UNAIR NEWS – Indonesia is the 3rd largest country with the highest number of tuberculosis (TB) patients in the world. As a doctor and researcher, Dr. H. Satria Arief Prabowo, MD, PhD or Satria feels responsible to contribute and provide solutions.
One of the solutions sought by Satria is the development of a therapeutic vaccine for TB sufferers. In 2019, Satria was also entrusted to be in a team making WHO guidelines for the handling of Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) in children and adolescents in the European region. The book was published in 2019 and accessible on the WHO website .
“My participation in the drafting team of the handbook was considered due to my experience over the past few years in this field,” Satria said.
In addition to developing vaccines, Satria also had the opportunity to present the results of his research at various prestigious international congresses, such as in European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) congress in Madrid, Spain (May 2017) and Ljubljana, Slovenia (May 2019), World Global Forum for Tuberculosis Vaccines in New Delhi, India (February 2018), World Conference of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (IUATLD) in Liverpool, England (October 2016-17), and Keystone Symposia: New Approaches to Vaccines for Human and Veterinary Tropical Diseases in Cape Town, South Africa (May 2016).
When presenting the results of research at IUATLD, Satria took the time to call her parents who were in Surabaya to ask for blessings just before the presentation. It was their support that later made him confident and able to perform optimally at the prestigious event.
“It was my parents’ support that made me confident and I could perform optimally when presenting the results of my research,” he continued.
At the moment, Satria is still continuing his research for the development of therapeutic vaccination for tuberculosis (TB) sufferers as a research fellow at The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), England. The research began in 2014 when he started his Doctoral program until he completed his PhD. The research was carried out in collaboration with Immunitor Inc. and Archivel Farma, SL which is a non-profit vaccine development agency in Europe.
Been to 51 countries
Satria is grateful, at his youth, he has been to 51 countries for research. According to him, being involved in collaborative research abroad has benefited him, especially giving him the opportunity to interact with many researchers from various institutions in the world. Both in the context of presenting research results in international congresses, attending meetings for research collaboration, visiting several institutes, and establishing relationships with research colleagues in Europe and the world.
Satria believes that everyone has their own role and calling as they live in the world. For this reason, Satria advised UNAIR students to find their passion and expertise in the field they love as early as possible.
He also said that students need to prepare themselves to always work hard in achieving the goals they aspire to. When students have tried and tried to the best, the rest is surrender or trust it to Allah SWT as the Creator.
” Man Jadda Wa Jadda (Anyone who truly works will definitely succeed, red ),” concluded Satria. (*)
Author: Galuh Mega Kurnia
Editor : Binti Q. Masruroh
