Professor Dr. Punnee Pitisuttithum is the Project Chair of the Vaccine Trial Centre (VTC) and a staff member of the Department of Clinical Tropical Medicine at the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University. She is an internationally recognized expert in tropical infectious diseases, particularly in vaccine research and development and clinical studies, with an h-index of 48. She has published more than 220 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, and her works have been cited over 17,000 times according to the Scopus database. Her contributions to the field reflect both the depth of her expertise and the impact of her research on the scientific community.

Professor Punnee has been appointed as a member and advisor to several international and local advisory groups. She has served as a member of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization. She is also a member of a workstream to update the WHO Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza, WHO Global Influenza Program. Additionally, she is a member of the WHO Full Value of Improve Influenza Vaccine Assessment, Technical Advisory Group (TAG), and the WHO SAGE working groups on Dengue Vaccination and Human Papillomavirus Vaccination. She serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) at the International Vaccine Institute (IVI). Furthermore, she has served as a taskforce member in the development of a research and development (R&D) roadmap for influenza vaccines (IVR) at the Wellcome Trust and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. She is also a member of the Advisory Subcommittee on Immunization Practice, Thailand, and the Monitoring and Evaluation on Local Production at the National Vaccine Institute, Thailand.

Previously, she had served on various advisory groups and committees, including as a member of the Advisory Group for the Initiative for Vaccine Research (IVR), the WHO-UNAIDS Vaccine Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS. She was also a member of the Task Force on Research and Development during the establishment of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), as well as a member of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) Clinical Trial Subcommittee.

She has received numerous honors and awards, including Mahidol University’s Top 1% Researcher in 2024 and 2023, the Research Award from The Royal College of Physicians of Thailand in 2023, and Researcher of the Year: Lifetime Achievement of Mahidol University in 2023. She was also awarded the Dushdi Mala Medal for Outstanding Expertise in the Arts and Sciences in 2020, recognition as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science in 2020, 2019, and 2018, and the Moral Gems of Mahidol (Khon Dee Sri Mahidol) Award for Teaching in 2019 from the Mahidol University Alumni Association under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King. Additionally, she received the Most Outstanding Researcher in Medical Science Award in 2015 from the National Research Council of Thailand, the Best Graduate School Alumni Award for Academic and Research Position in 2015 from Mahidol University, and the Mahidol University Award for Outstanding Research in 2013. She was also recognized for having the highest citation count for research papers from 2005-2009 based on the SCOPUS database, receiving the Mahidol University’s Awards for Research Papers Published in International Journals in 2010.

Prof. Dr. Punnee is an experienced educator and mentor with a strong background in training students across various fields of tropical medicine. Her expertise includes guiding learners through postgraduate programs at the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, such as the Graduate Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (D.T.M.&H.), the Doctor of Philosophy in Tropical Medicine (Ph.D. Trop. Med.), and the Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Tropical Medicine (Ph.C.T.M.). Additionally, she has contributed to the academic and professional development of students in the Master of Clinical Tropical Medicine (M.C.T.M.) and the Master of Science in Tropical Medicine (M.Sc. TM), mentoring over 30 international students from countries such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Austria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Japan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea, and Thailand.

She has also been involved in the Residency Training in Preventive Medicine with a focus on Travel Medicine. With 20 years of experience as a clinician specializing in tropical medicine, she has occasionally provided vaccine consultations at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Tropical Medicine. Her dedication to mentoring and guiding students through their academic and research journeys plays a key role in developing the next generation of professionals in tropical medicine.