Position

Director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit and Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme in Viet Nam; Professor of Infectious. Diseases, University of Oxford; Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation trust; Honorary Professor, MRC Clinical Trial Units at University College London.

About

Guy has been Director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) and Vietnam Wellcome Africa Asia Programme (AAP) since 2013. He qualified from Cambridge University and the United Medical and Dental schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals and trained in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology in Brighton, the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in Vietnam, Imperial College London, and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London. His research interests focus on the management of severe bacterial infections, especially those involving the central nervous system. He sits on advisory boards for the WHO and the Australian and UK governments. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in the UK in 2018

Publications

5 key recent research articles:

1. Li HK, Rombach I, Zambellas R, Walker AS, McNally MA, Atkins BL, Lipsky BA, Hughes HC, Bose D, Kümin M, Scarborough C, Matthews PC, Brent AJ, Lomas J, Gundle R, Rogers M, Taylor A, Angus B, Byren I, Berendt AR, Warren S, Fitzgerald FE, Mack DJF, Hopkins S, Folb J, Reynolds HE, Moore E, Marshall J, Jenkins N, Moran CE, Woodhouse AF, Stafford S, Seaton RA, Vallance C, Hemsley CJ, Bisnauthsing K, Sandoe JAT, Aggarwal I, Ellis SC, Bunn DJ, Sutherland RK, Barlow G, Cooper C, Geue C, McMeekin N, Briggs AH, Sendi P, Khatamzas E, Wangrangsimakul T, Wong THN, Barrett LK, Alvand A, Old CF, Bostock J, Paul J, Cooke G, Thwaites GE, Bejon P, Scarborough M; OVIVA Trial Collaborators. Oral versus Intravenous Antibiotics for Bone and Joint Infection. N Engl J Med. 2019 Jan 31;380(5):425-436.

2. CRyPTIC Consortium and the 100,000 Genomes Project, Allix-Béguec C, Arandjelovic I, Bi L, Beckert P, Bonnet M, Bradley P, Cabibbe AM, Cancino-Muñoz I, Caulfield MJ, Chaiprasert A, Cirillo DM, Clifton DA, Comas I, Crook DW, De Filippo MR, de Neeling H, Diel R, Drobniewski FA, Faksri K, Farhat MR, Fleming J, Fowler P, Fowler TA, Gao Q, Gardy J, Gascoyne-Binzi D, Gibertoni-Cruz AL, Gil-Brusola A, Golubchik T, Gonzalo X, Grandjean L, He G, Guthrie JL, Hoosdally S, Hunt M, Iqbal Z, Ismail N, Johnston J, Khanzada FM, Khor CC, Kohl TA, Kong C, Lipworth S, Liu Q, Maphalala G, Martinez E, Mathys V, Merker M, Miotto P, Mistry N, Moore DAJ, Murray M, Niemann S, Omar SV, Ong RT, Peto TEA, Posey JE, Prammananan T, Pym A, Rodrigues C, Rodrigues M, Rodwell T, Rossolini GM, Sánchez Padilla E, Schito M, Shen X, Shendure J, Sintchenko V, Sloutsky A, Smith EG, Snyder M, Soetaert K, Starks AM, Supply P, Suriyapol P, Tahseen S, Tang P, Teo YY, Thuong TNT, Thwaites G, Tortoli E, van Soolingen D, Walker AS, Walker TM, Wilcox M, Wilson DJ, Wyllie D, Yang Y, Zhang H, Zhao Y, Zhu B. Prediction of Susceptibility to First-Line Tuberculosis Drugs by DNA Sequencing. N Engl J Med. 2018 Oct 11;379(15):1403-1415.

3. Thwaites GE, Scarborough M, Szubert A, Nsutebu E, Tilley R, Greig J, Wyllie SA, Wilson P, Auckland C, Cairns J, Ward D, Lal P, Guleri A, Jenkins N, Sutton J, Wiselka M, Armando GR, Graham C, Chadwick PR, Barlow G, Gordon NC, Young B, Meisner S, McWhinney P, Price DA, Harvey D, Nayar D, Jeyaratnam D, Planche T, Minton J, Hudson F, Hopkins S, Williams J, Török ME, Llewelyn MJ, Edgeworth JD, Walker AS; United Kingdom Clinical Infection Research Group (UKCIRG). Adjunctive rifampicin for Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (ARREST): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2018 Feb 17;391(10121):668-678.

4. Le T, Kinh NV, Cuc NTK, Tung NLN, Lam NT, Thuy PTT, Cuong DD, Phuc PTH, Vinh VH, Hanh DTH, Tam VV, Thanh NT, Thuy TP, Hang NT, Long HB, Nhan HT, Wertheim HFL, Merson L, Shikuma C, Day JN, Chau NVV, Farrar J, Thwaites G, Wolbers M; IVAP Investigators. A Trial of Itraconazole or Amphotericin B for HIV-Associated Talaromycosis. N Engl J Med. 2017 Jun 15;376(24):2329-2340.

5. Heemskerk AD, Bang ND, Mai NT, Chau TT, Phu NH, Loc PP, Chau NV, Hien TT, Dung NH, Lan NT, Lan NH, Lan NN, Phong le T, Vien NN, Hien NQ, Yen NT, Ha DT, Day JN, Caws M, Merson L, Thinh TT, Wolbers M, Thwaites GE, Farrar JJ. Intensified Antituberculosis Therapy in Adults with Tuberculous Meningitis. N Eng J Med. 2016;374(2):124-34

Position

Senior Clinical Research Fellow

About

Louise Thwaites is a clinical researcher and member of the Emerging Infections group at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam  and a clinical lecturer at the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at the University of Oxford. She is a member of the Sepsis in Resource-Limited Settings-Expert Consensus Recommendations Group of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance and an expert advisor to the World Health Organization.

