GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia has yet another academic feather on her cap with Penangite Dr Cheah Phaik Yeong (pic) conferred the title of Professor of Global Health at University of Oxford.

       It was a red-letter day on Dec 7 for Cheah, 47, when she bestowed the title by the varsity’s vice-chancellor Prof Louise Richardson.

       Is she the first Malaysian woman to be a full professor at the oldest university of the English-speaking world, which dates back to 1096?

       “I am sure I am not. Because University of Oxford is very big and old with many departments. It’s not easy to tell the nationalities of the researchers,” she said.

       As Professor of Global Health, she leads research relating to the health of populations in the worldwide context.

       “The priority of global health research is improving health and well-being as well as equity in health for all people worldwide,” she explained.

       Cheah now heads the Bioethics and Engagement Department at Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Bangkok, Thailand.

       “My advice to young women including Malaysians – work hard and dream big; don’t let being a woman or being Malaysian, or anything stand in the way,” she said.

       She takes pride in the fact that people she meets around the world know Malaysia.

       “If they have been to Malaysia, they love telling me that, and that they love the food,” she said.

       Cheah has many research projects going on and recently finished an international study on Covid-19.

       Titled “Economic and social impacts of Covid-19 and public health measures: results from an anonymous online survey in Thailand, Malaysia, the UK, Italy and Slovenia”, this research paper is now available to read online.

       Cheah expressed her worry for how Covid-19 preventive measures take a toll on humanity, economically and socially.

       “The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities. The world can only overcome it if all of us take this into account.

       “Covid-19 and public health measures have uneven economic and social impacts on people from different countries and social groups,” she explained.

       She stressed that governments need to understand these impacts in future public health interventions and mitigate their negative consequences.

       If not for the pandemic, Cheah said she comes home three or four times a year.

       “I miss my mum, sister and brother and their families. I am proud to be a Penangite and Malaysian,” said the St George’s Girls School alumnus, who earned her Bachelor of Pharmacy in 1998 and Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2002 at Universiti Sains Malaysia.

       She earned her Erasmus Mundus Masters on Bioethics in 2016.

       Last year, Johorean Dr Masliza Mahmod, 49, was made associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at University of Oxford.