ILRI fellowship offers emerging researchers hands-on learning in using the One Health approach
A fellowship program by the Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is giving young Southeast Asian researchers hands-on experience in using the One Health approach to tackle zoonotic diseases in developing-country contexts.
Tuyen Ha, a Vietnamese lecturer from the Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry is a recent recipient of the fellowship. He says that the fellowship (from August 2020-January 2021), helped him not only gain new research skills but also expand his network with epidemiologists in and outside Vietnam. ‘The link between animal and human health is an increasingly important area in managing zoonoses and my research under this fellowship improved my understanding of vector-borne diseases and how I can use my expertise to provide evidence to prevent such diseases.’
Tuyen Ha participates in two One Health projects with ILRI (photo credit: ILRI/Chi Nguyen).
Under the supervision of Hu Suk Lee, ILRI epidemiologist, Tuyen participated in two One Health projects including a multi-country survey of the impact of COVID-19 in livestock systems in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos; and a project that mapped the risks of mosquito-borne diseases in Vietnam. During his fellowship, Tuyen also received support from other mentors at ILRI including Hung Nguyen, Sinh Dang and Fred Unger. One of the results of Tuyen’s work under the fellowship is the compiling of findings from the mosquito-borne disease risk mapping project into the ‘Forecasting a risk map of Culex mosquito abundance in Hanoi, Vietnam’ paper, which he has submitted to the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal for review and publication.
Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and SEAOHUN, the fellowship has hosted four young researchers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam since its inception in 2017.
The ILRI and SEAOHUN fellowship targets researchers in animal health, human health and environment from Southeast Asia who are seeking to use the One Health approach in managing zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19 in their respective countries.
Tuyen speaks about his experience with the program in this short video.
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