Her research interests are centred on the care of critically ill patients in resource-restricted settings and she has spent much of her career engaged in research into tetanus. She leads innovative clinical trials in resource-limited settings including a trial of intrathecal antitoxin administration in tetanus and magnesium sulphate for severe tetanus. Current projects include developing machine-learning to predict the outcome of patients with tetanus and the use of bioimpedance for assessment of fluid balance in critically ill patients.  Her broader research interests include the management of sepsis and septic shock in resource-limited settings and understanding and preventing hospital-acquired infection in the intensive care unit.

Publications

Louise has published more than 30 articles in international journals.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YLCVWQoAAAAJ&hl=en

5 key recent research articles:

1. Current challenges in the management of sepsis in ICUs in resource-poor settings and suggestions for the future. Schultz MJ, Dunser MW, Dondorp AM, Adhikari NK, Iyer S, Kwizera A, Lubell Y, Papali A, Pisani L, Riviello BD, Angus DC, Azevedo LC, Baker T, Diaz JV, Festic E, Haniffa R, Jawa R, Jacob ST, Kissoon N, Lodha R, Martin-Loeches I, Lundeg G, Misango D, Mer M, Mohanty S, Murthy S, Musa N, Nakibuuka J, Serpa Neto A, Nguyen Thi Hoang M, Nguyen Thien B, Pattnaik R, Phua J, Preller J, Povoa P, Ranjit S, Talmor D, Thevanayagam J, Thwaites CL; Global Intensive Care Working Group of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. Intensive Care Med. 2017 May;43(5):612-624. doi: 10.1007/s00134-017-4750-z. Epub 2017 Mar 27.

2. Tetanus in Southern Vietnam: Current Situation. Thuy DB, Campbell J, Thanh TT, Thuy CT, Loan HT, Hao NV, Minh YL, Tan LV, Boni MF, Thwaites CL Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Jan 11;96(1):93-96. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0470. Epub 2016 Nov 7.

3. Recommendations for infection management in patients with sepsis and septic shock in resource-limited settings. Thwaites CL, Lundeg G, Dondorp AM; sepsis in resource-limited settings–expert consensus recommendations group of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) and the Mahidol-Oxford Research Unit (MORU) in Bangkok, Thailand. Intensive Care Med. 2016 Dec;42(12):2040-2042. Epub 2016 Jun 21.

4. Thwaites CL, Beeching NJ, Newton C. Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus, 2014, Lancet, Lancet. 2015 Jan 24;385(9965):362-70. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60236-1. Epub 2014 Aug 19.

5. Thwaites CL, Yen LM, Loan HT, Thuy TT, Thwaites GE, Stepniewska K, Soni N, White NJ, Farrar JJ. Magnesium sulphate for treatment of severe tetanus: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2006 Oct 21; 368(9545):1436-43

Position

Primary: Dengue Research Group Head – Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Secondary:
Adjunct Assistant Professor, LKCMedicine, Singapore.
Honorary Clinical Research Fellow – Imperial College London, UK
Honorary Consultant, Infectious Diseases and General Medicine- London North West Healthcare NHS Trust

About

Sophie is a Consultant Physician in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine and is the Dengue Research Group Head at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU). She is as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore, and holds an honorary Consultant appointment at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust in the UK.

She was awarded a PhD in 2016, through the Imperial College Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Programme and has a Masters degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is a member of the Royal College of Physicians in London. She has clinical academic experience in a variety of tropical diseases, including Chagas disease, malaria and dengue, having worked in northern Australia, Kenya, Tanzania and Honduras. Her work has been supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust, NMRC Singapore, the WHO, British Heart Foundation and the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine.

She currently leads a translational programme of dengue research in OUCRU-Vietnam, including pathogenesis studies, innovative technology for monitoring critically ill patients, physiology studies of severe dengue infections as well as clinical trials of novel host directed therapeutics.

Publications

Google scholar page: (H index:18) https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gjZ_bDkAAAAJ&hl=en

1. Ming DK, Sorawat S, Chanh HQ, Nhat PTH, Yacoub S, Georgiou P, Holmes AH. Continuous physiological monitoring using wearable technology to inform individual management of infectious diseases, public health and outbreak responses IJID 2020 Jun 1201-9712(20)30393-3

2. Vuong NL, Le Duyen HT, Lam PK, Tam DTH, Vinh Chau NV, Van Kinh N, Chanpheaktra N, Lum LCS, Pleités E, Jones NK, Simmons CP, Rosenberger K, Jaenisch T, Halleux C, Olliaro PL, Wills B, Yacoub S. C-reactive protein as a potential biomarker for disease progression in dengue: a multi-country observational study. BMC Med. 2020 Feb 17;18(1):35.

