Creating Connections
Building collaborative communities for research impact
Director’s Welcome
Welcome to the OUCRU programme annual report.
This report summarises the activities and successes of the programme in the year from October 2023. It is a year in which we finally saw the back of Covid-19 as a major public health problem, and returned our focus to all the many other infectious diseases that threaten the health of the populations in which we work. And there are many.
Drug resistant bacterial infections have long troubled our region, but the problem has escalated alarmingly since Covid-19. Hospitals, and intensive care units in particular, are at the sharp end of this problem. Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, and Acinetobacter species that are resistant to all available antibiotics are now a daily clinical occurrence, causing life-threatening, untreatable infections. Our efforts have intensified to understand the generation and spread of these bacteria, so that infections can be prevented, and to determine how they might be best treated with old and new antibiotics.
Tuberculosis cases have begun to rise again across most of Asia. Indonesia alone identified more than 1 million cases in 2023. Treatment and control programmes
disrupted by Covid-19 likely explain some of the rise, but without more effective diagnostics and drugs the picture will not improve. We are part of global efforts that seek to identify new solutions to the challenge of tuberculosis, using new technologies to identify novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, and innovative trials of new drugs and regimens.
Lastly, although Covid-19 may have become less dangerous, other emerging infectious diseases have risen to prominence. Over the year, we have described the clinical and genomic characteristics of the first Mpox cases in Vietnam, the rise of an unusual genotype of enterovirus-71 that caused life-threatening neurological complication of hand, foot and mouth disease in children, and worrying, sporadic cases of avian influenza (H5N1), reminding us of a previous outbreak in 2004 in Vietnam. Our ability to rapidly define the clinical, genomic, and epidemiological characteristics of emerging infectious diseases is greatly valued by local health authorities, and is essential to our ability to reduce the burden through research.
It has been a very busy year - I hope that you enjoy reading the report.
Professor Guy Thwaites OUCRU Director
This report highlights activities across the entire OUCRU programme (Vietnam, Nepal, and Indonesia) from October 2023 to 2024, the second year of our current Wellcome core grant award. The report is indebted again to our excellent communications team, and our steadily evolving and improving metrics system that captures data that defines and tracks how we meet our objectives.
The report uses case studies, metrics data, and brief statements that summarise how we have addressed OUCRU’s four main aims:
1. Reduce the burden of infectious diseases through research,
2. Strengthen our research culture,
3. Strengthen our networks and partnerships,
4. Increase the local, regional, and global impact of our research.
We have also highlighted the work of some of our staff in the report. We hope this gives you a sense of what makes OUCRU so special, what motivates us, and how we work together across the entire programme. It also links to the report’s major theme: connections and collaboration.
Executive Summary
OUCRU’s research and its impact is dependent upon an ever-growing network of partnerships and collaborations. Some of the most fundamental are between our units and our staff, and we have worked hard over the last 5 years to strengthen the ways in which we work together. And as highlighted in the report, we are intensely collaborative scientifically. The Recovery trial, the development of a regional sero-surveillance platform, the Southeast Asia initiative to combat new SARS-CoV-2 variants, and our recent innovative dengue surveillance and therapeutic trials, are all examples of how we strengthen the influence and impact of our science through broad and multifaceted national and international collaborations.
Social science and implementation research are also highlighted, as they are relatively new disciplines to OUCRU. We recognised a few years ago that we needed to extend our understanding of infectious diseases to include the behavioural and social determinants of ill-health related to infectious disease. We also recognized that as we consider new interventions, we need to be able to evaluate their likely acceptability and sustainability and their pathways to impact upon health. We are proud of the achievements of this new group of researchers and the substantial contributions they have made to OUCRU’s science.
Direct Research Funding Awards & Impact
64 41 64%
Supporting strategic projects, and local and early career researchers with internal Direct Research Funding
Part of our Core Grant is used to directly support research through an internal competitive funding scheme administered by the Programme Scientific Committee (PSC). The Direct Research Funding (DRF) is supplemented by QR funding from Oxford.
Three times per year, the PSC accepts applications from anyone at OUCRU for projects that fit under the following aims:
• to enable rapid and flexible research responses to urgent emerging challenges (e.g. Covid-19);
• to support the acquisition of preliminary data for subsequent proposals for larger external grants; and
• to support our research collaborations and partnerships with local institutions.
Applications are assessed by rigorous and transparent review from the PSC, and the best applications are selected for funding. The PSC additionally reviews annual expenditure and progress reports from all awardees, the metrics concerning who gets funding and the outputs and impacts.
The majority of applicants and awardees are local researchers – at a much higher rate than we see in our externally funded awards.
The DRF is an important avenue for OUCRU’s early career researchers, many of whom apply for or receive DRF funding as their first independent grants. Throughout this report, we have purposely chosen projects and people who have received DRF funding to highlight in various case studies, such as the SPEAR project (p. 31), Trần Thuý Vi’s dengue surveillance study (p. 26) and Ong Phúc Thịnh’s serosurveillance work (p. 17).
How implementing the RECOVERY Trial has contributed to capacity building
Sero-surveillance for vaccine-preventable, emerging, and neglected infectious diseases
Southeast Asia Initiative to Combat SARS-CoV-2 Variants (SEACOVARIANTS)
Dengue Clinical Trials and Surveillance
Social Science and Implementation Research
RECOVERY Trial
OUCRU Grant Ref: 605 and 884
The RECOVERY trial has significantly contributed to building clinical trial capacity for OUCRU and our partners - especially in Indonesia and Nepal.
Since 2021 (starting with OUCRU Nepal, in February), OUCRU has contributed to the international RECOVERY trial in collaboration with multiple hospital sites in Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam. Phase one of RECOVERY focused on Covid-19, and later phases have included investigations of influenza and community-acquired pneumonia.
Introducing adaptive trial methodology and building pandemic response capacity
RECOVERY uses an adaptive platform trial methodology. This means that multiple treatments can be tested at the same time, and that drugs can be flexibly closed out or new drugs be added along the way, without having to start new, separate trials for each of them. It also means that we can use the same clinical trial platform for different yet related clinical conditions, switching from Covid-19, to influenza and community acquired pneumonia with relative ease. The platform trial model gives us the ability to pivot and respond to emerging challenges quickly – making best use of the capacity, teams and structures that have been built around supporting the research work. In implementing RECOVERY, our Clinical Trials Units have been able to familiarise local ethics and regulatory bodies with adaptive trials, streamlining approvals for future research and strengthening our ability to manage clinical trials effectively during pandemic situations.
Providing evidence for best medical practice
The RECOVERY trial provides robust data that has influenced clinical practice in Covid-19, influenza and community-acquired pneumonia – conditions that are among the biggest killers worldwide. A feature of all of these diseases is the common use of unproven treatments. Results from the RECOVERY trial have provided important evidence both of what works to treat these diseases, and also what doesn’t work – debunking myths and promoting evidence-based medicine. An example of this that is particularly relevant for Nepal is in a paper resulting from the trial that was published in The Lancet in 2023, showing that in patients hospitalised for Covid-19 with clinical hypoxia who required either no oxygen or simple oxygen only, higher dose corticosteroids significantly increased the risk of death compared with usual care, which included low-dose corticosteroids.
