Prof. Dr. Thanyavee Puthanakit, National Outstanding Researcher in Medical Science, with Clinical Research on the Treatment and Prevention of HIV in Youth

Prof. Dr. Thanyavee Puthanakit, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, has been recognized by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) with the National Outstanding Researcher Award 2024 in the field of Medical Science for her ongoing dedicated research that has generated new clinical knowledge on the treatment and prevention of HIV in youth.   

Prof. Dr. Thanyavee expressed her appreciation and honor for receiving the Outstanding Researcher Award. What’s more important is that people can receive up-to-date information about HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)/AIDS and realize that it is currently preventable and there are advanced treatment options. She hoped to create the understanding that HIV patients who are being properly treated will not infect those who live with or are near them. In addition, they can be healthy, go to school or work, have a family, and live a long life. Acknowledging these facts will hopefully reduce stigmatization or discrimination against HIV patients in society.   

“In children with HIV, antiviral drugs can control the virus in the body within 6 months after starting the drug. Afterward, they need to continue taking the medication every day to prevent the virus from destroying the body’s immune system cells. Children who have had HIV since infancy can grow to be adults and have a family without passing on the virus to their spouse or children,” said Prof. Dr. Thanyavee.  

She also reminisced about the time around 1996-2002 when she had started studying pediatric medicine and taken an interest in researching prevention and treatment for children with HIV. At the time, HIV was a serious disease with no cure that could kill patients in a short time due to opportunistic infections after the immune system became impaired. Thailand in that period had a large number of children with HIV, especially infants who contracted the virus from their mothers. This led Prof. Dr. Thanyavee to conduct clinical research by expanding the fundamental knowledge in virology, immunology, pharmacology, and epidemiology. Various antiviral medicines were then applied to treat children with HIV in Thailand. She was inspired by collaborative research with research networks in the USA and European countries that have advanced research and development. She also conducted research with the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) on domestically produced antiviral drugs, allowing children with HIV all over the country to have access to medicine, as well as developed single-pill antiviral medicines that no longer require patients to take several pills per dose. The newly developed medicine only needs to be taken once a day, making it easier and more effective to be given to children in Thailand and other developing countries.  

Prof. Dr. Thanyavee mentioned that many children living with HIV whom she has been caring for since they were young are now in their 30s, some are working, and some have families and children. I take pride in being part of the research and development team for antiviral drugs and new treatment options for diseases that were once thought incurable and stigmatized. Now they are treatable, allowing children to grow up to have a good future.”  

Apart from treating children in Thailand, medicine formulas that Prof. Dr. Thanyavee has researched in collaboration with many organizations have been recognized by WHO and used in other countries.  This aligns with the SDGs that aim to minimize the number of new HIV patients by 2030, giving a better quality of life to those living with HIV patients and significantly reducing the death rates.    

“Another important issue is the prevention of HIV. In the past, babies born from women with HIV had a 25-30% chance of contracting the virus, but with antiviral drugs, the chance is down to below 1%. This is the kind of information that should be conveyed to the public to correct a misunderstanding about families of HIV patients and allow them to live in society like patients of other diseases,” stated Prof. Dr. Thanyavee. 

Currently, Prof. Dr. Thanyavee continues her clinical research on the treatment of youth with HIV. In terms of treatment, new developments include antiviral drugs that are injected every two months or six months, instead of taken orally once a day. Prevention of HIV has shifted the focus from mothers to youth aged 15-24, who have become the main group contracting HIV, with an emphasis on educating them about sexual well-being, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, and giving them Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medicine, which is part of the research done in collaboration with the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health.  

“When I was a student, the professors would emphasize that communicable diseases in each country are different, and the public health systems and social contexts are also different. Thus, a good infectious disease doctor needs to research to apply the knowledge to the context of each country. Thailand has very good resources for research. However, in the beginning, personnel with clinical research knowledge were still lacking as doctors and nurses were perceived to only treat diseases and did not have a clear understanding of clinical research. In the past 20 years, Thailand’s research potential has been steadily improving, with professional researchers and increased clinical research curriculums. I think we need to cooperate to develop further. The heart of research is in-depth knowledge in a specific topic or area that you’re interested in, or you want to effect change, and continuity. We also need collaboration with interdisciplinary research teams and international research networks to be successful and benefit society at large,” concluded Prof. Dr. Thanyavee.  

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