3. Turner HC, Hao NV, Yacoub S, Hoang VMT, Clifton DA, Thwaites GE, Dondorp AM, Thwaites CL, Chau NVV. Achieving affordable critical care in low-income and middle-income countries. BMJ Glob Health. 2019 Jun 19;4(3)

4. Rodriguez-Manzano J, Ying Chia P, Yeo TW, Holmes A, Georgiou P, Yacoub  S. Improving dengue diagnostics and management through innovative technology. Curr Infect Dis Rep 2018 Jun 7;20(8):25

5. Yacoub S, Hunh T, Kanh LP, Broyd C, Quyen NTH, Duyen HTL, Simmons CP, Screaton G, Wills B. Cardio-haemodynamic assessment and venous lactate in severe dengue: relationship with recurrent shock and respiratory distress. Plos NTD 2017 Jul 10;11(7)

Position

Senior study doctor

About

Dr Lam Minh Yen graduated from University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMP) in 1985, and became an infectious diseases specialist in 1989.  She gained an MSc from UMP in 1998, and an MSc from Flinders University in South Australia in 2001. Dr Yen has worked with Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD) since 1990. She was promoted to the Head of Tetanus ICU (1991), and served as Vice-Director from 2006 – 2016. Recognised internationally, Dr Yen was named an Australian Alumni Ambassador – one of only 12 selected by the Australian Government from across the global network of more than 2.5 million alumni. She was also awarded a 2017 Flinders University Convocational Medal acknowledging her contribution, leadership in her field, and the advancement of professional practice in the research and treatment of tropical diseases.

Dr Yen’s clinical research interests are wide-ranging, including clinical research of vaccine-preventable, emerging infectious and also critically ill patients of infectious diseases such as tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis, rabies, influenza, dengue, sepsis…

She is also interested in long-term functional improvement of severe patients by rehabilitation and innovation programs. Because of her vast experience in clinical research, Dr Yen is able to organize clinical trials from the beginning, monitor clinical trials, train international and local guidelines, write academic guidelines of infectious diseases, train Good Clinical Practice (GCP), and work in the field with communities (as consultant or trainer).

Publications

Dr Yen has more than 24 academic publications

5 key recent research articles:
1. Thwaites CL, Yen LM, Loan HT, Thuy TT, Thwaites GE, Stepniewska K, Soni N, White NJ, Farrar JJ. Magnesium sulphate for treatment of severe tetanus: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2006 Oct 21; 368(9545):1436-43

2. Thwaites CL, Yen LM, Glover C, Tuan PQ, Nga NT, Parry J, Loan HT, Bethell D, Day NP, White NJ, Soni N, Farrar JJ. Predicting the clinical outcome of tetanus: the tetanus severity score. Trop Med Int Health. 2006 Mar;11(3):279-87

3. Thwaites CL, Yen LM, Nga NT, Parry J, Binh NT, Loan HT, Thuy TT, Bethell D, Parry CM, White NJ, Day NP, Farrar JJ. Impact of improved vaccination programme and intensive care facilities on incidence and outcome of tetanus in southern Vietnam, 1993-2002. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2004 Nov;98(11):671-7.

4. Thwaites CL, Yen LM. Tetanus. Harrisons Principals of Internal Medicine. 20th Edition. Mc Graw Hill. 2018.

5. Lam Minh Yen, Le Minh Dao et al. Role of quinine in the high mortality of intramuscular injection tetanus. The Lancet, Vol 344, N 8925, page 786 – 787, September, 1994

Position

Postdoctoral Clinical Researcher

About

Hoang Minh Tu Van earned her Bachelor of Medicine from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy – Ho Chi Minh City in 2007 and worked as a General Practitioner for one year before taking the Master of Medicine (Infection and Immunity) course in University of Sydney – Australia. Back to Vietnam, she worked as both a clinician and researcher in Children’s Hospital 2 for six years. Van has completed her PhD thesis with Oxford University, entitle “Clinical characteristics, virology and host genetic markers of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Southern Vietnam” and now she is a post-doc researcher in Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam. Her research interests are emerging viral pathogens, Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease and new approach in disease diagnosis and management

Publications

Van has published more than 15 articles in international journals
Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com.vn/citations?view_op=search_authors&mauthors=Minh+Tu+Van+Hoang&hl=vi&oi=ao
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Minh_Tu_Van_Hoang

Key recent research articles:

1. Van HMT, Anh NT, Hong NTT, Nhu LNT, Nguyet LA, Thanh TT, Ny NTH, Hang VTT, Khanh TH, Viet HL, Viet DC, Tuan HM, Hung NT, Quy DT, Ha DQ, Qui PT, Nhan LNT, Thwaites G, Chau NVV, Thwaites L, Rogier van Doorn H, Van Tan L. “Enterovirus A71 Phenotypes Causing Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, Vietnam”. Emerg Infect Dis. 2019 Apr;25(4):788-791. doi: 10.3201/eid2504.181367.

