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Found 112 matches for

Francois Nosten on Fever Pitch podcast, on a collapsing border where medicine meets war

Professor Francois Nosten, Director of MORU's Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU), reflects on the decades he’s spent on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, a place of relentless upheaval and quiet endurance. From the 1980s onward, he has lived amid war, displacement, and disease, building a fragile bridge between science and survival. He characterizes the border as a wound that never quite closes – people cross not for opportunity but to escape a state that devours its own. What he describes is not steady progress but a cycle of collapse and recovery, every advance shadowed by the return of violence and the onset of disease.

SMRU’s ‘TB Village’: A lifeline for marginalised patients on the Thai–Myanmar border

In a settlement of bamboo cabins, among mango and jackfruit trees, the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit runs a secluded clinic known as 'TB Village.' Reachable only by dirt roads, this sanctuary provides critical treatment and quarantine for dozens of marginalized Burmese tuberculosis patients. Here, at SMRU, patients receive care for diseases like tuberculosis and malaria. The unit works to heal patients and prevent outbreaks from crossing borders, providing a lifeline of safety.

Research Spotlight: The IRONMUM Trial at SMRU

IRONMUM is one example of SMRU’s long-standing collaboration with global partners to address critical health challenges in low- and middle-income settings. Through partnerships with institutions such as the University of Oxford and the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), SMRU conducts research that is firmly grounded in local realities, ensuring that preventive strategies and treatments are effective where they are needed most. Working on the Thailand–Myanmar border since 1986, SMRU combines research, clinical care, and humanitarian action to improve the health of mothers, children, and vulnerable populations affected by infectious diseases and limited access to healthcare.

Analysis of SMRU samples could lead to vaccine for multiple childhood infections

The first large-scale genomic exploration of H. influenzae, a bacteria that causes 200m infections per year in children worldwide, has revealed extensive antibiotic resistance and uncovered genetic clues that could help in future vaccine development, say researchers from Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Universities of Oxford and Oslo, and MORU’s Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU) and Cambodia-Oxford Medical Research Unit (COMRU).

Rose McGready honoured for her work to improve healthcare for Thai-Myanmar border communities

On 17 Nov at a ceremony in Canberra, Prof Rose McGready, Deputy Director of the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU), was honoured with the 2026 ACT Australian of the Year Award for her extraordinary dedication over 30 years to improving healthcare for displaced and marginalised communities along the Thai-Myanmar border which, coupled with clinical and research work that has changed the treatment of malaria around the world, particularly for pregnant and breastfeeding women, has saved the lives of countless mothers and their babies.

Faulty malaria rapid test raises global concerns, say MORU researchers

A new study published in Malaria Journal warns that a widely used malaria rapid diagnostic test by Abbott Diagnostics may be delivering false-negative results, risking delayed treatment and fuelling malaria transmission. Researchers from SMRU have called for the test’s withdrawal, citing evidence from Southeast Asia.

A migrant mother’s 4-hr walk for antenatal care

On the Thai-Myanmar border, life is often a daily struggle, especially for expectant mothers like migrant day labourer Daw Mu (name changed for privacy), who lives in a village near Jaydi Koh in Tak Province’s Phop Phra District. Now three months pregnant with her second child, Daw Mu must walk 4 hours to the Jaydi Koh SMRU/BHF outreach clinic for antenatal care, often with her four-year-old son by her side.

SMRU honored at One Health Conference

On 13 August 2025, SMRU received the “One Health Champion” First Prize for its response to a cholera outbreak along the Thai–Myanmar border. Awarded at a national One Health conference, the recognition highlights SMRU’s excellence in cross-border disease surveillance and public health response through collaborative, sustainable policy efforts.

Oxford and Thai Health Officials Sign Agreement on Infectious Disease Control

On 13 May 2025, representatives from the University of Oxford and the Tak Provincial Public Health Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen collaboration on infectious disease prevention and control along the Thai–Myanmar border. The agreement focuses on joint research into key diseases affecting the border population.

Myanmar-Thailand: Healthcare access without barriers

In Myanmar, the United Nations reports that 3 million people have been displaced due to the ongoing civil war. The 2021 coup intensified conflicts and worsened the humanitarian crisis, forcing at least a hundred thousand to seek refuge and medical care in Thailand. The Tak province, a key crossing point between the two countries, sees a rising number of new migrants (with 40% of women) crossing the border every day. In response to this health emergency caused by these large-scale forced displacements, the SMRU and M-FUND projects have concentrated their efforts along the border area.

Study finds methaemoglobin levels could predict malaria recurrence

A new study has found methaemoglobin levels during treatment for vivax malaria could be used to predict whether a patient would have recurrent malaria.

Dialogue drama on adolescent pregnancy in a marginalised migrant population on the Thailand-Myanmar border

A participatory-action approach involving community members and adolescents resulted in a dialogue-drama on adolescent pregnancy, contraception, and choice in the event of an unplanned pregnancy. The dialogue-drama augmented discussion of traditionally taboo issues and this ethnographic method is potentially useful for similar global health settings.

Visit MalariaWorld

The Malariaworld exhibition was developed in conjunction with World Malaria Day 2024 to raise awareness of malaria and malaria research, and to highlight some of our contributions to malaria research. You can now visit our virtual exhibition!

New evidence supports higher dose antimalarial to combat relapsing malaria

Analysis of data from more than 6,800 patients located across 16 countries has supported the need to increase the dose of the antimalarial drug, primaquine, in Plasmodium vivax malaria endemic countries.

Identifying factors for maternal and foetal mortality from malaria

A study coordinated by NDM researchers published in BMC Medicine explores the factors predicting higher mortality in pregnant women with severe malaria and describes how severe falciparum malaria in pregnancy affects foetal health and mortality.

Are we getting tafenoquine dosing right?

Researchers analysing clinical trial data for the new antimalarial drug tafenoquine find that higher doses are needed to cure reliably vivax malaria infection.

Meta-analysis informed the updated WHO guidelines for treatment of uncomplicated malaria in the first trimester of pregnancy

A new WWARN meta-analysis, commissioned by the World Health Organization and which informed a change to its treatment guidelines, has been published in The Lancet. The study provides compelling evidence that artemether-lumefantrine should now replace quinine as the treatment of choice in the first trimester.

SMRU and BHF inaugurate new Admin Building

Today saw the long-awaited grand opening of the new Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU) / Borderland Health Foundation (BHF) Admin Building in Mae Ramat, Thailand, near the Thai-Myanmar border. And, boy was it worth the wait! Years in the planning, the very impressive new Admin Building looked absolutely stunning, the siting and architecture being universally admired by the many guests.

Study shows clear link between antibiotic treatment and acquisition of AMR bacteria in children

A study of the genetic diversity of Streptococcus pneumoniae, the bacterium responsible for hundreds of thousands of infant deaths each year, found that deep sequencing whole pneumococcal populations gave unsurpassed sensitivity for detecting multiple colonisations and was twice as effective at detecting invasive virulent strains of the bacteria as current best methods, say researchers in a study published in Nature Microbiology.

INTERBIO-21st study findings could help predict infants at risk of obesity

Fetal abdomen growth and the mother’s blood fat metabolites very early in pregnancy influence a child’s weight, body fat, vision and neurodevelopment at 2 years of age

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