Training Advisory Committee

Barbara L. Brush is a Professor in the Schools of Nursing and Public Health at the University of Michigan (UM), and past Board Member of the Detroit Urban Community-Academic Research Center (Detroit URC), Associate Director of the National Clinician Scholars Program, and Director of the Public Partners and Community-Based Organization section of the Michigan Institute of Health and Clinical Research. Dr. Brush is well positioned to serve as a member of the D43’s Training Advisory Committee as an expert in public and community health, community-partnered research, academic-community partnership development and evaluation, and qualitative and health equity research. Dr. Brush is well versed in methods and participatory approaches to address health disparities and includes community partners in co-designing strategies and interventions to address them. As a faculty mentor in the UM Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Academy, she also trains new researchers in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and their community partners to conduct research that specifically addresses health disparities in marginalized populations. She mentors post-doctoral nurse and physician fellows in the National Clinician Science Program, teaches several courses in the UM School of Nursing’s doctoral program, and mentors PhD students in the schools of nursing and public health. In summary, Dr. Brush has the expertise, leadership, and training necessary to support the D43 leadership team to advance research in NCD-related inequities and health disparities.

Sanchai Chasombat is Deputy Secretary-General of the National Institute for Emergency Medicine at the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.  While his scientific and clinical specialty is HIV/AIDS and antiretroviral therapy he was also instrumental is establishing the national framework and policies for data collection leading to the ’43 files’ and data warehouses now available across Thailand – a key asset for the work of prior and future D43 trainees related to NCD research.  He has worked with the MPIs Potempa and Rajataramya facilitating the first D71 submission and later the 2014 D43 submission and has full understanding of the challenges and opportunities of our cross-institutional approach to the program. Dr. Chasombat has spent his career in leadership positions at the Thai MOPH and is well positioned to support the advancement of the renewal program.

Chaicharn Deerochanawong is professor of internal medicine and Director of the Diabetes and Endocrinology Unit, Rajavithi Hospital College of Medicine, Bangkok.  He is a senior scientist who has mentored many pre- and postdoctoral fellows in diabetes research and clinical training.  He has supported the work of prior D43 trainee Dr. Thitiporn Sukaew in the development of a national registry for diabetes using the national data warehouses.  Dr. Deerochanawong is familiar with registries and data analysis as he established the diabetes mellitus registry at the Rajavithi Hospital.  He holds many senior board and policy memberships in Thailand.  He is committed to the proposed work of the renewal D43 program and is well positioned to support its aims and strategies.

Jody R. Lori is Professor and the Associate Dean for Global Affairs at the University of Michigan, School of Nursing (UMSN).  She also serves as Director of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery at UMSN, now in its 22nd year.  Her responsibilities include leadership activities for UMSN global education and practice, global community relations and engagement, and activities in the Americas to support research and clinical training in health promotion. A Fellow in the American College of Nurse Midwives and the American Academy of Nursing, Dr. Lori’s research uses community based participatory research focusing on the development and testing of new models of care to address the high rates of maternal and newborn mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.  She holds a Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Arizona and a M.S. in Midwifery from the University of Michigan.

Wichit Srisuphan is Professor of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, at Chiang Mai University Thailand.  Her expertise is health behavior and chronic disease.  Dr. Srisuphan served on the TAC of the prior D43 and is very familiar with goals and aims of postdoctoral training.  As a senior faculty outside the PIHWD and MOPH systems, Dr. Srisuphan provides important balance to the perspective of training needs and equity across institutions of Thailand and Indonesia.  She is familiar with many of the faculty and potential candidates for the renewal program and has provided important advice on the choice of trainees for the prior D43.  She is a senior mentor to faculty at Chiang Mai as well as to others through her membership on national boards and committees.

Yajai Sitthimonghkol is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at Mahidol University, Bangkok.  She also is Director of the University’s WHO Collaborating Center.  An expert in health policy and planning as well as global health, Dr. Sitthimonghkol has broad understanding of the goals of the renewal D43.  She has facilitated the research development of three of the current faculty of the Mahidol Faculty of Nursing, two funded by the D43 traineeship, through submission of R21 grant applications.  While her faculty have not yet been successful in receiving funding, Dr. Sitthimonghkol has transformed her school to support NCD research including expanding infrastructure for grant preparation, statistical support, and manuscript preparation.  She understands the requirements of building research capacity at the college and unit level – important to achieving the aims of the renewal D43.  She has made important contributions on the prior D43 by assisting with trainee recruitment and the identification of mentors.  Dr. Sitthimonghkol is enthusiastic about joining the TAC and will provide another balance to the PIHWD and UM members for standards and equity across Thailand and Indonesia.

Suryani Suryani is Professor of Psychiatric Nursing and Head, Center for Continuity of Care – a multidisciplinary Center at the Padjadjaran University in Indonesia.  Her research focus is mental health and she has studied the psycho-social aspects of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases.  Dr. Suryani has been a faculty member at the Padjadjaran University since 1996 and has had progressive administrative experiences there including chair of a department and Vice-Dean positions.  She is very familiar with the institution and the faculties of the health sciences.  She is also an influential leader in Indonesia’s Association of Indonesia Nurse Educator Center (AINEC) and was essential in the outreach activities to Indonesia in the prior D43.  As a leader and collaborator across the university she is well poised to facilitate multidisciplinary activities of the renewal D43.

Suwit Wibulpolprasert is a public health specialist, administrator and policy advocate at national and global level. He began his career as a Director and practitioner in rural areas and has various technical and administrative experience in Thai FDA, Bureau of Health Policy and Plan, and as a Deputy Permanent Secretary and a senior expert in Health Economics and Disease Control. His current position is an advisor to the Ministry of Public Health in Global Health.
Dr Suwit has been proactively working in the public health area for more than three decades from the grass roots to the highest policy levels. In parallel with working for the development of health in country, he is one of  the global health leaders who is well-known to the public as a front line fighter for the protection of benefits for the poor.

Andi Masyitha Irwan is an associate Professor at the Faculty of Nursing, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia. Her research interest has focused on older people nursing, self-care, and chronic diseases. Currently she has received funding from Hasanuddin University for hypertension self-care management for older people research. She has almost 100 scientific publications both at international and national journals. Dr. Irwan has served as the Collaborative Professor at Kanazawa University, Japan and has been teaching nursing students at some universities in Japan and Thailand. She is also a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, Alpha Alpha Phi Chapter, Philippines.