2. Hoang MTV, Nguyen TA, Tran TT, Vu TTH, Le NTN, Nguyen THN, Le THN, Nguyen TTH, Nguyen TH, Le NTN, Truong HK, Du TQ, Ha MT, Ho LV, Do CV, Nguyen TN, Nguyen TMT, Sabanathan S, Phan TQ, Nguyen Van VC, Thwaites GE, Wills B, Thwaites CL, Le VT, van Doorn HR.” Clinical and aetiological study of hand, foot and mouth disease in southern Vietnam, 2013-2015: Inpatients and outpatients”. Int J Infect Dis. 2019 Mar;80:1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2018.12.004. Epub 2018 Dec 11

3. Anh NT, Nhu LNT, Van HMT, Hong NTT, Thanh TT, Hang VTT, Ny NTH, Nguyet LA, Phuong TTL, Nhan LNT, Hung NT, Khanh TH, Tuan HM, Viet HL, Nam NT, Viet DC, Qui PT, Wills B, Sabanathan S, Chau NVV, Thwaites L, Rogier van Doorn H, Thwaites G, Rabaa MA, Van Tan L. “Emerging Coxsackievirus A6 Causing Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, Vietnam”. Emerg Infect Dis. 2018 Apr;24(4):654-662. doi: 10.3201/eid2404.171298

4. Geoghegan JL, Tan le V, Kühnert D, Halpin RA, Lin X, Simenauer A, Akopov A, Das SR, Stockwell TB, Shrivastava S, Ngoc NM, Uyen le TT, Tuyen NT, Thanh TT, Hang VT, Qui PT, Hung NT, Khanh TH, Thinh le Q, Nhan le NT, Van HM, Viet do C, Tuan HM, Viet HL, Hien TT, Chau NV, Thwaites G, Grenfell BT, Stadler T, Wentworth DE, Holmes EC, Van Doorn HR. Phylodynamics of Enterovirus A71-Associated Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in Viet Nam. J Virol. 2015 Sep;89(17):8871-9. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00706-15. Epub 2015 Jun 17.

Position

Researcher in Global Health Ethics

About

Jennifer Ilo Van Nuil, PhD, is a Global Health Bioethics Network Research Fellow at Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Jennifer’s expertise is in Medical Anthropology and she is broadly concerned with the relationships between global health interventions, politics, and practice. Her main research interests include the ethnography of biomedicine, infectious diseases, global health, and social theory. Jennifer has worked on research in Rwanda for over ten years and has been working in Vietnam for the past two years.

Current research includes exploring the socio-cultural context of access to medications for viral hepatitis through post-marketing clinical trials in southern Vietnam, community attitudes and practices regarding antibiotics in northern Vietnam, and research on the ethical challenges in conducting clinical trials and studies in low and middle income countries.

Prior to joining OUCRU, Jennifer worked with multiple non-governmental organizations (both national and international) in Rwanda. Past work includes ethnographic research with members of HIV support associations in Rwanda, acceptability research within clinical trials regarding women’s health interventions in Kigali, Rwanda, and qualitative research regarding care and treatment seeking pathways for people with hepatitis C in Rwanda.

Position

Clinical doctor

About

Joseph Donovan is a tuberculosis clinical research physician based at OUCRU Vietnam. Joseph completed his medical degree at Imperial College London in 2007, and since then he has pursued his interest in the fields of infectious diseases and tropical medicine, working as a registrar in infectious diseases in the UK, and volunteering and working overseas. Joseph’s research area of interest is brain infection, specifically tuberculous meningitis. At OUCRU Vietnam Joseph is the clinical project manager for two large multicentre randomised double blind clinical trials of adjunctive dexamethasone therapy in tuberculous meningitis (TBM); the first in HIV-infected individuals (ACT HIV), and the second in HIV-uninfected individuals stratified by LTA4H genotype (LAST ACT). Joseph is undertaking a PhD in TBM to improve the diagnostics and understand the pathophysiology of the early stages of this devastating disease.

Publications

5 key recent research articles:

1. Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis: a step forward, but still not good enough. Joseph Donovan, Fiona V. Cresswell, Nguyen Thuy Thuong Thuong, David R. Boulware, Guy E. Thwaites, and Nathan C. Bahr, for the Tuberculous Meningitis International Research Consortium. Clinical Infectious Diseases. Accepted for publication 9^th April 2020

2. Tuberculous meningitis – where to from here? Joseph Donovan, Guy E. Thwaites, Julie Huynh. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases. 2020 Jun;33(3):259-266

3. A randomised comparison of GeneXpert Ultra MTB/RIF and GeneXpert MTB/RIF for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis. Joseph Donovan, Do Dang Anh Thu, Nguyen Hoan Phu, Vu Thi Mong Dung, Tran Phu Quang, Ho Dang Trung Nghia, Pham Kieu Nguyet Oanh, Tran Bao Nhu, Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, Vu Thi Ngoc Ha, Vu Thi Ty Hang, Dong Huu Khanh Trinh, Ronald B. Geskus, Le Van Tan, Nguyen Thuy Thuong Thuong, Guy E. Thwaites. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Jan 2020; 20: 308–17

4. Checklists to guide the supportive and critical care of tuberculous meningitis. Joseph Donovan, Ursula K. Rohlwink, Elizabeth W. Tucker, Nguyen Thi Thu Hiep, Guy E. Thwaites, Anthony A. Figaji, on behalf of the Tuberculous Meningitis International Research Consortium. Wellcome Open Research Oct 2019 (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15512.1)

5. The neurocritical care of tuberculous meningitis. Joseph Donovan, Anthony Figaji, Darma Imran, Nguyen Hoan Phu, Ursula Rohlwink, Guy E. Thwaites. The Lancet Neurology 2019 Aug;18(8):771-783

Position

Postdoctoral Scientist
Pediatrician, Children’s Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

About

Nhan Le has worked as a pediatrician in Children’s Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam since 1997. He is currently running the Scientific Research Unit of Outreach and International Department of Children’s Hospital 1. He received a master degree in Pediatrics from University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City in 2004 and Doctor of Philosophy in Life Science from Open University, UK in 2020. His studies focus on infectious diseases in children, especially applying wearable devices in patients with hand, foot and mouth disease in Vietnam. He has published a few papers.