“For us, participating in the RECOVERY study—from its initial focus on Covid-19 to its current focus on viral pneumonia—has provided significant benefits, particularly in implementing an international-standard, multicenter clinical trial. We have gained valuable experience, from selecting appropriate subjects to ensuring their continued participation throughout the course of the trial.”
Professor Nasronudin Director of Airlangga University Teaching Hospital, Indonesia.
Photo: OUCRU’s meeting with representatives from APF Hospital, Nepal.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, the RECOVERY trial encouraged us to initiate regular clinical research at Nepal APF Hospital.”
Dr.
Roshan Kumar Jha Site PI at Nepal APF Hospital
Empowering partnering hospitals and enhancing clinical trial training
Implementing RECOVERY enabled many partner hospitals in both countries with limited prior clinical trial experience to develop the necessary skills and infrastructure to deliver clinical trials. This demonstrates that even minimal data collection in busy hospital wards can make impactful contributions to improving treatment for patients in Southeast Asia and globally. In delivering the RECOVERY trial, we integrated clinical research within routine medical care, and this has helped to foster a sustainable research environment in the hospitals we partner with.
Hospital staff involved with RECOVERY in all countries received Good Clinical Practice training, ensuring ethical and high-standard trial conduct.
The RECOVERY trial provided an opportunity to build remote clinical trial monitoring expertise within OUCRU’s Clinical Trials Unit. Even within country, where we have close relationships with local hospitals, a lot of site support now happens remotely. The ability to do this effectively remotely helps to speed things up, reduces costs and travel time for the monitoring teams, and provides for safe monitoring during an active pandemic.
Strengthening multi-site research and increasing global leadership and engagement
In clinical research, when we need a fast response, multiple sites and multiple countries need to collaborate. This ensures that evidence generated is appropriate and relevant for multiple settings. It also helps to generate answers to questions in the shortest possible time, because we can recruit large numbers of patients quickly across multiple sites.
Implementing RECOVERY in each of the countries where we work helped to foster collaborations between OUCRU, multiple hospitals, local research and regulatory bodies such as the Nepal Health Research Council, and the Indonesia Food and Drug Administration (BPOM). RECOVERY team members, including OUCRU and our partners have benefited from increased international exposure through participation in global academic discussions and conferences, including the RECOVERY Investigator Meeting. This has enhanced the capacity for clinical research in all our host countries and helped to position OUCRU as a leading research programme in South and Southeast Asia in infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness.
RECOVERY Collaborators’ Meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, April 2024.
Photos:
RECOVERY International Collaborators’ Meeting
Above: (from left) Dr Suchita Shrestha (OUCRU Nepal), Dr Louise Thwaites (OUCRU Vietnam), Dr Erni Nelwan (Universitas Indonesia) contribute to a panel discussion during the RECOVERY International Collaborators’ Meeting
OUCRU Nepal hosted the RECOVERY International Collaborators’ Meeting from 1618 April 2024. The meeting brought together collaborators from 7 countries around the world, including 6 organisations from Nepal and 20 OUCRU staff from across our programme. Hosting this meeting gave us the opportunity to showcase the capacity of OUCRU Nepal, not only in implementing the RECOVERY trial at multiple sites, but also in terms of our laboratory expertise, our strong connections with local partners, and our team of experienced researchers and emerging research talent.
Hosting the meeting meant that many more OUCRU Nepal staff were able to attend and learn from the sessions than would have been possible if it was hosted in another country – an additional benefit for our staff and local collaborators.
The meeting reviewed lessons learned from implementing the RECOVERY trial, by allowing participants to reflect on the study’s design, implementation, and findings. Participants were also able to identify and strengthen best practice and address any limitations or areas for improvement.
Another focus of the meeting was to identify new research questions for the RECOVERY platform. Coming together allowed them to prioritize research questions based on their potential impact on patient outcomes and public health, and identify and agree next steps to advance the RECOVERY research agenda.
Further impact from the meeting expanded beyond the RECOVERY platform itself, as participants were able to identify lessons from RECOVERY that might be applied to other research programmes or health problems.
The meeting was live-tweeted on the OUCRU X account and enjoyed strong uptake with over 11,000 views and interactions across the 3 days.
Dr Suchita Shrestha
The Head of CTU at OUCRU Nepal, Dr Suchita Shrestha gained her medical degree in 2012. Following the completion of her Master’s degree in public health in 2017, Suchita began working on a multi-centre clinical trial focused on infant health. Since then, she has been continuously involved in clinical trial management, eventually joining OUCRU in 2020.
With her extensive background in managing and conducting clinical trials, she leads the management of all research projects at OUCRU Nepal, ensuring they are of high standard and comply with regulatory requirements. Suchita coordinated and executed several high-impact clinical trials in Nepal, including RECOVERY, the COPCOV trial for Covid-19 prophylaxis and the TyVAC-Nepal trial for typhoid vaccine efficacy.
Sero-surveillance for vaccine-preventable, emerging & neglected infectious diseases
Southeast Asia has seen frequent outbreaks of high-impact emerging viruses over the past two decades, including EV-A71, Nipah, SARS-CoV-1, H5N1, H7N9, and SARSCoV-2. Many other important infections may be widespread but unlikely to be reliably diagnosed, e.g., Chikungunya virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, Zika virus, and others. Without routine laboratory diagnosis of these and other endemic infections, the extent to which these occur and where is not known.
02
Sero-surveillance is considered the gold standard for measuring immunity from past infection or vaccination and complements traditional surveillance data. By establishing serum banks and surveillance protocols, this great diversity of infectious threats can be better understood. When functional serum banks and surveillance networks are in place, we can use systematic serological assays linked to novel analytics to reveal the prevalence of pathogens at specific locations across specific time points.
Despite existing immunization programs, vulnerable populations—such as remote communities and ethnic minorities—remain
underprotected, and neglected tropical diseases persist in low- and middle-income countries like Indonesia and Vietnam. To improve public health, we need to be able to identify at-risk populations, predict outbreaks, and model interventions, which requires building both local infrastructure and local expertise. OUCRU is supporting these efforts in Vietnam and Indonesia by collaborating with national and international partners to build serum banks and serosurveillance networks that develop capacity to contribute to regional infectious disease preparedness.
“Certain knowledge of where and when a particular agent began infecting humans informs the ways and means of containing and preventing such outbreaks.“
Professor Kevin Baird Director of OUCRU Indonesia
A long-term, core-funded effort
OUCRU has been working with local partners to develop serum banks and sero-surveillance capacity for more than 15 years. In 2009, we started a core-funded project with 10 provincial hospitals in southern Vietnam, and after consulting with stakeholders from Vietnamese public health institutions, hospitals, WHO VN, US CDC Vietnam, and Public Health England, expanded this in 2019 with the addition of 10 more hospitals in northern Vietnam. This surveillance network of hospitals enjoys the support of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE), among many other key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, the Department of Health in Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi CDC. The project has created one serumbank in Vietnam, with different collaborators - the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and OUCRU in southern Vietnam, and NIHE and OUCRU in the north.
