Pharmacy the right medicine for lecturer

Pharmacy is taking Thai lecturer Chantaratsamon (Joy) Dansirikul around the globe.

Dr Dansirikul, who grew up in Suratthani, has been working in Sweden since November researching population pharmacokinetics — the study of how long the human body takes to absorb, distribute and excrete drugs.

She has a one-year contract to work in Uppsala University with the world-leading pharmacometrics expert, Professor Mats Karlsson.

“Uppsala is one of the best and one of the most popular places in my area of interest,” Dr Dansirikul said.

In September, Dr Dansirikul was awarded a PhD in Pharmacy from The University of Queensland (UQ) at UQ’s inaugural Bangkok graduation celebration.

Her PhD showed how human bodies handled drugs which prevented graft rejections.

She said it also revealed a more sensitive way of monitoring drug concentrations in liver transplant recipients, maximising the benefits of drug therapy while minimising adverse effects.

Dr Dansirikul has lectured and supervised clinical pharmacy students for five years at Silpakorn University in
Thailand, starting in 1997.

She gained her Bachelors and Masters in Pharmacy from Mahidol University.

Her drive to learn and share pharmacy knowledge has allowed her to study and work in Thailand, Australia and now Sweden.

“I think it’s interesting to transfer something you know to other people and you feel good when you see someone understand.”

The 34-year-old said studying at UQ had helped her teaching styles and gave her more confidence with English and social skills.

Two international scholarships enabled her to study at UQ.

UQ, based in Brisbane, Australia, is Queensland’s oldest and largest university which consistently ranks as one of Australia’s most outstanding research and teaching and learning universities.

Media: contact Dr Dansirikul in Sweden on (+46 70 3553862, +46 18 512809, joy.dansirikul@farmbio.uu.se) or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (+61 7 3365 2619, m.holland@uq.edu.au). Hi-res photos available.