In this next feature, we hear from Professor Direk Limmathurotsakul, Head of Microbiology, Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) and Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM), University of Oxford. The impact of Direk's research extends from the laboratory to healthcare and policy, strengthening local research capacity while translating evidence into action. His work has been recognised globally and in 2026 Direk was awarded the UNESCO-Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology for his pioneering research on melioidosis and antimicrobial resistance and how it has transformed how microbiological evidence informs public health policy and saves lives.

Where are you based and what is your role within NDM?
I am based at the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) in Bangkok, Thailand, where I head the Department of Microbiology. Within NDM, I am Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at NDM. Alongside leading the Microbiology Department at MORU, I lead several small teams across my research areas and drive a number of initiatives, including South–South knowledge transfer, forming and running national and international research networks, locally grounded mentoring schemes, public engagement and policy engagement.

Tell us about your research or area of work
I focus on melioidosis and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Melioidosis is an infection caused by the environmental Gram-negative bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei, and is endemic in most tropical countries. In both areas, my research covers microbiology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and surveillance. My work runs from the bench to the bedside, from fragment data to solid knowledge, and from research communities to public and policy engagement. A good example is AMASS, a free tool my team built for both science (in-depth analysis and research publications) and service (closely collaborating with healthcare providers and policy makers; and training the trainers). AMASS enables hospitals to independently analyze their own microbiology, hospital admission and drug-dispensing data already sitting on their own computers, and automatically generate a solid report (in both PDF and CSV formats) for actions. In that one tool, laboratory science, clinical science, epidemiology, local and national action, and policy all meet.

Site visit 2023, courtesy of MORU How did you come to become a Professor at Oxford?
I trained as a medical doctor in Thailand, worked in provincial hospitals for a few years, and have been with MORU since 2004. I completed my PhD through the Open University UK in 2008, supervised by several professors from NDM, and awarded a fellowship to study for an MSc in Medical Statistics from LSHTM, UK in 2009. I have been continuously working on my research areas and the initiatives described above. I should be honest that I did not set out to chase the title or check the criteria in advance. In 2022, it was suggested that I apply for Recognition of Distinction in 2023, and I am grateful for that. It meant a great deal that the NDM and the University of Oxford recognised that global health research, done where the disease actually is, counts.

What does your day-to-day work look like now?
My days are a balance of research, mentoring, driving initiatives, collaborating with all kinds of stakeholders, and a great deal of problem solving. I supervise students, teach advanced statistics at Mahidol University in Thailand and a few sessions at NDM, and sit on committees at every level, from MORU to Thailand's National Action Plan on AMR to international organisations such as the WHO. 

Collaborating with stakeholders in Thailand and other LMICs to find ways in which research can lead to impact takes up some part of my time, but it is the most rewarding. With all stakeholders, I keep stating that I am a researcher and therefore cannot be the one delivering the service. I keep looking for mechanisms through which we can collaborate with and support them to improve services, and opportunities to turn those actions into scientific papers together. Making time to mentor anyone who seeks mentoring, and improving mentoring schemes for people in Southeast Asia (importing models from the UK doesn't work well), is the part I enjoy most. I also work on improving myself: spending time with my mentors, identifying the skills I lack, and then learning and training to build them.

How have you managed work alongside other responsibilities and competing demands over the course of your career?
I think setting goals, always having a plan B (and C), and keeping balance are the keys. I always set short-term, mid-term and long-term goals across multiple aspects of my live (e.g. research goals, career goals, life goals and impact goals). It is important to recognise that a long-term goal may never be reached if the short-term and mid-term goals leading to it are not completed. It is equally critical to always have more than one plan and to revise all of those plans as we go. Keeping balance, learning how to say "no", and expecting that there will always be an unexpected event are equally crucial. I try to keep about 5–10% of my time flexible so that I can respond to urgent needs.   Working in MORU, Thailand, courtesy of MORU

What challenges or setbacks have you encountered along the way?
Failed grant applications are setbacks, but the real challenge is surviving them, bouncing back, and continuing towards the goals I want to reach. Like any academic, I have to publish and win grants to keep my teams going, and I am grateful to all the funders who make the work possible. In the years when grants come in, we can move big and fast. In the leaner years, I have to plan carefully how we can survive and still deliver the best we can. My passion keeps me designing studies whose findings healthcare workers, hospital directors and policy makers in LMICs can genuinely use, and working patiently with everyone involved, so that a publication becomes a decision, and a decision becomes a life saved. Holding all of this together, and working out how to make a real-world impact, is something I still navigate every day.

Looking back, what advice would you have given your younger self?
I would tell my younger self what I now tell every young scientist. Start small. You do not need a vast budget, a large sample size or fancy new technology. You need a good research question and a good study design. If the strongest designs (e.g. a randomised controlled trial) are out of reach at your career stage, find alternative robust study designs you can work with. Let your science serve. Be patient: recognition, and even a professorship, arrive late, and that is all right. What matters most is knowing what your goals are and how to reach them.