Oleg Ogarkov

Scientific Centre for Family Health and Human Reproduction Problems

Irkutsk, Russia

Brief Bio

Dr. Oleg B. Ogarkov is Director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology at the Scientific Centre for Family Health and Human Reproduction Problems (SC FHHRP) in Irkutsk, Russia. With a strong foundation in genetics, epidemiology, and molecular microbiology, he received his Cand. Sci. (PhD) in Genetics from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, SB RAS, and later earned a Doctor of Science (Dr. Sci.) in Epidemiology in 2014. He also completed training in management at Baikal International Business School. Dr. Ogarkov has extensive experience in infectious disease research, particularly in the molecular and epidemiological aspects of socially significant infections. He held various leadership roles, including Head of Molecular Biology at the Irkutsk Regional Diagnostic Center, and conducted postdoctoral research at Rutgers University in the U.S. His career spans work in public health institutions, academic research centers, and international collaborations.
He has authored over 35 publications, with more than 1,700 citations and an h-index of 19 (Google Scholar). His research focuses on microbial communities in tuberculosis, molecular diagnostics, and the epidemiology of infectious diseases. Dr. Ogarkov is recognized for his significant contributions to public health microbiology in Russia and beyond.

Danila Zimenkov

Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Moscow, Russia

Bio ...

Egor Shitikov

Federal Medical-Biological Agency

Moscow, Russia

Bio ...

Virasakdi Chongsuvivatwong

Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Songkla

Songkla, Thailand

Brief Bio

Virasakdi Chongsuvivatwong MD, PhD is a Professor in Community Medicine at Prince of Songkla University. He founded Epidemiology Unit in 1986 and started the International Programme for Graduate Study in Epidemiology in 1992. Currently, he is the Curriculum Chairman of the Programme. He has published 245 research articles in PubMed database and has over 3,000 citations (excluded all authors). Over the past 28 years, the Programme has produced over 128 PhD and over 83 MSc graduates who came from 17 countries in Asia and Africa. He has received Senior Research Scholar title from Thailand Research Fund, Outstanding Research in Medical Science Award from the National Research Council of Thailand, NSTDA Research Chair from the National Science and Technology Development Agency and National Outstanding Teacher Award from the National Academic Senate. He is currently serving the National Health Security Office as a consultant on utilization of the national claim data for research purpose. One of the grants that he currently receives is for training of health planners and IT officers in all provinces of Thailand to make use of the existing data routinely collected from the hospitals.

Nawamin Pinpathomrat

Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University

Songkla, Thailand

Brief Bio

Dr. Nawamin Pinpathomrat, MD, DPhil, is an Associate Professor of Immunology and Assistant Dean of International Affairs at the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Thailand. He earned his MD with First Class Honors from PSU, followed by an MSc in Immunology from Imperial College London and a DPhil in Clinical Medicine from the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute. His expertise spans immunology, vaccinology, tuberculosis and COVID-19 vaccine development, emerging infectious diseases, and biosafety level 3 research. Dr. Nawamin has led multiple national research projects on TB and COVID-19 vaccines, including those using viral vectors and mRNA platforms. He also serves as Vice Director of the Medical Science Research and Innovation Institute at PSU. With extensive experience in preclinical vaccine development and immunological studies in autoimmune diseases, he has authored over 25 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals and continues to contribute significantly to translational research and vaccine innovation in Thailand.

Sayera Banu

International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Brief Bio

Dr. Sayera Banu is a Bangladeshi scientist and medical doctor with advanced degrees in Microbiology, specializing in mycobacterial infections. As a Senior Scientist at icddr,b, she leads the Program for Emerging Infections and has dedicated over 25 years to tuberculosis (TB) research and programmatic initiatives. She is also leading a well-equipped Mycobacteriology laboratory. Dr. Banu’s work has had a significant national and international impact. She established the cutting-edge icddr,b TB laboratory, conducted Southeast Asia's first multidrug-resistant TB sentinel surveillance, and introduced new tools and technologies to advance TB research. Her studies on TB prevalence and transmission in confined prison settings in Dhaka and the development of an innovative public-private model for TB diagnosis and management have been incorporated into Bangladesh's National Strategic Plan.
A fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Sciences, Dr. Banu has received prestigious awards, published extensively, and secured major research funding. She is widely recognized as an expert in tuberculosis globally. She has received several grants from various funding agencies, including USAID, GFATM, and the Stop TB Partnership, etc. She maintains strong collaborations with scientists both nationally and internationally and works closely with the National TB Control Program in Bangladesh. 's National Strategic Plan.