Publications

5 key recent research articles:

1. Dani Kiyasseh, Girmaw Abebe Tadesse, Le Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Le Van Tan, Louise Thwaites, Tingting Zhu, and David Clifton. PlethAugment: GAN-Based PPG Augmentation for Medical Diagnosis in Low-Resource Settings. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics. DOI 10.1109/JBHI.2020.2979608.

2. Girmaw Abebe Tadesse, Hamza Javed, Nhan Le Nguyen Thanh, Hai Duong Ha Thi, Le Van Tan, Louise Thwaites, David Clifton and Tingting Zhu. Multi-modal Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases in the Developing World. IEEE J Biomed Health Inform. 2020 Jan 9. doi: 10.1109/JBHI.2019.2959839 .

3. Girmaw Abebe Tadesse, Tingting Zhu, Nhan Le Nguyen Thanh, Nguyen Thanh Hung, Ha Thi Hai Duong, Truong Huu Khanh, Le Van Tan, Thwaites C Louise and David Clifton et al. Severity Detection Tool for Patients with Infectious Disease. Healthcare Technology Letters. 2020 Apr 14;7(2):45-50. doi: 10.1049/htl.2019.0030. eCollection 2020 Apr.

4. Le Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Hugo C. Turner, Thwaites C Louise, H. Rogier van Doorn and  Le Van Tan et al. Economic burden attributed to children presenting to hospitals with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Vietnam. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2019 Jul 1; 6(7). pii: ofz284. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofz284.

5. Nhan Le Nguyen Thanh, Hong Nguyen Thi Thu, Nhu Le Nguyen Truc, Nguyet Lam Anh, Ny Nguyen Thi Han, Thanh Tran Tan, Thwaites C Louise and Le Van Tan et al. Severe enterovirus A71 associated hand, foot and mouth disease, Vietnam, 2018: preliminary report of an impending outbreak. Euro Surveill. 2018; 23 (46):pii=1800590. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2018.23.46.1800590.

Position

Head of Biostatistics Group, Associate Professor University of Oxford

About

In 1997 Ronald Geskus received his PhD in mathematical statistics at the Delft Technical University, the Netherlands. From 1995 until 2016 he was affiliated with the public health service of Amsterdam (PHS), where he performed and supervised studies on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. There he specialized in the statistical analysis of data collected in cohort studies. Besides, he was associate professor at the Academic Medical center (AMC) in Amsterdam until the end of 2016. He has worked in several other medical and statistical research environments in the Netherlands and has spent sabbaticals in HIV/AIDS research groups in Paris and Madrid.  Since January 2017, he is the head of the biostatistics group at OUCRU.

Publications

Ronald has published more than 150 articles in international journals, including statistical papers on i) the estimation of time from HIV infection to AIDS if the time of infection is unknown, ii) the development of markers in relation to disease progression, and iii) the analysis of competing risks with left truncated and right censored data. He wrote the book “Data Analysis with Competing Risks and Intermediate States”.

Link University of Oxford: https://www.tropicalmedicine.ox.ac.uk/team/ronald-geskus

Link Google scholar https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=u0Qr0kcAAAAJ&hl=nl&oi=ao

Link ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2740-3155

5 key recent research articles:

1. Thao LTP, Geskus R. A comparison of model selection methods for prediction in the presence of multiply imputed data. Biometrical Journal (61);343-356, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/bimj.201700232

2. Gras L, May M, Ryder LP, Trickey A, Helleberg M, Obel N, Thiebaut R, Guest J, Gill J, Crane H, Dias Lima V, d’Arminio Monforte A, Sterling TR, Miro J, Moreno S, Stephan C, Smith C, Tate J, Shepherd L, Saag M, Rieger A, Gillor D, Cavassini M, Montero M, Ingle SM, Reiss P, Costagliola D, Wit FWNM, Sterne J, de Wolf F, Geskus R; Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration (ART-CC). Determinants of Restoration of CD4 and CD8 Cell Counts and Their Ratio in HIV-1-Positive Individuals With Sustained Virological Suppression on Antiretroviral Therapy. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. Mar 1;80(3):292-300, 2019.

3. van Santen DK, van der Helm JJ, Touloumi G, Pantazis N, Muga R, Gunsenheimer-Bartmeyer B, Gill MJ, Sanders E, Kelleher A, Zangerle R, Porter K, Prins M, Geskus RB; CASCADE Collaboration within EuroCoord. Effect of incident hepatitis C infection on CD4+ cell count and HIV RNA trajectories based on a multinational HIV seroconversion cohort. AIDS. Feb 1;33(2):327-337, 2019.

4. Thao, Le Thi Phuong and Wolbers, Marcel and Heemskerk, A Dorothee and Thi Hoang Mai, Nguyen and Thi Minh Ha, Dang and Thi Hong Chau, Tran and Hoan Phu, Nguyen and Van Vinh Chau, Nguyen and Caws, Maxine and Huu Lan, Nguyen and Dang Anh Thu, Do and Thuy Thuong Thuong, Nguyen and Day, Jeremy and Torok, M Estee and Duc Bang, Nguyen and Thwaites, Guy E and Geskus, Ronald B. Dynamic Prediction of Death in Patients With Tuberculous Meningitis Using Time-updated Glasgow Coma Scale and Plasma Sodium Measurements. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2020.

