Speaker Introduction

Dr. Robin Patel

Mayo Clinic, Rochester Minnesota
USA

Dr. Robin Patel is currently a professor of medicine and microbiology at the Elizabeth P. and Robert E. Allen Professor of Individualized Medicine, co-director of the Clinical Bacteriology Laboratory, director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory and chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Patel’s research, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), focuses on clinical bacteriology diagnostic testing, antimicrobial resistance and microbial biofilms. She has published over 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has delivered numerous national and international presentations.

She is the director of the NIH-supported Laboratory Center for the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG), an advisor to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, a member of the American Board of Pathology Medical Microbiology and Clinical Pathology for ABPath CertLinkTM Test Development and Advisory Committees, and an associate editor of Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Clinical Infectious Diseases. She is a current member of a U.S. Medical Licensing Examination Item Review Group and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, co-chair of the ASM Microbe 2016-2018 Program Planning Committee and ASM Past President from July 2019-June 2020. 

Prof. David L. Paterson

Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, NUS University
Singapore

Professor David L. Paterson is an Infectious Diseases Physician who directs ADVANCE-ID, an infectious diseases clinical trials network based in Singapore. He is Chief of Transplant Infectious Diseases at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and has published more than 600 scientific papers, predominantly in the area of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). His major research interest is in leading clinical trials on strategies for treatment of infections due to antibiotic resistant bacteria. He led the MERINO trial which was published in JAMA (September 2018), the GAME CHANGER trial (cefiderocol vs standard of care antibiotics for hospital-acquired infections) and the RAPID trial (early impact antibiotic therapy with ceftazidime-avibactam for serious infections based on rapid diagnostics).

ADVANCE-ID has its hub at the National University of Singapore. It comprises over 50 clinical trial sites at hospitals throughout Asia. It recently announced that it will fund a Phase II clinical trial of a new antimicrobial agent in conjunction with an industry partner. The antimicrobial agent will be aimed at multi-resistant Gram negative pathogens which are widespread throughout Asian hospitals and are now a leading cause of death.

Dr. Yong Poovorawan

Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok, Thailand

Dr. Yong Poovorawan specializes in pediatrics and is currently Head of the Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. He is the leader in Viral hepatitis work in Thailand and is a member of the EPI vaccine, viral hepatitis and emerging diseases of the Center Disease control, Ministry of Public Health. He has authored and co-authored more than 550 publications in the fields of hepatitis, pediatric hepatology and virology. His works originally focused on the fields of pediatric hepatology and viral hepatitis, especially in applications to the Thai healthcare system, on which such works have had significant impact. Later on they expanded to include virology studies in general. He is widely recognized for his work on genetic sequencing and detection of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in Thailand, which saw outbreaks beginning in 2004, and is regarded as the national expert on the subject.

Dr. Poovorawan has been working in the Department of Pediatrics at Chulalongkorn University has lectured at the University since 1991 and has received many research awards and honors

Dr. Arunaloke Chakrabarti

Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
Chandigarh, India

Professor Arunaloke Chakrabarti is an expert in medical mycology and Director of the Doodhadhari Burfani Hospital in Haridwar. He oversaw the Center of Advance Research in Medical Mycology, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Reference and Research of Fungi of Medical Importance, and the National Culture Collection of Pathogenic Fungi. He is also the Past President of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM).

He sits on the board of the ISHAM Asia Fungal Working Group and is an international coordinator of ISHAM Working Group on Fungal Sinusitis and Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis. He is also Chairman of the Fungal Infection Study Forum and international adviser of the Leading International Fungal Education, an international nongovernmental organization. He has published 477 papers in the field of fungal diseases in prestigious journals. He currently serves as section editor/editor/associate editor/deputy editor of four journals: Mycoses, Medical Mycology Case Reports, Current Fungal Infections Report, and the Journal of Medical Microbiology. Professor Chakrabarti has received multiple awards from National Societies, Academies of India.

Dr. Raymund R. Razonable

Mayo Clinic
USA

Dr. Raymund R. Razonable, M.D., is an infectious disease specialist who also researches infectious diseases. His specific research interests are infections related to transplant, viral infections and cytomegalovirus. Dr. Razonable's research includes translational and clinical research on the epidemiology, risk factors, treatment and outcomes of cytomegalovirus and other infections affecting recipients of transplants. He also is interested in medical education and orthopedic infections.

Prof. Kim Mulholland

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Melbourne, Australia

Professor Kim Mulholland is an Australian pediatrician. His main research focus is vaccines, and he is considered an authority in his field. He has been a member of the WHO SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group of Experts) on immunization since 2020. He is Senior Principal Research Fellow at MCRI since 2003 and leads the New Vaccines Research Group. He established leading pneumococcal microbiology and immunology laboratories at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), Melbourne, along with major field research programs in Vietnam, Fiji, Indonesia and Mongolia. He is the Co-Director of Global Health at MCRI. A major area of work currently is 3 Covid Vaccine clinical trials being conducted in Australia, Indonesia and Mongolia.

Since leaving WHO in 2000 he has continued to work in the pneumonia field with particular emphasis on vaccines. He was one of the founders of the Global Action Plan for Pneumonia and one of the leaders of the successful Hib Initiative project that saw the introduction of Hib vaccines into the poorest countries of the world. 

Prof. Nicholas Day

Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Thailand
Wellcome Trust Thailand Asia and Africa Programme
Bangkok, Thailand

Professor Nicholas Day is a Professor of Tropical Medicine and Director of the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Thailand, and of the Wellcome Trust Thailand Asia and Africa Programme. His interests include the epidemiology, diagnosis, pathophysiology, pathogen biology, treatment and prevention of malaria, rickettsial diseases including scrub typhus, melioidosis, leptospirosis, rickettsial infections, influenza, dengue and other communicable diseases afflicting rural populations throughout Asia and beyond. Cross-cutting interests include the drivers and epidemiology of AMR, and the syndromic management of febrile illnesses and sepsis in LMIC settings.

Professor Nick Day was appointed Editor in Chief of Transactions in April 2022. 

Dr. Eng Eong Ooi

Office of Academic Medicine, Duke- NUS University
Singapore

Eng Eong Ooi is a Professor in the Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School. He is a clinician-scientist by training and his research on dengue pathogenesis is positioned at the interface between clinical epidemiology, virology and immunology. He holds a joint Professorship at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, at the National University of Singapore. He co-directs the Viral Research and Experimental Medicine Centre at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre (ViREMiCS), which aims to develop molecular endpoints for use in viral disease therapeutic and vaccine trials.

He received the Clinician-Scientist (Senior Investigator) Award by the National Medical Research Council of Singapore, in 2010, 2014 and 2019 and the Singapore Translational Research (STaR) Award in 2023. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Science Translational Medicine and an editorial board member of PLoS Biology.