Dr Marc Choisy, Head of Mathematical Modelling in OUCRU uses data generated from this national sero-surveillance system to develop models to optimise vaccine policies - in particular for measles. Measles is extremely contagious which means that tiny decreases in vaccine coverage can easily trigger major outbreaks that can then spread to other locations even those with higher levels of protection. The serum bank allows us to quantify the levels of population protection as a function of age and location. Combining this information with data on the age contact structure within the population, as well as data on human population movements, into a mathematical epidemiological model allows use to translate this sero-prevalence data into risks of outbreaks both locally and nationally. Finally, we use optimisation theory to propose a vaccination policy defined in terms of who to vaccinate, where and when, where we also aim at balancing the cost of the vaccination catch-up campaigns and the cost of uncontrolled outbreak.
The serum bank has also been useful in our tetanus research initiatives led by Associate Professor Louise Thwaites, who was able to show that lower antibody concentrations seen in older children and men suggest reduced immunity to tetanus in populations not targeted by Vietnam’s Expanded Programme on Immunization and Maternal Neonatal Tetanus programmes.
In 2021, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, we applied to USCDC to expand our serosurveillance project into Indonesia, in collaboration with multiple stakeholders in Indonesia, including NHIRD in the Ministry of Health – the SASSNET project. The funding for this project was ultimately repurposed by USCDC due to financial pressures of the pandemic, but the collaborations we established remain intact, and have allowed OUCRU to move forward with establishing a serum bank and surveillance network in Indonesia.
Building sero-surveillance capacity in Indonesia
We expanded our sero-surveillance project into Indonesia, in 2024 with a three-year, multi-centre observational study that follows the same protocol as for the Vietnamese sero-surveillance project. This protocol applies across the whole programme, and was established during a stakeholder consultation in Hanoi. The protocol employs a repeated cross-sectional design to assess population-level immunity and exposure to measles, tetanus, and hepatitis B using residual serum samples from routine hospital testing. At each site, 600 serum samples are collected annually, stratified by age groups (0–69 years), and stored at -20°C before being transferred to OUCRU’s central laboratories in Jakarta, Hanoi and HCMC for multiplex serological testing using Luminex Magpix technology. Any remaining serum samples are retained to support long-term infectious disease research.
As in Vietnam, the initiative in Indonesia contributes to the development of Indonesia’s serological surveillance system, strengthening early detection, monitoring of population immunity, and preparedness for future outbreaks.
At the same time, the sero surveillance programme is providing opportunities for career development for emerging research leaders at OUCRU.
The study team in Indonesia, for example, is led by Dr Iqbal Elyazar - Epidemiology and Geospatial Programme Manager at OUCRU Indonesia. The Project Manager is Lenny Lia Ekawati – who is concurrently enrolled in the OUCRU PhD programme, and Study Coordinator Evelyn Puspaningrum brings her experience working in the internship program with the surveillance section of the Department of Disease Prevention and Control at Yogyakarata city health office before joining OUCRU in 2021.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Implementation
RSUP H. Adam Malik (Medan)6
RSUD Raden Mattaher (Jambi)3
RS Dr. Abdoel Moeloek 12(Lampung)
RSUPN Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo1(Jakarta)
RSUD Dr. Doris (Palangkaraya) 8
Lenny Lia Ekawati
Implementation Map of Collaborating Hospitals Sero Surveillance Study in Indonesia
Lenny is a PhD student at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, with expertise in the intersection of public health, medical anthropology, and infectious diseases. Her doctoral research examines treatment-seeking behaviour and the social factors that influence health, focusing on rural and indigenous communities in eastern Indonesia. She has a strong background in mixed-methods research, combining surveys, mapping, and interviews to support more inclusive health policies. Lenny has worked with national and international partners on projects related to disease elimination, health equity, and digital innovation. As Project Manager of the sero-surveillance initiative and SHIELD Papua, she brings a deep commitment to communitycentred research and a strong understanding of the barriers that affect access to care.
Doris Sylvanus (Palangkaraya)
RSUD Dr. H. Jusuf SK (Tarakan)7
RSUD Undata (Palu)9
RSUD UDSK10(Manado)
RSUD Kota Kendari 15(Kendari)
RS dr. M. Haulussy (Ambon) 11
13
RSUP Dr. Sardjito (Yogyakarta)2
RSUD Provinsi NTB (Mataram)5
RSUP Dr. Ben Mboi (Kupang)4
Soetomo (Surabaya)
RS Jayapura (Jayapura)
Determining the impact of Covid-19 on the measles vaccination programme in Ho Chi Minh City
Part of the purpose of the OUCRU Direct Research Fund is to be able to respond quickly to developing situations of direct relevance to the countries where we work. An example of this is a project that used the OUCRU serum bank to assess the impact of a 15-month disruption in childhood vaccination (2021–2023) in Ho Chi Minh City – caused by lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic and post-pandemic vaccine shortage.
Led by early career researcher Ong Phúc Thịnh, this project found alarmingly low measles seroprevalence in the western districts of Ho Chi Minh City (where an 8,000-case outbreak later began) and in children over 5 years old (who went on to account for nearly 50% of cases). These early findings were shared with the Department of Health, informing outbreak declaration and an expansion of the target age groups in the vaccination campaign, enabling the city to end the outbreak in seven months.
Ong Phúc Thịnh
Thịnh is a PhD student in the Mathematical Modelling group at OUCRU. He works closely with Ho Chi Minh City’s CDC, helping to upgrade the city’s surveillance system and model outbreak responses, while regularly training CDC staff and local students in modelling and data analysis. He leads MIDSEA ECR, a network of 50 early-career infectious disease modellers across Southeast Asia.
Variants (SEACOVARIANTS)
The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted a weakness in Southeast Asia’s ability to respond to the rapidly developing variants of SARS-CoV-2, because many countries do not have the required capacity to conduct advanced analysis, and thereby make evidence informed policy decisions.
03 Southeast Asia Initiative to Combat SARS-CoV-2
Led by Associate Professor Lê Văn Tấn, the SEACOVARIANTS project started in late 2022 and was designed to address this through four main objectives:
1. Establish a new Southeast Asian research platform that supports locally-led investigations evaluating the biology of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
2. Employ state-of-the-art structural biology to provide rapid prediction of the ability of new variants to evade host immunity and drugs.
3. Evaluate the impact of circulating variants of concern on antibody and T-cell responses in Southeast Asian populations, and the clinical consequences of infection.
4. Create a framework for effective communication and engagement among scientists, policy makers and the public concerning new virus variants and their potential impacts on public health.
This is a large-scale, multi-country, multidisciplinary collaboration, involving OUCRU Vietnam and OUCRU Indonesia, MORU, the University of Oxford and international collaborators in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the UK and the US.
Capacity building through SEACOVARIANTS implementation
The SEACOVARIANTS network brings expertise to participating labs in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Local lab staff members are being trained in targeted assays and the network also collaborates to develop SOPs and share reagents.
In the first two years of the project (until Oct 2024), the SEACOVARIANTS team conducted a total of 15 trainings, mostly in person, for more than 20 consortium members from Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Those trainings focused on assays to measure antibodies and T-cell responses, including surrogate viral neutralisation, pseudovirus, ELISpot, and Intracellular Cytokine Staining assays, and peptide design. This has led to the establishment of local immunology capacities and strengthened the partnership across globe.
As a result of this, data have been generated locally in Southeast Asia and beyond, which have revealed novel insights into immune responses after Covid-19 vaccination and natural infections in local populations, and led to the discovery of numerous monoclonal antibodies with therapeutic potential, resulting in numerous publications (PMIDs: 39090537, 39298475, 39094762, 39322418 and 39375604), and invited talks at international conferences.
