Dr. Punnee Pitisuttithum Professor of Clinical Tropical Medicine

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punnee.pit@mahidol.ac.th

Background

Dr. Punnee Pitisuttithum is Professor in the Department of Clinical Tropical Medicine, Head of the Vaccine Trial Centre and Deputy Dean for Translational Medicine and Innovation. She has extensive experience in designing and implementing clinical and vaccine trials and has been widely recognized both in Thailand and internationally for this work, with numerous awards including the Award of Most Outstanding Researcher in Medical Science 2015 from National Research Council of Thailand, the 2013 Mahidol University Award for Outstanding Research in recognition of the paper “Vaccination with ALVAC and AIDSVAX to Prevent HIV-1 Infection in Thailand”, and an award in 2010 from Mahidol University for “Highest citation count for research papers in 2005-2009” based on the SCOPUS database.

Affiliations

Department of Clinical Tropical Medicine
Vaccine Trial Centre (VTC)

Research

Professor Pitisuttithum has an active research program. Most recently she carried out a phase II/III randomized, observer-blind, controlled study to compare the immunogenicity of combined Tetanus-diphtheria- Pertussis vaccines in healthy subjects aged 12-17 years, as well as a phase 1/2a study to evaluate the safety/tolerability and immunogenicity of homologous Mosaic vector vaccine regimens for HIV prevention. In 2014 she evaluated the priming effects of a pandemic live attenuated influenza vaccine in healthy Thai volunteers, in 2013 examined the acceptability of influenza vaccine among the elderly in Bangkok and surrounding provinces, and in 2012 she carried out a variety of research projects centered on assessing the clinical efficacy and safety of the government’s influenza vaccine. Professor Pitisuttithum played a key role in the testing of the world’s first commercial dengue vaccine and has been heavily involved in large scale clinical trials of vaccines against HIV.

Qualifications

1993 Diploma; Thai Board of Internal Med. Thai Medical Council, Thailand
1992 D.C.M Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand
1984 D.T.M.& H. Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Thailand
1982 M.B.B.S. Lady Hardinges Medical College, India
1978 Premedical Science Mahidol University, Thailand

Research Areas

  • Tropical Medicine
  • Clinical studies (Phase I, II, III Drug Trials) of Tropical Diseases
  • Chinese herbal medicine for AIDS
  • Vaccine Trials (Phase I, II, III) against HIV/AIDS, HPV, Cholera, etc.

Publications

A complete list of publications by Professor Punnee Pitisuttithum can be seen on NCBI.

Selected Publications

CYD14 Primary Study Group; CYD15 Primary Study Group. Symptomatic Dengue in Children in 10 Asian and Latin American Countries.
L'Azou M, Moureau A, Sarti E, Nealon J, Zambrano B, Wartel TA, Villar L, Capeding MR, Ochiai RL, Pitisuttithum P.
N Engl J Med. 2016 Mar 24;374(12):1155-66.

A clinical trial of an oral live Shigella sonnei vaccine candidate, WRSS1, in Thai adults.
Pitisuttithum P, Islam D, Chamnanchanunt S, Ruamsap N, Khantapura P, Kaewkungwal J, Kittitrakul C, Luvira V, Dhitavat J, Venkatesan MM, Mason CJ, Bodhidatta L.
Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2016 May pii: CVI.00665-15

Machine learning methods enable predictive modeling of antibody feature:function relationships in RV144 vaccinees
Choi I, Chung AW, Suscovich TJ, Rerks-Ngarm S, Pitisuttithum P, Nitayaphan S, Kaewkungwal J, O'Connell RJ, Francis D, Robb ML, Michael NL, Kim JH, Alter G, Ackerman ME, Bailey-Kellogg C.
PLoS Comput Biol. 2015 Apr 11(4):e1004185.

CYD-TDV Dengue Vaccine Working Group.Efficacy and Long-Term Safety of a Dengue Vaccine in Regions of Endemic Disease.
Hadinegoro SR, Arredondo-García JL, Capeding MR, Deseda C, Chotpitayasunondh T, Dietze R, Muhammad Ismail HI, Reynales H, Limkittikul K, Rivera-Medina DM, Tran HN, Bouckenooghe A, Chansinghakul D, Cortés M, Pitisuttithum P, Fanouillere K, Forrat R, Frago C, Gailhardou S, Jackson N, Noriega F, Plennevaux E, Wartel TA, Zambrano B, Saville M.
N Engl J Med. 2015 Sep 24;373(13):1195-206.

HIV-1 infections with multiple founders are associated with higher viral loads than infections with single founders.
Janes H, Herbeck JT, Tovanabutra S, Thomas R, Frahm N, Duerr A, Hural J, Corey L, Self SG, Buchbinder SP, McElrath MJ, O'Connell RJ, Paris RM, Rerks-Ngarm S, Nitayaphan S, Pitisuttihum P, Kaewkungwal J, Robb ML, Michael NL, Mullins JI, Kim JH, Gilbert PB, Rolland M.
Nat Med. 2015 Oct (10):1139-41