Arin Wongprommoon

Arin studies melioidosis, a neglected tropical disease endemic to Thailand and other regions of southeast Asia, caused by the environmental bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. Different melioidosis patients can have different responses to disease, which range from asymptomatic presentations to sepsis and death. To understand these differences in disease outcomes, Arin integrates different types of ‘omics datasets – pathogen genomics, human host transcriptomics, and metabolomics – to explain and predict melioidosis outcomes. Arin uses bioinformatics methods, including differential expression analysis, differential splicing analysis, and bacterial GWAS, to answer his research questions. Ultimately, Arin hopes that a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of melioidosis can help clinicians stratify patients and identify better treatment strategies.

Previously, Arin obtained a PhD in systems biology at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Dr Diego Oyarzún and Prof Peter Swain. In this time, he studied a type of biological rhythm in budding yeast by time-lapse imaging of cells in microfluidics devices, followed by analysing images and classifying time series by building software pipelines based on machine learning. Outside scientific research, Arin has an interest in raising awareness and promoting discussion of issues concerning equity, diversity, and inclusion at MORU.