Defining new ways to engage with stakeholders during a pandemic
The SEACOVARIANTS public engagement teams are working on design of an engagement framework that captures key stakeholders in the time of a pandemic and engagement approaches that promote the involvement of health scientists with these key stakeholders for future effective outbreak communication with the public.
From August 2023 to August 2024, the teams in Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam have conducted workshops with various stakeholders to explore
1. Types of communication challenges they faced during the pandemic and opportunities to collaborate with health scientists to address these challenges,
2. Good practices in pandemic communication, and
3. Characteristics of hard-to-reach groups specific to each country.
Associate Professor Lê Văn Tấn
Associate Professor Le Van Tan is the Head of the Emerging Infections Group, based in HCMC, and an Associate Professor at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford. He also serves as the principal investigator of the SEACOVARIANTS Consortium.
As an independent investigator, Tấn is committed to building local expertise in Vietnam and Southeast Asia to address emerging infectious disease challenges. His goal is to establish sustainable research infrastructure that enables these regions to independently tackle both current and future health threats.
Tấn holds a PhD from the Open University, UK, and has been with OUCRU since 2003. Early in his career, he made great contributions to pathogen discovery, including the identification of a novel cyclovirus in 4% of Vietnamese patients with encephalitis.
From 2013 to 2017, he held a Wellcome Training Fellowship, studying the molecular epidemiology of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Vietnam and its implications for vaccine development. He was then awarded a Wellcome Intermediate Fellowship (2017–2022), during which he investigated the translational potential of advanced technologies, such as mass spectrometry and next-generation sequencing, in the diagnosis and treatment of brain infections.
Expanding our research to other emerging pathogens
SEACOVARIANTS has its roots in Covid-19, but the research and network created by the project have already expanded into other pathogens, including mpox, H5N1, and enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) indicating the value and long-term sustainability of the project.
We have established an international EV-A71 working group focusing on various aspects of the infections, including pathogen characterisation and vaccine development. We have determined the 3D structure of an EV-A71 variant responsible for a severe outbreak of hand foot and mouth disease in Vietnam, 2023, and assessed the levels of antibody and T-cell responses against the pathogen. We have also established an ELISA system to detect anti-EV-A71 antibody activity, which will be used for EV-A71 antibody quantification and characterisation of monoclonal antibodies currently being isolated from the B cells of EV-A71 patients.
The SEACOVARIANTS network itself has expanded, covering more than 10 countries from four continents. The investigators have successfully acquired further grants from multiple funders, including a Wellcome Discretionary Award: “H5N1: Cross-platform approach for readiness, 202528” with investigators from Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, The UK, the US and Vietnam; and a UKRI Southeast Asia Collaboration on Infectious Diseases grant which includes participants from Cambodia, Singapore, the UK, the US and Vietnam.
A sustainable network beyond Covid-19
SEACOVARIANTS emerged from Covid-19, during the global pandemic. However, a future novel virus is an inevitability and historically Southeast Asia is a global hotspot for pathogen emergence. As such, the research capacity built, the scientists trained and the research network formed as part of this project will lay the foundation for future locally-
led outbreak responses. SEACOVARIANTS provides proof-of-principle that novel research platforms can be set up in other low- and middle-income countries to address the unprecedented challenges presented by emerging infections, and in collaboration and consultation with diverse stakeholders.
Photos:
Above: Southeast Asia Social, Ethical and Engagement Aspects of Pandemic Preparedness Workshop in Da Nang, Vietnam.
Left: SEACOVARIANTS kick-off meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Dengue Clinical Trials and Surveillance
Despite the fact that up to 96 million clinical dengue infections are reported globally each year, it is still classified as a neglected tropical disease by the WHO. There are no licensed therapies, and doctors are only able to offer supportive care.
Developing and understanding a therapeutic drug for dengue
The dengue research group at OUCRU led by Associate Professor Sophie Yacoub is working hard to address this issue. Sophie’s Wellcome-funded Clinical Research Career Development award includes a clinical trial in Vietnam to test a safe, repurposed drugs, anakinra, alongside detailed mechanistic studies on cytokine levels, vascular studies, immunology and transcriptomics. Taken together, the results from these studies will potentially provide the first therapeutic drug for dengue using a personalised approach, and will also provide further critical understanding of the pathophysiology that leads to somebody developing severe disease.
The anakinra treatment trial is being conducted in Ho Chi Minh City in collaboration with the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. This study is unique, in that it involves all of the wards at the hospital, from Emergency, paediatric and adult wards, to the Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Sophie and her team have designed the study with flexibility in who is enrolled, in order to try to identify patients at all stages of disease progression, including the severe patients in the ICU. By September 2024, around 90 patients had been recruited, out of a target of 160.
The team are looking at clinical outcomes of patients who receive anakinra, and aiming to assess the safety and efficacy of the treatment. They are also evaluating biological outcomes from stored patient samples, in order to understand the immunology of how the disease progresses, and how it responds to the drug. In collaboration with Professor Julian Knight from NDM Centre for Human Genetics, the team will also assess samples to determine whether some patients are genetically predisposed to develop a hyperinflammatory response when infected with dengue. By looking at the immunology, genetic associations and gene expression signatures, as well as the clinical outcomes, this clinical trial will deliver very robust results to help finally deliver a treatment for dengue.
Datasets resulting from this project will be made available open access once the study is complete.
Characterising dengue in older adults
Dengue is well known to be a disease that disproportionately affects children, however, at both the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases (NHTD) in Hanoi and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD) in Ho Chi Minh City, more than 300 patients over the age of 60 present every year requiring admission. There are many reports stating that elderly patients may develop severe disease more frequently, but there is a lack of prospective data in the literature.
Postdoctoral Scientist & Vice Head of Dengue group Dr Nguyễn Minh Nguyệt is leading a study in collaboration with NHTD and HTD to look at this issue - Dengue in the elderly: characterising clinical, biomarker and immunological phenotypes.
“We want to explore how the immune system in elderly patients contributes to severe progress of disease. The outcomes of this study could inform not only improved clinical treatment guidelines for this population, but also vaccine development pathways in the future.”
Dr Nguyễn Minh Nguyệt
Postdoctoral Scientist & Vice Head of Dengue group
This observational cohort study aims to recruit 150 dengue patients in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Two thirds of the patients will be over the age of 60, and the remainder will be between the ages of 18 and 35 – to provide a comparative control cohort. Eligible patients will be identified in the hospital, both in the general and ICU wards, and while hospitalised will be followed up for 5 days by the study team. The team will take blood samples for measuring viremia, and how the body is reacting to the virus. They will also assess patients using point of care ultrasound, to check for fluid accumulation in the lungs and abdomen – clinical indications of plasma leakage, and severe disease development. Longer term clinical outcomes will also be assessed, with patients followed up at day 30, and again at day 90. The study began recruiting patients in January 2023, and by the end of September 2024 more than half of the patients have been recruited. Lab testing on samples already collected is currently underway, and the team expect to have results ready to present at ASTMH in 2025.
