MU Doctor Elected
Distinguished Fellow

Prof. Dr. Pakit Vichyanond

Prof. Dr. Pakit Vichyanond, of the Department of Pediatrics at MU’s Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, was recently elected an International Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), in recognition of his several contributions in the field of allergy/immunology. The ACAAI is a professional association of 4,000 allergists/immunologists. Established in 1942, it is dedicated to improving the quality of patient care in allergy and immunology through research, advocacy and professional and public education.

Dr. Pakit has had a long and enduring medical career, which began with a pediatric residency at Chulalongkorn Hospital in Thailand after receiving his medical degree there in 1975. He completed his Pediatric Residency at the Charity Hospital of Louisiana, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and University of Tennessee Health Sciences. In addition, he completed his two-year fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Children’s Mercy Hospital of the University of Missouri at Kansas City. After a long pediatric practice in the US, he returned to complete his fellowship in Allergy and Immunology at the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in Denver, Colorado. He then returned to Thailand and joined the Faculty at the Department of Pediatrics, Siriraj Hospital, in 1989. He is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital.

He became an ACAAI Fellow in 1990, and his numerous appointments include Vice President of the Allergy and Immunology Society of Thailand, Executive Member of the Asia Pacific Association of Allergology and Immunology, and Member of the House of Delegates for the World Allergy Organization and the Scientific Committee for the World Allergy Congress 2003 in Vancouver. He is Past President of the Asia Pacific Association of Pediatric Allergy, Respirology and Immunology (1998-2002) and currently serves as an Executive Member. He is also Associating Editor of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and on the editorial board of the Asian Pacific Journal of Allergy and Immunology.

Dr. Pakit has published around 70 journal articles, many of them dealing with aspects of childhood asthma in Thailand. He has also published ‘Allergy 2000’, a textbook in the Thai language, and contributed a chapter on childhood asthma to the book ‘Textbook of Pediatric Asthma: An International Perspective’. He has presented lectures at around 18 international conferences and symposia, in addition to his extensive lecturing experience in Thailand. Another major achievement is the establishment of the first formal training program in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Siriraj Hospital in 1991. Dr. Pakit has trained over 20 Thai Fellows in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology over the past decade. He will be honored at a Convocation during the ACAAI’s Annual Meeting in November 2003 in New Orleans, US.