Richard Anthony

National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM)

Bilthoven, The Netherlands

Brief Bio

Dr. Richard M. Anthony is a microbiologist specializing in tuberculosis diagnostics, drug resistance, and microbial molecular epidemiology. He currently serves as Coordinator of the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory at RIVM, where he oversees TB genotyping and supports global collaborations in TB control. Prior to this, he led the TB research group at KIT Biomedical Research, developing molecular assays and initiating the global rollout of LED microscopy for TB screening. Dr. Anthony’s career spans over three decades, including roles as a molecular microbiologist at St. Thomas’ Hospital and the Institute of Dermatology in London. His Ph.D. from King’s College London focused on molecular typing of Malassezia yeasts. His work has been instrumental in empowering international labs and facilitating skill transfer in regions like Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South America.
He is an editor for the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, a WHO expert group member, and has coordinated several international and EU-funded TB projects. He is also proficient in Dutch and skilled in genome analysis tools (RStudio, SAMtools).

Christophe SOLA

INSERM-Université Paris-Cité, Université Paris-Saclay

Paris France

Brief Bio

Prof. Christophe Sola, holds a PharmD and a PhD in Life Sciences. He is a former Resident of Lyon’s Hospitals, a former research fellow of the Institut Pasteur, Paris, and of the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal (IRCM). He holded various R&D positions in French (Limagrain Seed Group), German (Boehringer-Mannheim) and American (Parexel Corporation) Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical companies between 1989-1994, before moving to Guadeloupe, where he worked as senior scientist within the International Network of Pasteur Institutes. Christophe Sola holds since September 2007 a Full Professorship position at the University of Paris-Saclay (UPSay) ; he created and was the Principal Investigator from 2007 to 2020, of the Infection Genetics Emerging Pathogen Evolution (IGEPE) research team, within the CNRS-UPSay funded Institute for Integrative Cell Biology (I2BC). Since January 1st 2021, He joined the INSERM IAME laboratory Infection Antimicrobials, Modeling Evolution, and the French NRL for tuberculosis as a senior scientist.
His main field of interest is Evolutionary Biology of Tuberculosis and Public Health. He is working on the understanding of the consequences of the genetic diversity in relation to anthropology, systems epidemiology, virulence, molecular adaptation and drug resistance mechanisms, and uses machine learning and artificial intelligence. He was very active in CRISPR research using CRISPR diversity for molecular typing of pathogens. He is an associated Editor of PloS ONE, BMC Infectious Diseases, Frontier in Microbiology, the author of >170 international peer-reviewed papers, a member of the steering committee of the European Society for Mycobacteriology since 2023, and a member of the Latin American Society for Mycobacteriology.

Tomasz Jagielski

University of Warsaw

Warsaw, Poland

Brief Bio

Alexander S. Apt

Central TB Research Institute

Moscow, Russia

Brief Bio

Prof. Alexander S. Apt is Head of the Laboratory for Immunogenetics at the Central Tuberculosis Research Institute in Moscow, Russia. With a career spanning over five decades, he is an internationally recognized expert in tuberculosis immunology and host genetics. Prof. Apt holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from the N. Gamaleya Institute, and a D.Sc. in Immunology focusing on the genetic control of intracellular infections using tuberculosis as a model.
Prof. Apt has held various positions, including a visiting professorship at McGill University’s Centre for the Study of Host Resistance, and has served as Professor at the School of Biology, Moscow State University. His research focuses on genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis, immune responses in murine models, and host-pathogen interactions. He has been a Principal Investigator on multiple international grants from the Wellcome Trust, NIH, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His scientific contributions include over 130 peer-reviewed publications and significant advances in understanding immune regulation and the role of B cells and MHC molecules in TB pathogenesis. He has received awards and fellowships from WHO, MRC Canada, and served as an ASM Ambassador for Russia and former Soviet Union states.