One of the outcomes of this project has been the ability to support NHTD Doctor Đặng Thị Bích to pursue her PhD at Hanoi Medical University (supervised by Associate Professor Nguyễn Minh Thu and Dr Nguyễn Minh Nguyệt). Dr Bích’s project, titled “Disease progression and the changes of biomarkers in elderly patients hospitalised with dengue with warning signs,” will use some data and samples collected in this project. Dr Bích is expected to complete her PhD in December 2027.
Dengue surveillance and the emergence of new lineages
In 2022, Ho Chi Minh City experienced a large dengue outbreak, with 54,026 cases reported up to September 11th, 2022 - approximately 536.7% higher than in 2021. There may be many factors associated with this large outbreak, including climate, background immunity in the population and/or the introduction of a new serotype/genotype. It is this last factor that inspired this project, led by emerging researcher Trần Thuý Vi.
Previous research from the dengue group at OUCRU has demonstrated all 4 serotypes circulate in Vietnam, with DENV-1 and DENV-2 having the highest incidence. There is a lack of information on dominant dengue serotypes/genotypes circulating in HCMC in recent years which is a challenge for dengue prevention strategies. A previous OUCRU
study (under peer review at EID) identified 2 new lineages, Cosmopolitan 4 and 5 in DENV-2 in Ho Chi Minh City. Pilot genotyping data suggested that the Cosmopolitan DENV-2 viruses in HCMC were a new emergence of an imported virus.
In collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City CDC (HCDC), Vi and her team aim to provide actionable data regarding dengue virus transmission dynamics in HCMC. The study will describe the recent circulating DENV serotypes and genotypes in HCMC and also investigate the emergence of new DENV-2 Cosmopolitan lineages. Additionally, the team hope to be able to explore the introductions of these new DENV-2 lineages into Vietnam, to understand where and when these introductory events occurred. This work is important for outbreak prevention and
OUCRU Grant Ref: 1027
Dengue incidents (2021) - Our World in Data
preparation, and the virology outcomes of the project will be used to contribute to the dengue forecasting tool that HCDC and OUCRU are currently building.
In 2024, all of the samples for this study were processed, and the first publications are expected by the end of 2025.
Showcasing the potential of DRF
The project uses samples from existing dengue studies at OUCRU, as well as samples provided by HCDC as part of their existing dengue forecasting tool work. It is an example of how OUCRU’s DRF funding can be used to expand and maximise on the potential outputs of other discreetly funded projects. It is also an example of how DRF funding can be used to create opportunities for early career researchers to build their own research portfolios and establish their independence.
Training and capacity building for HCDC
In this collaboration, OUCRU is assisting HCDC by supporting SOP development, and have offered training on RT-PCR serotyping and next-generation whole genome sequencing techniques. By building molecular testing capacity, we are supporting HCDC to strengthen dengue surveillance and national control programs.
Trần Thuý Vi
Vi leads the molecular diagnostic team in the Dengue group and has worked at OUCRU in HCMC for around 10 years. She started working in the dengue wet lab as a technician with the mentorship of Professor Cameron Simmons and Professor Bridget Wills. As her experience grew, she began to develop skills in analysis, which led to her being ready to apply for funding from the PSC for her own project.
Vi has a strong interest in working collaboratively as a scientist with policy and other stakeholders, to ensure that her work is responsive to real world needs. To do this, she has included colleagues from Ho Chi Minh CDC in her PSC-funded project. This project is Vi’s first grant as PI. She plans to enroll in a PhD by publication in 2026, and the outputs from this project will be a crucial factor for her success.
Answering hospital community questions about dengue
Every year, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD) in Ho Chi Minh City sees thousands of patients and their families who have been affected by dengue. Patients are accompanied by family members and caregivers who are often tasked with making decisions about clinical care, as well as participation in research studies.
In collaboration with the social work department at HTD, Dengue Project Coordinator Nguyễn Thị Vân Thùy organised Dengue Patient Clubs in 2023 and 2024 to provide reliable, up-to-date information about dengue and help answer the many questions that this community of patients, caregivers and
their families have. The Dengue Patient Clubs were a series of events in the hospital, inviting doctors to give presentations, and community members to join and ask questions. The events were open for anybody who was interested to join, and team members invited participants from the ICU as PICU wards, the dengue inpatient ward and the general wards of the hospital. We recorded the questions that were asked during the sessions, and asked participants to fill out evaluation forms. The questions and responses received for each session were considered and influenced the design for following sessions. For example, our team quickly realised that academic style presentations
Photo: (from left) Associate Professor Đông Thị Hoài Tâm, Ms Nguyễn Thị Vân Thuỳ, and Dr Nguyễn Minh Nguyệt talking to patients from the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City
from doctors followed by questions and answer sessions weren’t very engaging for this audience. Instead, they built in question and answer times and incorporated games and quizzes into the presentations.
The questions raised by the patient groups are also relevant for our dengue research programme, with patients asking questions about research methods, ethics and consent. For example, in one session, there was a discussion about blood sampling strategies, with questions such as “what is the minimum amount of blood that can be drawn?”. And in another, there were questions about drug trial studies such as “are there any side effects to taking research medicine?”. It’s important for our study teams to understand how these types of issues are considered by the participant population in order to ensure that study protocols and consent procedures are relevant, and meet patients’ needs.
Why is there no medicine for
Dengue affects the whole community in Vietnam, and OUCRU’s staff and students are no exception, so the study team decided to run an extra event for OUCRU staff. The staff working at OUCRU are very diverse, working in different locations and in different roles. While some staff know a lot about dengue, many have just as many questions as the general population. By running a session for OUCRU staff, we had the opportunity to provide the knowledge they needed and also address their questions, both about dengue and our research programme.
This engagement project was funded by OUCRU’s Public and Community Engagement Seed Award scheme.
Social science and implementation research
The Social Science and Implementation Research group at OUCRU works to understand the behavioural and social factors that contribute to infectious diseases, define the ethical considerations surrounding clinical research, and assess the potential acceptance and long-term viability of interventions, along with their effects on health.
This interdisciplinary team, composed of experts from various social science fields, aims to address emerging research priorities by integrating social, ethical, and implementation research into OUCRU’s broader research programme.
The group enhances clinical research by conducting both independent studies that inform larger biomedical research themes and integrated studies that directly connect with and improve biomedical research. By employing a range of methodologies, including ethnographic, qualitative, mixed-method, participatory action research, health economics, and implementation research, the team provides critical insights into the social context of infectious diseases. This work ensures that interventions are not only scientifically sound but also ethically appropriate, culturally sensitive, and likely to be successfully adopted and sustained within communities, especially in resource-limited settings.
Advance Warning and Response Exemplars (AWARE)
The Advance Warning and Response Exemplars (AWARE) project was inspired by the success of the Covid-19 Response project under the Exemplars in Global Health research programme. As the Covid-19 pandemic underscored the importance of early detection and rapid response systems, the need for implementing and scaling up these systems for a more comprehensive approach to pandemic preparedness became clear.
Recognising this, OUCRU joined Brown University’s Pandemic Center ’s AWARE project, designed to investigate positive outliers in Advance Warning and Response (AW&R) systems that are essential for mitigating infectious disease threats with epidemic and pandemic potential, including climate-sensitive infectious diseases. OUCRU Vietnam is one of four
research partners selected for its expertise in social science, disease surveillance, data modelling, and capacity for effective outbreak response.
