About Dr. Watakulsin
Dr. Peeriya Watakulsin is a physician and field epidemiologist at Thailand’s Division of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control. Trained at Chulalongkorn University, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the U.S. CDC, he pioneered 7-1-7 implementation in Thailand—scaling it from the subnational to the national level and expanding it across human, animal and environmental health under a One Health framework.
Why he’s nominated
Dr. Watakulsin’s implementation of 7-1-7 in Thailand stands as a model of what determined, autonomous leadership can achieve. He successfully led the rapid adoption of the 7-1-7 target and drove its uptake across human, animal, and environmental health sectors. He has been a true pathfinder—pioneering the application of machine learning to an extensive database of 7-1-7 events, convening a landmark multisectoral national conference, publishing operational research, and bringing Thailand’s 7-1-7 story to a global audience with Epidemics That Didn’t Happen.