5. de Vries EM, Wang J, Williamson KD, Leeflang MM, Boonstra K, Weersma RK, Beuers UH, Chapman RW, Geskus RB, Ponsioen CY. A novel prognostic model for transplant-free survival in primary sclerosing cholangitis. Gut;67:1864-1869, 2018.

Position

Project manager

About

Nguyen Thi Le Thanh received her BSc in Pharmacy in 2011 and MSc in Pharmacology and Clinical medicine in 2018 from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City. She had worked as a junior leader of the research and development department of a multinational pharmaceutical company before she joined Mathematical Modeling group of Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) as a study coordinator in December 2014. She coordinated and managed several studies focused on sero-surveillance, the community Influenza-like illness reporting network, susceptibility to Influenza A Infection and Ca Mau poultry field project on avian influenza. In November 2019, Thanh moved to work at Emerging Infection group of OUCRU and joined VITAL project aiming to improve the care of critically ill patients in resource-limited settings by using innovative approaches.

Publications

5 key recent research articles:

1. Primary care influenza-like illness surveillance in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 2013-2015. Todd S, Huong NTC, Thanh NTL, Vy NHT, Hung NT, Thao TTN, Phuong HT, van Doorn HR, Hang VTT, Chau NVV, Read JM, Lalloo DG, Boni MF. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2018 Sep; 12(5): 623–631. doi: 10.1111/irv.12574

2. No evidence of on-farm circulation of avian influenza H5 subtype in Ca Mau province, southern Vietnam, March 2016 – January 2017.
Thanh NTL, Vy NHT, Xuyen HTA, Phuong HT, Tuyet PN, Huy NT, Nguyen-Van-Yen B, Lam HM, Boni MF.
PLoS Curr.2017 May 5;9. doi: 10.1371/currents.outbreaks.c816d7333370d68f8a0da33f69168986.

3. Structure of general-population antibody titer distributions to influenza A virus. Nhat NTD, Todd S, de Bruin E, Thao TTN, Vy NHT, Quan TM, Vinh DN, van Beek J, Anh PH, Lam HM, Hung NT, Thanh NTL, Huy HLH, Dong N, Baker S, Thwaites GE, Lien NTN, Hong TTK, Farrar J, Simmons CP, Chau NVV, Koopmans M, Boni MF. Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 20;7(1):6060. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-06177-0.

4. Non-annual seasonality of influenza-like illness in a tropical urban setting.
Lam HM, Wesolowski A, Hung NT, Nguyen TD, Nhat NTD, Todd S, Vinh DN, Vy NHT, Thao TTN, Thanh NTL, Tin PT, Minh NNQ, Bryant JE, Buckee CO, Ngoc TV, Chau NVV, Thwaites GE, Farrar J, Tam DTH, Vinh H, Boni MF.
Influenza Other Respir Viruses.2018 Nov;12(6):742-754. doi: 10.1111/irv.12595.

5. Serological inference of past primary and secondary dengue infection: implications for vaccination. Lam HM, Phuong HT, Vy NHT, Thanh NTL, Dung PN, Muon TTN, Chau NVV, Rodiguez-Barraquer I, Cummings DAT, Wills BA, Boni MF, Rabaa MA, Clapham HE. J R Soc Interface. 2019 Jul; 16(156): 20190207. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0207

Position

PhD student

About

Phung Tran Huy Nhat majored in pharmacy at University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City in 2018 and started working as an research assistant at Oxford University Clinical Research Unit. His specific interests include machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, artificial intelligence in healthcare with focus on ultrasound imaging and statistical analysis of large datasets.

Nhat received doctoral fellowship at Oxford University Clinical Research Unit and will be starting his PhD in Fall 2020. His study aims to use artificial intelligence to facilitate echocardiographic, lung and muscle ultrasound assessment in critically ill patients by operators without advanced training.

Publications

Nhat has 3 academic publications.

1. Duong HTH, Tadesse GA, Nhat PTH, et al. Heart Rate Variability as an Indicator of Autonomic Nervous System Disturbance in Tetanus. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020;102(2):403-407. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.19-0720

2. Ming DK, Sorawat S, Chanh HQ, Nhat PTH, Yacoub S, Georgiou P, Holmes AH. Continuous physiological monitoring using wearable technology to inform individual management of infectious diseases, public health and outbreak responses. Int J Infect Dis. 2020 Jun 1:S1201-9712(20)30393-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.05.086. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32497806; PMCID: PMC7263257.

3. Pham LD, Phung NH, Le NT, Vo TQ. Economic report on the cost of dengue fever in Vietnam: case of a provincial hospital. Clinicoecon Outcomes Res. 2016;9:1-8. Published 2016 Dec 16. doi:10.2147/CEOR.S124023

Position

Research Assistant

About

Phan Nguyen Quoc Khanh earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City in 2018 and began his adventure at an insurance company. Quickly realizing the struggle of patients in LMIC countries, he joined Oxford University Clinical Research Unit to find a better way to help people. Now he is working with engineering teams to apply technological advances to improve patient care.

Link researchgate

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Khanh_Phan17

Position

Research Assistant

About

Ms. An earned her Bachelor of Sciences degree in Chemistry in 2003, but she developed strong interest in Community Health projects when she started working with the NGOs in Quang Nam province. She was granted Fulbright Scholarship in 2014 to pursue her Master of Public Health at Oregon State University, U.S.

Returning to Vietnam in 2017, she continued to work with other health projects on NCD management with FHI 360 and diabetic retinopathy with and Orbis International.

