On 24 January 2024, Mrs. Arunee Hiam, the Deputy-Director General of Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), delivered remarks at the opening ceremony of the kick-off meeting of the International Research Laboratory "Health, Disease Ecology, Environment and Policy" (IRL - HealthDEEP) at the Tropical Disease Research Center, Kanchanaburi Campus, Mahidol University.

The International Research Laboratory "Health, Disease Ecology, Environment and Policy" (IRL-HealthDEEP) is a new Thai–French collaborative research unit, launched in July 2023 under the collaboration of the Faculty of Veterinary Technology, Kasetsart University, the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). The meeting provided an opportunity for representatives from the government sector, international organizations, academia and researchers to exchange views on collaborative research in health, disease ecology, environmental issues and various policies related to biodiversity, zoonotic diseases and their connection to human health.

The establishment of IRL-HealthDEEP builds upon the success of the Innovative Animal Health project, being implemented from 2020 to 2025, under the coordination and financial support from TICA and the French Embassy in Thailand, led by Kasetsart University as a Thai implementing agency. Subsequently, researchers from IRL-HealthDEEP and Innovative Animal Health will work together to develop research and elevate policy discussion in Global Health, One Health, and Planetary Health using a multidisciplinary approach in the context of interconnected social, environmental, and health issues.

In her remarks, the Deputy Director-General of TICA shared TICA's mission, which is to strengthen and promote human security in the areas of food, health, jobs, and energy and environment. Additionally, she provided examples of TICA's best practices and experiences in international development cooperation projects on public health, such as Universal Health Coverage (UHC), Maternal Healthcare and Tuberculosis Control and Treatment, emphasizing the vision of TICA to be a bridge between the government sector, the private sector, and civil society in partnership for development, both bilaterally and trilaterally, towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. In this regard, the Deputy Director-General also reaffirms TICA commitment to assist in bridging with relevant agencies to push forward for the translation of research finding into policy and real practices.