A RESEARCHER has made Penang proud when she had the distinction of becoming a full-fledged professor of the University of Oxford.
Dr Cheah Phaik Yeong, 46, who grew up in George Town, was conferred the professorship on Dec 7 in an appointment letter from the university’s vice-chancellor Professor Louise Richardson.
Phaik Yeong, who is now a professor in Global Health, had received the title of associate professor from the world-renowned university in 2016.
She is based in Bangkok and is the founder and current head of Bioethics and Engagement at Mahidol Oxford Medicine Research Unit (MORU).
MORU is Oxford University’s hub in Bangkok and is part of the Nuffield Department of Medicine.
“I am honoured and absolutely delighted to receive the award from the University of Oxford.
“I am proud to be a Penangite and a Malaysian.
“It’s not an easy task but I will strive to do my best.
“The global health research is a research related to the health of the populations in the worldwide context, including those in low-resource settings.
‘The priority of global health research is improving health and wellbeing as well as equity in health for the people worldwide,” she said.
Her scope of work is mainly to conduct health research ethically and responsibly with unreserved populations.
She had also coordinated a multi-centre clinical trial on chronic prostatitis in the country.
At MORU, Phaik Yeong said they do a lot of research on malaria and tropical diseases and in recent times, on Covid-19.
When she was growing up in Penang, she had her primary education at Island Girls’ School and secondary education at St George’s Girls’ School.
Later on, Phaik Yeong went to study at the Universiti Sains Malaysia and graduated with a degree in Pharmacy, MSc in Bioethics and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She is the eldest of three siblings. The middle of the three siblings is Dr Cheah Phaik Kin, an associate professor at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) in Kampar, and the youngest is Dr Cheah Phee Kheng, an emergency physician at a hospital in Penang.
Her mother, Anna Cheah, who was The Star North Regional Associate Editor before her retirement, said Phaik Yeong flew back to Penang to celebrate her 74th birthday on Oct 5 this year.
“We are happy for her,” Anna said. “She really works hard and is very committed to her work.
“Unfortunately, her father (Cheah Eng Wee) had passed away several years ago. He would have been proud to see Phaik Yeong’s success.”
Phaik Yeong has certainly done Penang proud and deserves to be on cloud nine.
For more information, kindly access to https://www.tropmedres.ac/team/phaik-yeong-cheah
Story by Edmund Lee
Pix courtesy of Dr Cheah Phaik Yeong