populations to detect signs of arsenic contamination. Moreover, it is the first study to provide evidence of genome-wide changes resulting from prenatal exposure from any environmental contaminant. In a collaborative study, researchers at the Chulabhorn Research Institute (CRI) in Thailand and of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States have found that the children of mothers exposed to water supplies contaminated with arsenic during their pregnancies showed gene expression changes that could lead to cancer and other diseases later in life, even if the children themselves were never directly exposed to arsenic. The new study, in establishing the potential harmful effects of prenatal exposures, provides a possible method of screening populations to detect signs of arsenic contamination. Moreover, it is the first study to provide evidence of genome-wide changes resulting from prenatal exposure from any environmental contaminant. Arsenic contamination is a health concern worldwide with millions exposed to levels that exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) safety standard of 10 parts per billion (ppb). The element was classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and has been implicated in such diseases as vascular disorders and diabetes. The CRI research team included...

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...

The 8th Princess Chulabhorn International Science Congress was held during the week of November 13-17, 2016 to commemoratethe seventieth anniversary of the accession to the throne of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the seventh cycle (84 years) birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. The theme of the Congress, “Environmental Health: Inter-linkages among the Environment, Chemicals and Infectious Agents”, is in line with the views of Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn, who has consistently emphasized the importance of research and development in environmental health, which can integrate the fields of environmental science, chemical safety and infectious agents. The Congress included a keynote lecture, a Nobel laureate lecture, plenary sessions, symposia, and a roundtable discussion. There were also 16 platform presentations and 159 poster presentations displaying research conducted by congress participants. The Congress involved a total of 75 invited speakers from 20 countries and over 700 participants from 29 countries. The Opening Keynote Lecture was given by Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn on the topic of, “Environmental Health: The Significance of Early Life Chemical Exposures”. Her Royal Highness provided a general overview of the public health problems facing the developing world that are a major obstacle to sustainable development because they impact not only the health of the present generations but also future ones. She provided a specific example on arsenic...