Professor Teera Ramasoota holds documents associated with fieldwork carried out while he held the following positions:

1957 – 1959: Chief Medical Officer, Leprosy Control Project, Mahasaeakam Zonal Sub-headquarter, Leprosy Division, Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1960: Chief Medical Officer, Leprosy Control Project, Ubolrajthani Sub-headquarter, Leprosy Division, Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1961 – 1966: Chief Medical Officer, Leprosy Control Project, North-regional Headquarter, Leprosy Division, Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1967 – 1973: Chief of Training and Research Section, Raj-Pracha-Samasai Leprosy Institute, Leprosy Division, Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1974 – 1978: Director of Raj-Pracha-Samasai Leprosy Institute, Leprosy Division, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1978: Leprosy Specialist, Leprosy Division, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1979 – 1981: Director of Leprosy Division, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1981 – 1982: Senior Expert in Preventive Medicine, Leprosy Division, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1983 – 1986: Deputy Director-General, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1987 – 1988: Deputy Permanent Secretary, Office of Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1989 – 1991: Director-General, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1992: Deputy-Permanent Secretary and Director of Policy and Planning Bureau, Office of Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, and retired from Ministry of Public Health.
1993 – 1997: Consultant, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
1998 – 2002: Consultant, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Department of Medical Science, Ministry of Public Health and the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation of Japan.

The collection also contains documents associated with official visits to a specific place:

1957: Manila Skin Clinic, Central Luzon Leprosy Sanatorium in Manila, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, The Philippines (three weeks).
1962: Cebu Skin Clinic Eversley’s Child Leprosy Sanatorium and Leonard Wood Memorial Leprosy Research Center, Cebu, Philippines (two weeks).
1963: Shiefflin Leprosy Center, Vellore Medical College, Chingleput Leprosy Training and Research Center and Polambakam Leprosy Center, Madras, India (three months); Oji River Leprosy Sanatorium and Leprosy Control Project, Nigeria (one month).
1965 – 1966: Johns Hopkins University’s Leprosy Research Center, Baltimore, USA (one month); Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington DC, USA (two days); Temple University, Skin and Cancer Hospital of Philadelphia, USA (one year).
1967: National Leprosy Research Center, Tokyo, Japan (one week).

In this collection are the following reports associated with organisations or conferences (unpublished):

• International Leprosy Congress held at Bergen (Norway), Mexico City (Mexico), The Hague (Netherlands), New Delhi (India), Beijing (China), where he participated as Chairman of some sessions and oral presentations.
• American Peace Corps Volunteers, training and voluntary service in Leprosy Control Project in Thailand in 1968 – 1969, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation of Japan, International Training Course for trainer of leprosy workers in Asia, 1975, 1976, 1977, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation of Japan, International Training Course in Polymerase Chain Reaction, 1990, Sasakawa Research Building, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation of Japan, International Training Course in Ridley Jopling Classification of Leprosy, 1991, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation of Japan, International Conference on Leprosy Control in Asia, 1974, 1975, 1976, Tokyo, Japan.
• World Health Organisation, South-East Asia Regional Organisation. International Training Course in Leprosy Control, 1968, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation of Japan, International Seminar on Chemotherapy in Leprosy, Manila, Philippines, 1976.
• Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation of Japan, Joint Chemotherapy Trails in Leprosy in Thailand, South Korea and Philippines, 1978-1985.
• World Health Organisation, International Workshop on Leprosy Research, 1993, Bangkok, Thailand.

There is correspondence with individuals and organisations:

• Dr Chapman H Binford, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington DC, USA: technical support for establishment of Histopathological Laboratory, Raj-Pracha-Samasai Leprosy Institute Leprosy Division, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand.
• Prof JH Grahams and Prof W Johnson, the Skin and Cancer Hospital of Philadelphia, USA: research project on histopathology and histochemistry of tuberculoid leprosy and sarcoidosis.
• Dr Yo Yuasa, Medical and Executive Director, Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation of Japan: financial and technical support of Leprosy Control Project in Thailand and establishment of Sasakawa Leprosy Research Building, Leprosy Division, Department of Communicable Disease Control; and financial and technical support to the basic scientific research in leprosy for over ten years to date (2002).

There is documentation such as proposals for laboratory work and correspondence regarding experimental work etc. These papers are associated with the projects listed below, carried out at the Sasakawa Research Building and supported by Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation (SMHF) up to 16 July 2002:

1. Polmerase chain reaction for a sensitive and rapid detection of Mycobacterium leprae infection. Published in Communicable Disease proper name? , 1990.
2. Rapid detection of viable and drug resistant Mycobacterium leprae in lepromatous leprosy patients. Unpublished work in 1990.
3. A study on human immunodeficiency virus infection in leprosy patients. Published in journal of Health Science, 1992.
4. Joints study on the detections of Mycobacterium leprae by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) between Yonsei University (South Korea), Mahidol University (Thailand), the Royal Tropical Institute (Netherlands) and the Leprosy Division, Ministry of Public Health. Unpublished work in 1992.
5. A comprehensive investigation of advanced methods in molecular biology for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae. A joint study between the Royal Tropical Institute (Netherlands) and the Leprosy Division, Ministry of Public Health, 1994. The following articles were derived from the investigation:
   • Use of NASBA® RNA amplification for detection of Mycobacterium leprae in skin biopsies from untreated and treated leprosy patients. Published in the International Journal of Leprosy, 1996.
   • DNA amplification for detection of leprosy and assessment of efficacy of leprosy chemotherapy. Published in the International Journal of Leprosy, 1997.
6. The study of anti-PGL-1 antibody level in leprosy patients before and after multi-drug therapy. Published in Southeast Asian Journal of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 1995.
7. Confirmation of specific pathogen free condition of nude mouse rearing facility at the Leprosy Division. Published in the Journal of Medical Science, 1996.
8. Vaccination of mice against the leprosy bacilli with skin-test antigens. Published in the International Journal of Leprosy, 1999.
9. Effect of vaccination with several mycobacterium proteins and lipoproteins on Mycobacterium leprae infection of the mouse. Published in the International Journal of Leprosy, 2001.
10. Effect of vaccination with refined components of the organism on infection of mice with Mycobacterium leprae. Manuscript in progress.
11. The effect of vaccination with several DNA vaccines against Mycobacterium leprae infection of the mouse (2001-2002)
12. Reverse transcription-PCR targeting 16S rRNA and mouse footpads for detection of Mycobacterium leprae and follow-up of leprosy treatment. An ongoing work.
13. Single stranded confirmational polymorphism (SSCP) and mouse footpads for detection of drug-resistant Mycobacterium leprae. Am ongoing work.
14. Early diagnosis of leprosy by M. leprae-specific P21-40-based diagnostic tools. An ongoing work. The following articles were derived from the investigation:
    • T-Cell recognition of peptides from the Mycobacterium leprae 35 kilodalton protein in Thai leprosy patients, healthy contacts and non-contacts. Manuscript in press in the International Journal of Leprosy.
    • T-Cell responses to peptides from M. leprae 10 KDA protein in Thai leprosy patients, healthy contacts and non-contacts. Work presented in the 16th International Leprosy Congress in Brazil.
15. The effects of vaccination with several proteins and fusion proteins of Mycobacterium leprae on M. leprae infection of the mouse. Study begun November 2002.

Information supplied by Teera Ramasoota
Entry made 22 January 2003