Teerawit Audshasai

Background

I graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy, at Mahidol University, Thailand. During my time at Mahidol, I completed my Pharmacy clerkship at the Ramathibodi Hospital, which primarily comprises an orthopaedic ward, a paediatric ward, ambulatory care and an adverse drug reaction unit, which all contributed to my growing interested in the topics of immunology and infectious disease. After my graduation, I worked as an Assistant Instructor in the Department of Microbiology, within the same Faculty of Pharmacy at Mahidol. To strengthen my knowledge and gain solid research experience on the topic of host immunity and infectious disease, I joined the Institute of Infection and Global Health, at the University of Liverpool, as a PhD student under the supervision of Professor Aras Kadioglu and Dr Marie Yang.

Research project

My project is focused on elucidating the interactions between host and Streptococcus pneumoniae, one of the most common pathogen associated with respiratory tract infection, otitis media and meningitis. Current vaccination strategies, including that of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines such as PCV13, have proven efficient to reduce the incidence of pneumococcal disease, however, they suffer from severe limitations such as limited serotype coverage. Through understanding of the pathogenesis of pneumococcal disease using mouse models, state-of-the-art imaging techniques and high throughput analytical methods, my investigations aim to move closer towards novel vaccine strategies and more robust therapeutic approaches against pneumococcal disease.