Science and communities in the HIV response in Southeast Asia - Session 1

Nittaya Phanuphak finished her medical degree from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok in 1996 and received her PhD in medicine from the University of Amsterdam in 2013. She is the Executive Director of the Institute of HIV Research and Innovation in Bangkok, Thailand, founded in 2020. She joined the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre (TRCARC) in 2002 to lead a countrywide prevention of vertical transmission operational study of almost 8,000 pregnant women living with HIV. Data generated were used to change Thailand’s guidelines to recommend three-drug regimens to prevent vertical transmission in 2010.

Nittaya has developed a deep interest in the use of key population-centred approaches to enhance access to HIV testing, prevention and treatment. In 2008, she established an anal neoplasia screening service to bring men who have sex with men into HIV services at TRCARC; the model was then replicated in Bali, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur to form the IeDEA-funded Anal Neoplasia Study in Asia and the Pacific (ANSAP). In 2015, she supported the establishment of the Tangerine Community Health Center at TRCARC using an integrated hormone therapy and sexual health service approach to effectively bring almost 4,000 trans women and trans men into services over five years. The model is currently being expanded to community-based organizations (CBOs), as well as public and private clinics, working with trans people in the region.

The high uptake of immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) among Thai men who have sex with men and trans women, together with high HIV prevalence and incidence (demonstrated in Thailand’s first test-and-treat study led by her team in 2012), pushed national HIV guidelines to recommend ART regardless of CD4 count and PrEP for people vulnerable to HIV since 2014. In 2015, she started exploring the use of the Key Population-Led Health Services (KPLHS) approach to enhance HIV cascades, with PEPFAR and USAID support. In the KPLHS model, partnerships between CBOs and government/public health facilities allow capacity building for lay providers, who are members of key populations, to perform HIV testing, link clients living with HIV to ART, dispense PrEP and PEP, and retain both HIV-positive and HIV-negative clients in the programmes. She is working intensively with community and government partners to establish a national technical assistance platform to support KPLHS certification and legalization to ensure its sustainability through domestic financing mechanisms.

Through KPLHS, key population lay providers in Thailand have successfully dispensed PrEP to more than half of the PrEP users in the country. Nittaya strongly believes that PrEP must be demedicalized and requires differentiated service delivery models to rapidly reach high coverage and see its impact on the reduction of new HIV acquisitions.

A person who has been living with HIV since the age of 15 and began advocating for the rights of people living with HIV. They actively push for and provide consultation to help individuals enter the treatment process.

Dr. Khin Cho Win Htin is the Regional HIV Prevention and Treatment Adviser at the UNAIDS Regional Support Team in Bangkok, with 18 years of international experience in HIV service delivery, strategic information, public health research, and evidence-based advocacy. She has worked across project, country, and regional levels to strengthen data use, program coordination, and advocacy in support of more effective and equitable HIV responses. First trained as a medical doctor, she also holds a Master’s in Population and Reproductive Health Research and brings strong expertise in applying data and innovation to enhance the design, delivery, and impact of HIV programmes.

Heather-Marie Schmidt (BMedSc (Hon), MPH, PhD) is the advisor for HIV prevention program implementation, jointly working on the Global Prevention coalition within the UNAIDS Prevention Team, and the HIV Testing, Prevention and Populations team at WHO’s Global HIV, TB, Hepatitis and STI Programme. She leads on global guidance and technical support on PrEP and PEP, key populations, and country support for prevention scale-up more broadly. Between 2018 and 2023, she was the Regional Advisor for PrEP for Asia and the Pacific. She has led and been involved with several large-scale studies including EPIC-NSW and PrEP APPEAL.

Dr. Ngauv Bora, MD, MPH, is the Deputy Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STD (NCHADS) in Cambodia. A public health physician and research leader with over 20 years of experience, he has been instrumental in shaping the country's national HIV/AIDS response. Dr. Bora provides strategic leadership for the national HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs. He oversees policy development, authors national guidelines, and spearheads the introduction of innovative interventions such as Community-Based ARV Delivery (CAD) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). An accomplished implementation science researcher, Dr. Bora has served as a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on numerous NIH and internationally-funded studies. His research focuses on improving HIV service delivery, integrating mental health care, and developing community-based care models and digital health interventions for HIV/AIDS. By bridging policy, clinical practice, and community engagement, his work has made significant contributions to public health in Cambodia and globally. Dr. Bora holds an MPH from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp and is a CHIMERA Research Fellow from Columbia University. A frequent invited speaker at international conferences, he also shares his expertise as a guest lecturer on public health leadership and implementation science.

Danvic Rosadiño serves as the Head of Knowledge and Innovations at LoveYourself, a community-based organization in the Philippines dedicated to providing comprehensive sexual health, transgender health, and mental health services. In addition to his leadership role, Danvic actively contributes to global health policy as a member of various WHO guideline development groups focused on HIV testing, prevention, and sexually transmitted infections. His expertise extends to research and implementation science, where he works on projects related to the testing and prevention of HIV, Hepatitis C, and COVID-19.

Siripong Srichau is the Strategic Communication and Innovation Lead at SWING Foundation and SWING Silom Polyclinic, Thailand. With extensive experience in public health communication and digital innovation, he leads initiatives that bridge technology, community engagement, and sexual health advocacy. His work focuses on improving access to HIV prevention and care services for key populations, including MSM, transgender people, sex workers, and youth. Passionate about creative media and human-centered design, Siripong integrates storytelling, data, and innovation to strengthen inclusive health systems and amplify community voices across Thailand and the Asia-Pacific region.