A global collaboration, the AWARE project will enhance global health security by improving the timeliness and accuracy of identifying emerging health risks. It aims to identify both the barriers and facilitators to the development, implementation, and sustainability of successful AW&R systems, with a focus on integrating climate and digital data to predict and respond to outbreaks. The project not only strengthens the knowledge base around AW&R in low-resource settings, but it also promotes evidence-based policymaking to prepare for future infectious disease emergencies.
OUCRU Grant Ref: 909
Our team, led by Associate Professor Jennifer Ilo Van Nuil, Head of Social Science and Implementation Research, is conducting indepth qualitative research and policy review to understand the factors that contribute to successful AW&R systems in Vietnam. In collaboration with the Dengue Advanced Readiness Tools (DART) project, led by Dr Marc Choisy and Associate Professor Sophie Yacoub, AWARE will focus on:
1. Exploring the current policy and practices (formal and informal) surrounding dengue prevention and control measures;
2. Identifying and describing the potential implementation barriers and facilitators of AW&R systems with multiple end-users, such as policy stakeholders, hospital management, and the public.
The mixed method design includes a policy review of current policy on infection prevention and control in Vietnam and in-depth qualitative research using key informant interviews to explore current practices and potential barriers and facilitators for the integration of AW&R systems, including DART.
The project involves a diverse group of stakeholders, including health officials from Ho Chi Minh CDC, Ha Noi CDC, HCMC Department of Health, National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, and the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang, as well as the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, which often receive severe dengue cases.
This project is funded by Wellcome, Gates Ventures, and Gates Foundation.
Lê Phương Chi
Since joining OUCRU in 2017, Lê Phương Chi has worked to strengthen public understanding of clinical and public health research in Vietnam. As part of the RESHAPE project, she engaged senior experts (through the LEAF study) and young people (through the SEED study) to explore perceptions and attitudes towards research on dengue.
Chi worked closely with the Dengue, and Public and Community Engagement teams at OUCRU to develop an interactive platform, introducing medical students at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City to the basic principles of clinical research. She also conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to gather students’ insights on clinical research and research ethics.
Building on this experience, Chi transitioned to the AWARE project, applying individual-level insights to population-level studies. She hopes that these findings will inform future strategies and strengthen partnerships for developing dengue forecasting systems in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
Chi holds a Master’s degree in public health from Umeå University, Sweden.
Social Science & Public Engagement Action Research (SPEAR)
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, OUCRU launched the Social Science and Public Engagement Action Research (SPEAR) project in June 2020, which is still ongoing. SPEAR is another of OUCRU’s multi-country research projects that spans all units in Vietnam, Nepal, and Indonesia and has study sites in 13 locations. The project brings together a multidisciplinary network of researchers and local collaborators to investigate a broad range of social and health issues. While much of the early work focused on the impacts of Covid-19, the project also addresses broader questions around health systems and community wellbeing. Using mixed-methods approaches, the research puts an emphasis on mental health, stigma, social cohesion, and the everyday challenges faced by healthcare workers and vulnerable communities.
Findings from SPEAR have revealed important gaps in health systems during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as limited protective equipment, emotional distress among health workers, and increased workloads while also highlighting the communities of support upon which healthcare workers relied. In the findings from the community substudy, we conceptualised the fluid meaning of vulnerability during pandemics. The project has also shown that high-quality research can still take place during a pandemic using remote and hybrid approaches
By identifying barriers and enablers to public engagement and vaccine uptake, SPEAR has helped inform policies that are more responsive to local needs. As the project continues, further insights are expected to emerge, particularly on long-term impacts, health system resilience, and community-based solutions.
In July 2024, the SPEAR team launched Phase 4, an 18-month research study in Sumba. Key work included identifying stakeholders, conducting interviews, and piloting community engagement activities to address stigma and improve access to care related to leprosy and tuberculosis. Findings from the current phase will support larger-scale plans to build more resilient and inclusive healthcare systems in Sumba and beyond.
The SPEAR project is a collaborative effort across the entire programme. The investigative team includes Associate Professor Jennifer Van Nuil (HCMC), Associate Professor Sonia Lewycka (HN), Dr Mary Chambers (HCMC), Associate Professor Raph Hamers (ID), Associate Professor Abhilasha Karkey (NP), and Ashata Dahal (NP), and their respective teams. This project is funded by the OUCRU Direct Research Fund and the University of Oxford.
OUCRU Grant Ref: 880; 1009
Associate Professor Jennifer Ilo van Nuil
Associate Professor Jennifer Ilo van Nuil’s expertise is in qualitative and ethnographic research and 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 worked on related research in Rwanda from 2009 until early 2018 and has been working in Vietnam at OUCRU since April 2018.
Her current research includes exploring the socio-cultural contexts of care and treatment for underserved populations at risk for viral hepatitis in southern Vietnam; experiences of Covid-19 for healthcare workers and communities in Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam; perceptions of death, dying and the body in Vietnam; community attitudes and practices regarding antibiotics in northern Vietnam; and a variety of research alongside clinical trials and studies.
Photos: SPEAR Workshop bringing together Public Engagement and Social Science researchers from OUCRU Vietnam, Indonesia, and Nepal
OUCRU’s training and development programmes
OUCRU offers many different training avenues for its staff, students and collaborators, including post-graduate academic training, skills level trainings (e.g., lab training, GCP, GCLP, statistics, data modelling, etc.), professional non-academic training and English Language courses. In this year’s report, we have included examples of where our academic training programme students are embedded into our research in our case studies, and we also provide more information about our non-academic training and English Language Programme below.
11 PhD Grads
Academic Training Programme
9 MSc Grads
OUCRU enjoys a robust academic training programme with Master’s and PhD students enrolled at the University of Oxford and The Open University in the UK, as well as supporting local PhD studentships at the Ho Chi Minh University of Science in Vietnam. In 2024, we celebrated 11 new PhD graduates, and 9 Master’s graduates in the programme. Many of our students and graduates are embedded in research projects in the programme, and some are highlighted in this report (such as Lenny Lia Ekawati, Ong Phúc Thịnh, and Trần Thuý Vi).
Photos:
Left: Sandhya Dhawan, a PhD student from MORU/ Open University (UK), won first place at the ThreeMinute Thesis Competition (2024)
Below: Participants at the MORU-OUCRU Student Conference (2024)
Funding for staff training and professional development
Training and development are important for all our staff. Many staff are able to be supported in their training and professional development either through the grants that employ them, or through group budgets. But for others, there can be limited funding available to support career development goals, and particularly for research support staff. In recognition of this, OUCRU runs a competitive “nonacademic” training scheme (NAT), which allows staff to apply to the Programme Executive Committee (PEC) for funding for training opportunities.
Despite being called “non-academic”, the NAT supports a wide range of training activities, from degrees, diplomas, and specialist courses, to travel funds for presenting at international meetings and conferences. It is also open to all staff, whether they are in research or research support roles. In 2024, PEC received 103 applications, of which 61 were awarded.
4 MSc/MAs
1 Diploma
2 BSc/BA
“Receiving NAT funding made it possible for me to attend the NDM Comms workshop in Oxford last year, and connect with fellow communications officers in the NDM network. Through these connections, I gained significant peer insights into communications work within the health research sector and can apply them into my work at OUCRU.”
Phạm Khánh Bình, Internal Communications Officer (HCMC)
Received funding to attend and present at the annual NDM Comms Workshop, in Oxford.
