BIOPHICS HISTORY
BIOPHICS is the center established at the Faculty of Tropical Medicine (FTM), Mahidol University in February 2008; it is, however, evolved from Data Management Unit (DMU) founded in 1999. The FTM, since its establishment in 1960, has been well reputed as a leading research institute in various tropical diseases, particularly in malaria, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, liver-fluke infection, etc. It is also well recognised as a leading institute that has productive research in clinical trials in those diseases. Because of the explosive HIV epidemic in Thailand in 1988, some of the Faculty's researchers have paid attention to this infection as another area of research. Beginning in 1991, many epidemiological researches had been carried out with collaboration between the Faculty and various other institutes, e.g., the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the HIV/AIDS Collaboration-HAC (a joint activity of the Ministry of Public Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Faculty of Medicine -Siriraj Hospital of Mahidol University, etc. This is part of an attempt to understand and to learn means to stop the transmission of HIV/AIDS in the country. In 1995, research in the development and plans for preventive HIV vaccine had been founded, i.e., the start of enrolment of injecting drug users (IDUs) in Bangkok to determine if undergoing an HIV vaccine efficacy trial in this population is possible, and the phase I/II trial of the Genetech Inc. These developments and productive research led to the start of an HIV-1 candidate vaccine efficacy trial in early 1999. As a part of the national requirements to strengthen the capacity of the Thai scientists in an HIV vaccine arena, data management is an area defined as very important for Thailand, besides other strengthened capacities in HIV state-of-the-art laboratory techniques. In collaboration with VaxGen Inc. (the manufacturer of VaxGen HIV-1 MN/A244 candidate vaccine, at Brisbane, CA, USA); the Data Management Unit (DMU) was officially established by the Faculty's Executive Committee as of 12 March 1999 and starting the conduct of the efficacy trial of the VaxGen's product. Since 2002, the DMU has become a collaborator of the second efficacy trial of the Phase III Trial of Aventis Pasteur Live Recombinant ALVAC-HIV (vCP1521) Priming With VaxGen gp120 B/E (AIDSVAX B/E) Boosting in HIV-uninfected Thai Adults. This will be the second efficacy trial of HIV-1 candidate vaccines in Thailand and the third one in the world after the VaxGen's trials. This trial is collaboration between Mahidol University, the Department of Disease Control of the Ministry of Public Health, and Office of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army Medical Department. In addition, the DMU has expanded its services in a programme to collaborate with the Applied and Technological Service Centre of Mahidol University starting in 2002. The programme renders services on data management for biomedical research and services. In 2007, with its capacities and goal to be the leader in tropical disease for Asia, the development of excellence center of informatics at FTM was proposed to Rockefeller Foundation aiming at setting up standards and being reference center for informatics in tropical medicine for the region and beyond. Due to limited resource setting which leads to lack of health informatics literacy and unavailability and/or inaccessibility of health informatics systems in the region, the ultimate goal of the center within the FTM environment is set to be the excellence in resources for both "teaching and reaching" the public with integrity and quality health informatics. It is also planned to bridge and network with other existing centers for knowledge-based and health informatics for global health outcomes at large. Rockefeller Foundation has approved the idea and provided initial funding to establish BIOPHICS in late 2007. The Faculty's Executive Committee has officially acknowledged the structure of the center functioning under Dean of FTM as of February 2008. Several projects under BIOPHICS name have started since then. Simultaneously in February 2008, BIOPHICS was approached by Southeast Asia Influenza Research Network (SEA ICRN) to take a major role as regional center for data management. The SEA ICRN is a multi-lateral, collaborative partnership of hospitals and institutions in Southeast Asia countries, United Kingdom and USA. The collaborations include US NIAID, Oxford University, Wellcome Trust, and WHO. The role of BIOPHICS as part of its networking with SEA ICRN, in particular, is to serve as regional center of data management for research studies of the network. As the regional center of data management of the SEA ICRN network, BIOPHICS commits to provide supports and share experiences for the collaborative network. With its capacities, experiences and goal to be one of the effective and productive parts of the network, BIOPHICS aims to work together with all members of the network not only for clinical research management support but also for training personnel in the networks in corresponding to its "teaching and reaching" philosophy. The collaborative activities and services to be provided by BIOPHICS will not only include those in the network but it hopes for the advancement of biomedical and clinical research as well as public health at large.
