Jeerapond Leelawattanachai completed her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at Cornell under Prof. Moonsoo Jin. Her research focused on protein engineering, nanoparticle formulation, tumor targeting, and in vivo animal study. After her Ph.D., she returned to her home country, Thailand, and has been working as a researcher at the National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA).
Leelawattanachai is currently working on development of affordable diagnostic tools, focusing on tuberculosis (TB). This research closely follows the Thai national TB program of 2017 to promote TB research and lower the nation burden on TB management.
In 2017, Leelawattanachai received a New Research Scholar Grant Award from The Thailand Research Fund for young Thai researchers who demonstrate scientific and technical excellence in their fields and their research proposals.
In 2018, she was 2nd runner-up for the Young Scientist Award from Merck Ltd.; was selected as one of the Thailand representatives to participate in the 68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany; and was selected by Japan Science and Technology Agency to participate in JST Sakura Science Plan.
Besides research, she has always been active and committed to science outreach activities. She regularly participates in NSTDA’s outreach programs including being a guest speaker; an advisory committee member for a student science project competition; and a volunteer for Thailand Science Film Festival, Children's Day Festivities, and many health promotion campaigns.
See also: Women in Research at #LINO18: Jeerapond Leelawattanachai from Thailand
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