54 Certificates Nguyễn Thị Hồng Phúc, HR Officer (HCMC)
“I started my Professional Master’s in Environment, Social and Governance one month ago. The first month has been a transformative experience, and I’m already beginning to see how the course content aligns with my passion for sustainability and corporate responsibility.
Awarded 50% funding for Master’s degree fees at the Asian Institute of Technology
MODRA is a collaborative initiative between OUCRU and the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) to nurture the next generation of scientific leaders in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of South and Southeast Asia.
MODRA recruited its first cohort of researchers in 2024. Applications were received from 40 insitutes in the region, and 15 researchers who share a keen interest in global health and infectious disease research were selected.
MODRA’s vision is to transform the landscape of health research in the region by building capacity, enhancing research skills, and fostering a vibrant community of researchers. The programme aims to:
• Provide researchers with access to high-quality trainings and mentorship.
• Offer workshops in grant writing, pitching, project and financial management.
• Enable researchers to establish collaborations and obtain seed funding for their research projects.
• Embed mentorship schemes with senior scientists for career development.
• Grow a strong, engaged research community across the region.
The first MODRA cohort encompasses participants from many LMICs in South and Southeast Asia with a wide range of research interests. The nearly equal gender balance contributes to the promotion of gender equity and inclusivity in academic health research.
Participants in the MODRA programme are expected to enhance their research capacity, seek funding for their research projects, and contribute to the advancement of health research in South and Southeast Asia. Long-term, the program aims to foster a network of leaders who will continue to collaborate and drive impactful research in the region.
OUCRU Grant Ref: 797
MODRA participants take part in a series of workshops over 18 months
The first workshop was held in Bangkok in September 2024, and offered a well-rounded curriculum covering idea generation, proposal writing, budgeting, and networking. The workshop also featured a panel of MORU researchers who shared their experiences and advice on making the leap from postdoctoral scientists to independent research leaders.
SEED Awards
In 2024, MODRA awarded seed grants worth over USD 420,000 to 15 emerging scientists from its first cohort. These grants are enabling research into the world’s most pressing health challenges, such as infectious diseases, antibiotic resistance, and vaccine development. By helping early-career researchers turn their ideas into action, the programme also strengthens their capacity to secure competitive global fundings and lead future studies.
Tackling Newborn Infection Risks in Nepal
Dr Sulochana Manandhar, a microbiologist at OUCRU Nepal and member of the first MODRA cohort, is leading important work to address the underreporting of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) in Nepal.
GBS is a leading cause of neonatal infections worldwide. In Nepal, where routine antenatal screening is not yet standardised, many newborns are exposed to life-threatening infections passed from mother to child during birth, including sepsis and meningitis.
With support from MODRA, Sulochana is leading her first clinical study on GBS colonisation in pregnant women and transmission risks to newborns. Based at Siddhi Memorial Women and Children Hospital in Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, the study aims to produce local evidence that could support the adoption of routine GBS screening, a practice already common in highincome countries.
A key highlight of the project is her collaboration with the JUNO Project at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, which is providing reagents and technical support for whole-genome sequencing. These data, previously unavailable in Nepal, will allow researchers to compare local strains with global variants, informing future vaccine development and regional health planning.
Building Better Vaccines in Thailand
Dr Thitinan Kitisin, Assistant Professor at Mahidol University ’s Faculty of Tropical Medicine, is helping to transform how vaccines are developed and tested in Thailand. With seed funding from MODRA, he is developing one of the country’s first in vitro tonsil organoid models, a lab-grown platform that simulates how human immune system responds to infection.
“Most vaccines are still tested on animals,” he explains. “But animal models don’t always reflect how humans will respond. Organoids let us study human immunity directly, making vaccine development faster, safer, and more accurate.”
The model’s applications extend beyond vaccines. It can also be used to test immune-modulating drugs, therapeutic antibodies, and emerging pathogens, opening new doors for translational immunology.
Dr Kitisin has partnered with Dr Lisa Wagar from the University of California, Irvine, and together they secured a US - Japan Collaborative Medical Sciences Award, with funding through 2026. The award puts Thailand at the forefront of global vaccine research, and marks a personal milestone for Dr Kitisin, who was trained entirely in local institutions.
To carry the impact forward, Dr Kitisin is helping to train the next generation of Thai scientists. He now passes on the skills he gained through MODRA, teaching his students how to write grant proposals, manage budgets, and communicate their ideas clearly. “This kind of training is not yet standardised in science degrees,” he says. “I want my students to learn it earlier than I did.”
Mapping a Hidden Risk: Melioidosis in Bangladesh
Melioidosis is a deadly disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, a bacteria found in soil and water. In Bangladesh, where agriculture is a way of life for millions, exposure is common while diagnosis remains rare. With a fatality rate of up to 40%, the disease remains dangerously under the radar.
Dr Sukanta Chowdhury, an infectious disease researcher at icddr,b and member of MODRA’s first cohort, is working to change that. Using MODRA seed award, he is mapping B. pseudomallei in soil across all 64 districts of Bangladesh. His study combines GPS-guided sampling, laboratory testing, and whole-genome sequencing to identify environmental hotspots, where the bacteria are most likely to persist and people face the greatest risk.
The project also screens for antibiotic resistance gene and investigates genetic diversity by comparing strains found in humans and soil. It builds on an existing hospital surveillance network, which has already confirmed 40 cases across 20 districts. By integrating clinical and environmental data, Dr Chowdhury is developing one of the country’s first nationwide risk maps for melioidosis.
More than a research study, this project is a practical step towards protecting some of the most vulnerable communities in Bangladesh. It is helping to improve diagnosis, strengthen prevention, and guide national health policy. The study will generate preliminary data to support Dr Chowdhury’s future funding applications and deepen understanding of melioidosis under the One Health approach.
Dr Leigh Jones
MODRA is led by Dr Leigh Jones. Leigh oversees OUCRU’s academic programmes delivered in partnership with educational stakeholders, monitoring and evaluating supervisory and mentorship support networks, and training delivery (or sourcing) to provide personalised development for post-graduate students and early career scientists.
Leigh’s role is uniquely integrated across OUCRU and MORU, and provides an opportunity to streamline processes and create a larger and more connected student and supervisory network, enhancing the post-graduate learning experience. It also means that she is perfectly placed to lead the MODRA programme, which is a true collaborative effort across both OUCRU and MORU.
English Language Programme
OUCRU’s English Language Programme (ELP) is set up to help speakers of other languages improve their English skills for the purposes of study, work and day to day life.
Over the past 6 years, the ELP has evolved considerably from a small local offering to a much more substantial and diverse international programme encompassing all OUCRU units.
Using the ELP to connect with key collaborators
All our collaborators, including hospitals and other key stakeholders collaborating with OUCRU Indonesia, Nepal, and Hanoi, have access to our ELP. In Vietnam, we offer collaborator-specific classes, allowing groups from each to learn and study together, and have regular classes with the following:
• CDC Ho Chi Minh City
• Children’s Hospital 1
• Pham Ngoc Thach Medical University & Hospital
• Dong Thap Hospital
• Hospital for Tropical Diseases
For Nepal and Indonesia, collaborators are invited to participate in our online classes.
Classes at all levels, from Beginner to Advanced
We aim to create a safe space where our students can practice their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in a comfortable and inclusive environment.