She joined OUCRU in February 2020 as research assistant

Position

Research Assistant

About

Tran Minh Duc earned his Degree of Preventive Medicine from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City in 2017. He worked as a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer at Friends for International Tuberculosis relief (FIT) organization for over 2 years. His job responsibilities involved project assistance and reporting for TB projects funded by TB REACH, the EU and CDC, from which he developed interest in eHealth solutions for Vietnam. He is now a research assistant for the implementation research project in Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam. His research interest is local health informatics landscape as an ecosystem for adoption and implementation of hospital information systems and innovations.

Position

Postdoctoral Scientist

About

Ho Bich Hai got her graduate training in the University of East Anglia (MSc, 2006) and Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (PhD, 2012) on computer science and bioinformatics. Her research interests are omics and data science approaches to tropial infectious diseases.

Publications

5 key recent research articles:

1. Q Do, BH Ho, P Larmande (2020). PyRice: a Python package for querying Oryza sativa functional databases. Bioinformatics.

2. Anne-Sophie Masson, Hai Ho Bich, Marie Simonin, Hue Nguyen Thi, Pierre Czernic, Lionel Moulin, Stéphane Bellafiore (2020). Deep modifications of the rice microbiome of roots infected by the parasitic nematode Meloidogyne graminicola in highly infested fields in Vietnam. FEMS Microbiology Ecology). FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Volume 96, Issue 7, July 2020, fiaa099, https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiaa099

3. Besnard, G., Thi-Phan, N., Ho-Bich, H., Dereeper, A., Trang Nguyen, H., Quénéhervé, P., Aribi, J., & Bellafiore, S. (2019). On the Close Relatedness of Two Rice-Parasitic Root-Knot Nematode Species and the Recent Expansion of Meloidogyne graminicola in Southeast Asia. Genes, 10(2), 175. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10020175

4. Nguyen TTP, Le SV, Ho BH, Le SQ (2017). Building ancestral recombination graphs for whole genomes. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 14(2):478-483. doi: 10.1109/TCBB.2016.254280

5. Ho BH, Hassen RMK, Le NT (2015). Combinatorial roles of DNA methylation and histone modifications on gene expression. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, Vol 341, pp 123-135.

Position

Study doctor

About

Dr. Ho Quang Chanh is a research physician at Oxford University Clinical Research Unit. He graduated from Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine at Ho Chi Minh City in 2015 and had specialist training in Paediatrics at Children 1 Hospital and City’s Children Hospital from 2015 to 2018. After accomplishing the programme of level 1 sub-specialty in Paediatrics, he was awarded the Chevening Scholarship sponsored by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office for his Master’s degree of Public Health in the University of Edinburgh in 2019.

As a young professional, his research focuses on clinical research about Dengue and health care quality improvement for critically ill paediatric patients. His research aims to directly improve the quality of management and monitoring for patients during an episode of critical illness in low and middle-income countries through rigorously conducted research. He has a particular research interest in personalised treatment using intelligent technologies and linked big data.

Publications

Dr Chanh has 2 academic publications.

1. Chanh HQ, Nguyet MN, Dong THT et al. Metformin as adjunctive therapy for dengue in overweight and obese patients: a protocol for an open-label clinical trial. (submitted in June 2020, under review by Wellcome Open Research).

2. Ming DK, Sorawat S, Chanh HQ, et al. Continuous physiological monitoring using wearable technology to inform individual management of infectious diseases, public health and outbreak responses [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jun 1]. Int J Infect Dis. 2020;S1201-9712(20)30393-3. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2020.05.086

Position

Research Assistant

About

Trinh Manh Hung earned his bachelor of Public Health in Pharmacy and Medicine University of Ho Chi Minh City. He worked as a project officer related to care and treatment of HIV/AIDS in Ho Chi Minh City AIDS Committee for three years which is now a department of Ho Chi Minh City Center for Diseases Control (CDC). He then moved to Australia to earn his Master of Public Health at the Queensland University of Technology. Back to Vietnam, he has been working in OUCRU in the health economics field as a research assistant for more than three years with a focus on dengue burden.

Publications

1. Productivity costs from a dengue episode in Asia: a systematic literature review. Hung TM, Shepard DS, Bettis AA, Nguyen HA, McBride A, Clapham HE, Turner HC. BMC Infect Dis. 2020 Jun 3;20(1):393. doi: 10.1186/s12879-020-05109-0.

2. The Uncertainty Surrounding the Burden of Post-acute Consequences of Dengue Infection. Hung TM, Wills B, Clapham HE, Yacoub S, Turner HC. Trends Parasitol. 2019 Sep;35(9):673-676. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2019.06.004. Epub 2019 Jul 3.

3. The Estimates of the Health and Economic Burden of Dengue in Vietnam. Hung TM, Clapham HE, Bettis AA, Cuong HQ, Thwaites GE, Wills BA, Boni MF, Turner HC. Trends Parasitol. 2018 Oct;34(10):904-918. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2018.07.007. Epub 2018 Aug 9.

Position

Research Assistant
PhD student

About

Dong Huu Khanh Trinh earned the degree of Doctor in Medicine at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine in 2017 and worked at a Medical doctor at Children’s Hospital Number 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for 1 year before joining OUCRU. Trinh is currently working with the Biostatistician group, main focusing on tuberculous diseases. Trinh is going to do his PhD programme in a joint project between King’s College London and OUCRU, developing machine-learning models using brain imaging data for TBM patients which can facilitate diagnosis and treatment process. His research interests are mathematical approaches for brain-related diseases.