Kiatichai Faksri

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, and Dean of Graduate School, Khon Kaen University

Khon Kaen Thailand

Brief Bio

Prof. Kiatichai Faksri is a Dean of the Graduate School at Khon Kaen University (KKU), Thailand and also serves as Director of the Research and Diagnostic Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at KKU. Prof. Faksri earned his B.Sc. in Medical Technology from Naresuan University and a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology (Royal Golden Jubilee Scholar) from Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital. He completed postdoctoral training in whole-genome sequencing of mycobacteria at the National University of Singapore in 2015.
He has held multiple academic and administrative positions, including Assistant Dean for Research and Planning at the Faculty of Medicine, KKU, and Deputy Head of the Department of Microbiology. Currently, he holds key roles on the boards of graduate and academic service programs both at KKU and nationally. As a respected academic, he serves as Associate Editor for the European Journal of Medical Research and Academic Editor for PLOS Global Public Health. He is also a certified assessor for Thailand’s TQA and EdPEx programs. Prof. Faksri has been recognized with numerous awards for his research and leadership, including multiple Outstanding Researcher Awards from KKU, and national fellowships. He has published over 90 research articles indexed in Scopus and leads several international projects, including a major grant from the Open Philanthropy Foundation to develop Raman spectroscopy-based diagnostics for tuberculosis. His academic influence and leadership continue to shape microbiology and infectious disease research in Thailand and the region.

Marisa Ponpuak

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University

Bangkok, Thailand

Brief Bio

Dr. Marisa Ponpuak was awarded a prestigious national scholarship from Thailand’s Development and Promotion of Science and Technology Talent Project (DPST) to pursue her studies in the United States. She earned her Bachelor’s degree with honours in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2001. She then completed her Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine under the mentorship of Prof. Daniel E. Goldberg, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Her doctoral research focused on the biology of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for malaria. Following her Ph.D., Dr. Ponpuak conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Vojo Deretic at the University of New Mexico, where she gained extensive experience in host immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In 2010, she joined the Department of Microbiology at the Faculty of Science, Mahidol University. Her current research centres on host cellular immunity in the context of globally significant infectious diseases, with a particular emphasis on tuberculosis. Her work includes drug discovery, biomarker identification, and vaccine development to combat M. tuberculosis infection

Surakameth Mahasirimongkol

Ministry of Public Health

Nonthaburi, Thailand

Brief Bio

Dr. Surakameth Mahasirimongkol, MD, MSc, PhD has worked in several institutes in the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. He specializes in epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, and tuberculosis research, with a focus on integrating human and pathogen genomic data to support TB control programs. He currently leads research projects on pharmacogenomics for precision drug use and develops genome-informed TB diagnostics. With a robust publication record of nearly 200 peer-reviewed articles and over 4,000 citations and h-index of 30, Dr. Surakameth is a respected authority in genomics, bioinformatics, and public health. He is proficient in R, next-generation sequencing, and computational genomics. Based at the Ministry’s Department of Medical Sciences, Dr. Surakameth also contributes to regional and international collaborations aimed at improving infectious disease surveillance and personalized medicine in Thailand.

Pakorn Aiewsakun

CENMIG, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University

Bangkok, Thailand

Brief Bio

Dr. Pakorn Aiewsakun received a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences and an M.Sc. in Bioinformatics and Theoretical Systems Biology from Imperial College London, and subsequently earned a D.Phil. in Zoology from Oxford University. During his doctoral study, his research focused on endogenous viruses, exploring viral genomic fossils in the genomes of animals, to connect recent and ancient viral evolution. His key findings included the time-dependent rate phenomenon, demonstrating that both DNA and RNA viruses evolve rapidly in the short term but remain highly conserved over longer periods.
Following his doctoral studies, Dr. Pakorn Aiewsakun continued at Oxford University as a postdoctoral researcher, developing a sequence-based framework for family-level virus classification called GARViTy. Since joining Mahidol University in late 2017, he has been a pioneering force in microbial genomics research as a founder of the Pornchai Matangkasombut Center for Microbial Genomics (CENMIG). He also leads many research projects in bacterial and virus genomics and has organised many hands-on bioinformatics workshops to disseminate knowledge and technical skills. In his spare time, he enjoys competitive ballroom dancing.