IELTS classes are incredibly important for our students, as IELTS scores indicate an international standard of language competency. Our students often require IELTS band scores to pursue further education opportunities. For this reason, we cover all the skills and vocabulary requirements for IELTS with IELTS Foundation, All Skills, and Speaking practice classes.
The ELP is able to offer department-specific classes where teachers focus on language and skills needed for specific fields of work. Examples from this year include English for nursing, business English and general discussion classes.
Students needing more individual help can request one-to-one sessions with our teachers to focus on specific skills, work through their thesis or prepare for an upcoming presentation.
“I got IELTS 7 in overall and no skill less than 6.5 in the most recent test which meets the requirement of the University of Oxford for my course. I think I was so lucky...
The encouragement and support all motivate me for the long journey to learn English.”
Dr Huỳnh Trung Triệu Post-doc scientist, OUCRU HCMC
In memoriam:
Ms Lê Thị Kim Yến
22 March 1971 –
01 February 2025
The OUCRU Training team suffered a great loss with the sudden passing of Academic Training Coordinator Ms Lê Thị Kim Yến during the Tet holiday in February 2025.
Ms Yến worked with OUCRU HCMC since 2012 and her role encompassed providing support for all OUCRU PhD and Master’s students, as well as coordinating internships, elective medical student visits and other parts of our academic programme. Almost all of OUCRU faculty and students were either directly or indirectly supported by Yen. She is greatly missed.
Ms Yến’s contribution to our programme was profound, and endures in the success of our students and graduates.
Appendix
Publications
oucru.org/publications/
We maintain a database of publications on our website which is publicly accessible. Our publications are linked to research projects and researcher profiles on the website. The database is updated on a fortnightly basis to ensure that new publications are quickly available. In 2024, we published a total of 122 peer-reviewed publications.
Non-academic training
Non-academic training fund awarded, by staff roles and gender.
Grants
Our People
OUCRU employs around 360 people in Vietnam, and a further 100 people in OUCRU Indonesia and 60 in OUCRU Nepal. Around 60% of our research groups are led by local researchers, and around half of our group heads are female. We track gender (limited to male/female and undefined, currently) and nationality information for our staff in order to monitor our progress towards providing a supportive, fair, and collaborative environment. While the majority of our staff (73%) are directly employed in the conduct of research, our research support teams which include operations (HR, procurement, grants, comms, training, IT), finance, and clinical trials support, estates and other staff are essential to success of our programme.
In 2024 we were pleased to welcome 11 PhD graduates, and 16 Master’s graduates from our training programme.
Clinical Trials
try Number
ISRCTN 61522291
ISRCTN 50189673, NCT04 381936
NCT 04377451
NCT 05611710
NCT 03854929
ISRCTN VIETNarms: a multi-arm trial of HCV treatment strategies in Vietnam
ISRCTN
ClinicalTrial.gov
ClinicalTrial.gov
ClinicalTrial.gov
Randomised evaluation of Covid-19 therapy (RECOVERY)
pleted
ing
funders
NCT 04230148
ClinicalTrial.gov
Metformin as adjunctive therapy in overweight and obese patients with dengue: an open-label safety and tolerability trial Completed
Anakinra for dengue patients with hyperinflammation – a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.
NCT 03100786
ClinicalTrial.gov
NCT 03092817
ClinicalTrial.gov
ISRCTN 40829906
ISRCTN 18065452
ing
An open label randomised controlled trial of azithromycin versus ciprofloxacin for the treatment of children hospitalised with dysentery in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Completed Wellcome Trust 26EN
A Phase IV, multi-center, open-label study to determine the safety, tolerability and clinical outcomes following oral administration of EGATEN TM (Triclabendazole) in patients (6 years of age or older) with fascioliasis
A randomized double blind placebo controlled trial of adjunctive dexamethasone for the treatment of HIV-uninfected adults with tuberculous meningitis stratified by Leukotriene A4 hydrolase genotype
A randomized double blind placebo controlled trial of adjunctive dexamethasone for the treatment of HIV-infected adults with tuberculous meningitis
ISRCTN A randomised trial of 6 months intensified anti-tuberculosis and 2 months anti-inflammatory treatment for HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected African and Asian children with tuberculous meningitis
ISRCTN Azithromycin and cefixime combination versus azithromycin alone for the out-patient treatment of clinically suspected or confirmed uncomplicated typhoid fever in South Asia; a randomised controlled trial
Recruiting Novartis Pharma Services AG 24MA
Completed
Completed
Trust
Z/15/Z
Z/15/Z
Recruiting The Joint Global Health Trials Scheme 31TB MR/ R006113/1
Recruiting The Joint Global Health Fund (MRC/ DFIF/ Wellcome Trust) 25NP MR/ TOO5033/ 1
NCT 05648448
ClinicalTrial.gov
NCT 05041907
ClinicalTrial.gov
NCT 02169882
ClinicalTrial.gov
NCT 03503058
ClinicalTrial.gov
ADaptive ASsessment of TReatments for influenzA: A phase 2 multi-centre adaptive randomised platform trial to assess antiviral pharmacodynamics in early symptomatic influenza infection (AD ASTRA)
Finding treatments for Covid-19: A phase 2 multi-centre adaptive platform trial to assess antiviral pharmacodynamics in early symptomatic Covid-19 (PLATCOV)
High Dose Oral Rifampicin to Improve Survival from Adult Tuberculous Meningitis: A Double-blinded Randomised Controlled Phase III Trial (HARVEST)
Safety, Tolerability, Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy Against Naturally-Transmitted Malaria in Eastern Indonesia of Two Palsmodium falciparum Sporozoite Vaccines, Sanaria PfSPZ Vaccine and Sanaria PfSPZ CVac: A randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 2 Trial in Healthy Indonesian Adults (IDSPZV1)
Recruiting Wellcome Trust 35NP 223195/ Z/21/Z
NCT 05243654
ClinicalTrial.gov
ISRCTN 50189673, NCT 04381936
ISRCTN 10957189
ISRCTN , ClinicalTrial.gov
Efficacy and Tolerability of Adjunct Metformin in Combination with Multidrug Treatment for Multibacillary Leprosy: A Randomized Double-blind, Controlled Proof-of-Concept Phase 2 Trial in Indonesia (METLEP)
Recruiting Wellcome Trust 35NP
Completed Infectious Disease Institute 13-IND/ 13INDA// 47IND
Recruiting Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI) 20IND B9R04060
Randomised Evaluation of Covid-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) Recruiting Many funders 22IND/ 22INDB B9R04220/ H6R00810
ISRCTN The AWaRe1 pragmatic cluster-randomised trial, economic and process evaluation of a WHO AWaRe system based antibiotic stewardship intervention for acute respiratory infections in primary healthcare in low- and middleincome countries (AWaRe1-Trial) Setting up Wellcome Trust 64HN 2202 B9001
Editorial Team
Katrina Lawson Grants and Communications Manager
Ibrahim Indra Senior Policy Engagement and Communications OfficerIndonesia
Nguyễn Thuỵ Ngân Trang Communications Officer
Ngô Huyền Chi Senior Communications Officer
Phạm Khánh Bình Internal Communications Officer
Nguyễn Quang Vinh MODRA Leader - Vietnam (Photography)
With thanks to all contributors
