Dr Cindy Chu
Contact information
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Cindy Chu
Senior clinical researcher
- LOMWRU paediatric pneumonia team lead
Bio
Cindy Chu is an internal medicine and paediatrics (IM/Paeds) physician working in the southeast Asia region since 2006. Her humanitarian work supporting clinical residency training in Lao PDR led her to the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) at Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU) in Thailand where she began conducting Plasmodium vivax treatment trials under the tutelage of Professors Sir Nicholas White and François Nosten. She is now based at the Lao-Oxford-Mahosot Hospital-Wellcome Trust Research Unit (LOMWRU) in Lao PDR.
Her initial research focused on optimising the efficacy and effectiveness of primaquine (an 8-aminoquinoline prescribed for 7 to 14 days) for Plasmodium vivax radical cure and the intersection with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) status.
Since the regulatory approval of tafenoquine, a single-dose 8-aminoquinoline agent, her research has shifted towards optimising tafenoquine dosing and expanding tafenoquine's role in P. vivax radical cure for patients of all ages. This aligns with her aspiration to improve health in populations in low middle income countries by improving health care delivery.
SEADOT study
Primaquine in G6PD heterozygotes
Recent publications
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Evaluation of the Wondfo G6PD/Hb Test for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency: preliminary performance, matrix equivalence, and usability.
Journal article
Green RK. et al, (2025), Malar J, 24
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High-dose primaquine reduces vivax relapses: time for change.
Journal article
Commons RJ. and Chu CS., (2025), Lancet Infect Dis
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Submicroscopic malaria in pregnancy and associated adverse pregnancy events: A case-cohort study of 4,352 women on the Thailand-Myanmar border.
Journal article
Gilder ME. et al, (2025), PLoS Med, 22
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A mixed methods study investigating factors affecting adherence to Plasmodium vivax malaria primaquine radical cure regimens among migrants along the Myanmar-Thailand border.
Journal article
Ansari AT. et al, (2025), PLOS Glob Public Health, 5
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Primaquine for uncomplicated Plasmodium vivax malaria in children younger than 15 years: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.
Journal article
Commons RJ. et al, (2024), Lancet Child Adolesc Health, 8, 798 - 808