Assoc. Prof. Sunisa Chaiklieng, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University is the first in Thailand to receive the ILO Master Fellowship Award.

February 6-10, 2022 – Assoc. Prof. Sunisa Chaiklieng, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University attended the “33rd International Congress on Occupational Health (ICOH) 2022. The topic this year was: “Sharing Solutions in Occupational Health through and beyond the Pandemic | Melbourne-Rome global digital congress”. Assoc. Prof. Sunisa also presented her work as the scientific committee of occupational toxicology-ICOH on this occasion. The congress was attended this year by over 2,000 people from all over the world.

Assoc. Prof. Sunisa Chaiklieng’s topic of presentation was: “Occupational Toxicology, Altered  Hematological Parameters among Gasoline Station Workers Exposed to Benzene and Its Impact on Risk Assessment”. Her work has been selected by the Congress Organizing Committee for the “ILO Master Fellowship Award”. The awarding was arranged at the “Closing Ceremony Live”. She is the first scholar in Thailand to receive this award counting from the time ICOH was first organized until now.

Assoc. Prof. Sunisa Chaiklieng conveyed her thankful address. “I am Dr. Sunisa Chaiklieng from Khon Kaen University, Thailand, it is delighted to receiving this prestigious ILO award. I am extremely grateful to the congress organizing committee of ICOH 2022. I am confident that I will make the best of my experience under the International Labour Organization Fellowship in Occupational Safety and Health at ILO international Center, Italy. I promises that, in the near future with any cooperation, I would return value or impact to ICOH as part of sharing solutions in Occupational Health for creating a safer worker’s health, Thank You”. The award is an honor for Thailand. Each awardee will be supported at an amount of 4,235 Euros for accommodation and other expenses for attending training at the International Training Center of ILO, Turin, Italy, which will be for a period of 12 weeks.

The criteria for selecting ILO awards are: 1) the role as the scientific committee of ICOH and presentation at ICOH2022, 2) CV – which, during the past 10 years, Dr. Sunisa has joined ICOH as a scientific committee member (ICOH-SC) in the following topics: 1) ICOH-SC Occupational Toxicology, 2) ICOH- Occupational Health in the Chemical Industry (Medichem Board), and 3) ICOH-SC Musculoskeletal disorders.

The Congress is organized every 3 years. The most recent one was the ICOH 2018, which took place in Dublin, Ireland. The 2021 Congress was formerly planned to be held in Melbourne, Australia. However, with the COVID-19 situation, the organizers postponed it from the former schedule and held it virtually online. The next ICOH in 2024 will be held in Morocco, and the ICOH 2027 is planned to be held in India.