eohsi news and announcements

Mark Gregory Robson is the proud recipient of the Friend of Thai Science Award during a ceremony held in Washington, D.C. on December 6, 2024.

This prestigious award from the Office of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Royal Thai Embassy in Washington D.C. is awarded annually to individuals from the U.S., Canada or Latin America countries for their significant contributions to Thai higher education, science, research and innovation.

Mark Robson’s commitment to Thai science projects and communities and, in particular,  his work on the ITREOH at Chulalongkorn College of Public Health Science and the GEOHealth Hub project, has been invaluable in training new public health graduates in Thailand. 

“The Friend of Thai Science Award 2024 is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work I have been able to do, with the support of Rutgers and EOHSI in particular, over the last 30 years in Thailand”, says Mark Robson when asked about the significance of this award.

“I am so grateful to the University for supporting this work and providing a platform for me to apply for competitive funding through NIH and other sources.  The Thai word Ajarn (อาจารย์) means “teacher” or “professor” and is used as a term of respect. I have now been Ajarn Mark for 30+ years.  It has been a privilege to teach hundreds of students in the Environmental Risk class, which will be held for the 25^th year in January to the dozens of MPH and PhD students under the NIH Fulbright” he continued. 

“I have had the privilege of mentoring such a wonderful cohort of young women and men. After all these years, I now find myself serving as advisor to the students of my original graduate students, or as the Thai faculty like to tease, Ajarn Mark is now “Grandfather Professor”.”

“It also shows what EOHSI is at its best”, he pointed out as a long-standing EOHSI member. “These collaborations over the years have included my wonderful scientific collaborators like Brian Buckley, Nancy Fiedler, Howard Kipen, Michael Gochfeld, Joanna Burger, Keith Cooper, and others.”