The Wellcome Trust-Mahidol University-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme

Thailand sits at the heart of South-east Asia and is a major hub for collaborative research in the region. A network of medical researchers in Thailand and Laos, along with colleagues in Cambodia, Myanmar, India and Bangladesh, are tackling some of Asia’s most important healthcare challenges, from endemic diseases such as malaria to the neglected dangers of counterfeit drugs and the threat of pandemic flu.

The Wellcome Trust-Mahidol University-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme is recognised internationally for excellence in tropical disease research. Part of the Trust's South-east Asia Major Overseas Programmes Tropical Medicine Research Network, it was established in 1979 by scientists from Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand and the University of Oxford in the UK. The Trust has provided £21.6 million of funding to the Programme since 2005, including around £3 million of core funding each year.

Hosted by the Faculty of Tropical Medicine in the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) at Mahidol University, the Programme conducts research of direct benefit to communities throughout South-east Asia and beyond. Field research extends across Thailand and includes the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit in Mae Sot, providing essential healthcare to refugee and displaced communities along the Thai-Myanmar border. Other sites are based at Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani in Thailand's north-east and rural north. The Programme also includes the Wellcome Trust-Mahosot Hospital-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Collaboration, based in Laos, run in collaboration with Mahosot Hospital in Vientiane. It has clinical research collaborations, for example with groups in Bangladesh, Cambodia and India, as well as a number of African countries.

The Programme employs around 370 people, over 90 per cent of whom are local staff. It supports an internationally competitive training and career development track - from MSc to postdoctoral training - to develop research leaders both locally and internationally. The Programme has strong links to higher education institutions locally and with the UK's University of Oxford, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. It also participates in international research networks, such as the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN), the Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium and the South-east Asia Infectious Disease Clinical Research Network (SEAICRN). Professor Nick White, a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow who is based in Bangkok, is the Chairman of the South-east Asia Clinical Research Network which coordinates the activities of the two Major Overseas Programmes centred in Thailand and Laos, and Vietnam.

Key research areas and achievements Learn about the research performed by the Wellcome Trust-Mahidol University-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme.

Other acitivities in Thailand and South-east Asia Learn about the other activities that we are supporting in Thailand and South-east Asia.

Interview with the Director of the Programme Watch or listen to Professor Nick Day discussing the work of the Programme.

Map and contact details The locations and details of the places we fund in Thailand and Laos.