Publications

Trinh has published 1 article in international paper.

1. Donovan J, Thu DDA, Phu NH, et al. Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra versus Xpert MTB/RIF for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis: a prospective, randomised, diagnostic accuracy study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020;20(3):299-307. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30649-8

Position

Postdoctoral Biostatistician

About

Dr. Du Hong Duc completed his PhD in Medical Research, specialized in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from University of Tasmania, Australia in 2019. He joined the Biostatistics group at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in April 2020 as a postdoctoral biostatistician. Before joining OUCRU, he had 12 years working and conducting research in various fields, applying biostatistics, epidemiology, study design and quantitative research for both observational and interventional studies. Dr Duc’s research interests have built from his diverse experience working with disadvantaged populations in Vietnam and Australia, including predictive biomarker signatures, prognostic modelling, longitudinal data, determinants of health, applying in various infectious diseases research projects conducted at OUCRU.

Publications

1. Du D, Bruno R, Blizzard L, et al. The metabolomic signatures of alcohol consumption in young adults. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2020;27(8):840-849. doi:10.1177/2047487319834767

2. Du D, Bruno R, Dwyer T, Venn A, Gall S. Associations Between Alcohol Consumption and Cardio-Metabolic Risk Factors in Young Adults. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2017;24(18):1967-1978. doi:10.1177/2047487317724008

Position

Postdoctoral Researcher

About

Van-Khoa D. Le earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in 2012 and completed his Master of Science in Information Technology from the University of Nottingham a year later. Back to Vietnam, he worked as a Software Developer for two years before taking his PhD with the University of Nottingham. He is currently completing his thesis in Machine Learning and doing his post-doc research in Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam. His research interests are applying machine learning in detecting the abnormally, defect samples and A.I approaches in signal processing techniques.

Publications

Khoa has published 4  articles in international journals.

Link Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8BH2JQwAAAAJ&hl=en

Link research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/D-Van-Khoa-Le

5 key recent research articles:

1. Le, Dinh Van-Khoa; Chen, Zhiyuan; Rajkumar, Rajprasad: ‘Multi-sensors in-line inspection robot for pipe flaws detection‘, IET Science, Measurement & Technology, 2020, 14, (1), p. 71-82, DOI: 10.1049/iet-smt.2019.0171

2. Le, D.VK., Chen, Z., Wong, Y.W. et al. A complete online-SVM pipeline for case-based reasoning system: a study on pipe defect detection system. Soft Computing 24, 16917–16933 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-020-04985-7

3. ZhiYuan C., Van Khoa L.D., Boon L.S. (2017) A Hybrid Model of Differential Evolution with Neural Network on Lag Time Selection for Agricultural Price Time Series Forecasting. In: Badioze Zaman H. et al. (eds) Advances in Visual Informatics. IVIC 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10645. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70010-6_15

4. Chen, Z., Van Khoa, L.D., Teoh, E.N. et al. Machine learning techniques for anti-money laundering (AML) solutions in suspicious transaction detection: a review. Knowl Inf Syst 57, 245–285 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10115-017-1144-z

5. Chen, L. Dinh Van Khoa, A. Nazir, E. N. Teoh and E. K. Karupiah, “Exploration of the effectiveness of expectation maximization algorithm for suspicious transaction detection in anti-money laundering,” 2014 IEEE Conference on Open Systems (ICOS), Subang, 2014, pp. 145-149, doi: 10.1109/ICOS.2014.7042645.

Position

Senior Research Coordinator

About

Ms. Ninh Thi Thanh Van graduated from Ho Chi Minh City Nursing School and started to work at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases from 1986. She worked for nearly 20 years in the Intensive Care Unit, the Malaria Ward and finally as the Head Nurse of the HIV Ward. In 2006, she decided to apply for a research coordinator position at Clinical Trials Unit of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit – Viet Nam. Since joining the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, she has worked as study coordinator for many different clinical trials in infectious diseases including Dengue fever, Malaria, Cryptococcal meningitis, Tuberculosis and HIV.

Position

Research Nurse

About

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc graduated from University Training Center (UTC) for Healthcare Professionals in Ho Chi Minh City (now known as Pham Ngoc Thach Medical University) in General Nursing and started working at Traditional Medicine Hospital since 2006. In 2012, she graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing from University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City. She has more than 10 years of experience in nursing care, and has been the Chief Nurse of Emergency and Cardiology Department of Traditional Medicine Hospital for 5 years. In 2019, she decided to apply for the position of Research Nursing of Oxford University Clinical Research Unit. Since then, she has been a research nurse for clinical studies on Dengue shock, Septic shock, and she has also supported VICO research on Covid-19 patients.

Position

Data management assistant

About

Ms. Thy Doan Bui Xuan has joined in Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) as a Data Management Assistant of Emerging Infections group since September, 2020 after 5-year being a Pharmacy student in Ton Duc Thang University. A few months before becoming an OUCRU member, she did her internship as Double Data Entry in Woolcock Institute of Medical Research for V-QUIN trial: Levofloxacin versus placebo for the treatment of latent tuberculosis among contacts of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: a randomized controlled trial. For several times doing with clinical data, she has found her passion lies in both technology and clinical trial fields in order to enhance not only the quality of research but also to improve patients’ health.