Dr. Sunisa Chaiklieng, teaching staff of the Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University received award of “Global SeniorScholar Exchange Program 2015” from Society of Toxicology, USA.

Sunisa Chaiklieng, BSc, MSc, Dr Biol Hum, is an expert in risk assessment of occupational toxicology and ergonomics. She is an assistant professor of Occupational Health at Khon Kaen University in Thailand. She received her BSc and MSc from Mahildol University in Bangkok and herdoctoral degree from Ulm University in Germany. Dr.Chaiklieng joined the Faculty of Public Health at Khon Kaen University in Thailand, which is a leader in public health research and training in northeast Thailand. At Khon Kaen University, Dr. Chaiklieng has been involved in teaching occupational and environmental toxicology, industrial toxicology, and risk assessment. She has been recently leading of a new occupational health and safety MSc program to begin in the coming year.Dr. Chaiklieng has received awards from Thai national society of Toxicology and later from SOT Endowment Fund/IUTOX fellowship winner in 2012.

The Global Senior Scholarship Exchange Program will assist Dr.Chaiklieng in strengthening the graduate program at Khon Kaen University through increasing understanding of the international accreditation requirements in occupational safety and health. One specific program that will be explored is the establishment of cooperative research in risk assessment of benzene exposure. This is particularly important in Thailand since workers at gas stations are at increased risk of exposure to benzene and therefore, there exists a need to establish biomarkers of benzene exposure and establish effective workplace surveillance of benzene levels. Meeting these needs will minimize exposures and improve the health of workers in Thailand. Finally, collaborations can be developed between the faculty at Khon Kaen University and the host university to provide additional training opportunities, research projects and/or joint publications.

Dr. Chaiklieng will be hosted by Dr. Kaminski at Michigan State University (MSU). Dr. Kaminski is a professor in the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and is the director of the Center for Integrative Toxicology (CIT). The CIT at MSU is an outstanding environment for training in all aspects of toxicology through its interdepartmental MS and PhD programs. The CIT has over 60-affiliated faculty from more than 16 departments across campus, providing interdisciplinary training with strengths in biomedical, occupational, environmental, food-borne, and pharmaceutical toxicology. The CIT also houses the MSU Superfund Research Program Center Grant (funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences) and the recently established Center for Research on Ingredient Safety. Dr.Chaiklieng will benefit from learning about MSU’s interdisciplinary toxicology curriculumduring period of visit in 2015. In addition, Dr. Kaminski will travel to Khon Kaen University to engage in teaching and explore research collaborations.