About – CARMAH

VALUE

Respect: highly respected on the issues concerning LGBT community
Collaboration: We have established effective working relationships with local health authorities, with public and private health service providers, as well as the other MSM community based-organizations (CBOs) in Ho Chi Minh City

Service: CARMAH has been very active and effective in doing research and community interventions including sexual health education, counseling, testing, and referral of treatment and care programs.

Excellent: Conduct high-quality research and evaluations to international standards.

Inclusion: Our working environment is multicultural, professional, and stimulating. The LGBTQI community are active participants in our work.

OUR CORE VALUE

VISION

is to become the leading research center of,by and for LGBTQI+ community in Vietnam on sexual health, and wellbeing.

MISSION

is to conduct the quality and standard research, to improve the health and quality of life of LGBTQI+ community through the application of effective and evidence-based health interventions. In that the LGBTQI community has the capacity to provide health services and interventions for its members and the responsibility to thoroughly evaluate those activities for efficacy

OUR CORE VALUE

VISION

is to become the leading research center of,by and for LGBTQI+ community in Vietnam on sexual health, and wellbeing.

MISSION

Mr. An Bao

The Director of CARMAH. Currently He is a Ph.D student at Mahidol University, Thailand. He graduated with a Master of Public Health in Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam. He is a Vietnamese expert in public health with experience working with the government and non-government sector, focusing on HIV/AIDS services. He also has extensive experiences in laboratory environments, particularly in designing, implementing, and monitoring data management systems in support of laboratory quality management. He is extremely familiar with both national and international quality standards for HIV and CD4 laboratory procedures, and with the structure and policies of the Vietnam Ministry of Health in relation to HIV. He contributes to building the capacity of local institutions, including the Ministry of Health, provincial health services and local organizations, to implement and take full ownership of evidence-based interventions designed to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS. These interventions focus on integrated prevention, care and treatment for people who inject drugs, female sex workers and their clients, and homosexual relations between men.

In November 2018, assigned by Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA)/ Ministry of Science and Technology, as the Director of Center for Applied Research on Men and Community Health – CARMAH. a local MSM-led Non-profit Organization, established to improve the health and quality of life of LGBTQI+ community in Vietnam through the application of effective and evidence-based health interventions.

Dr. Donn Colby

Dr. Donn Colby is a Research Physician at the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. Based in Seattle, WA, he supervises collaborative studies with Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Washington State and contributes to clinical protocols implemented in Asia. Prior to joining MHRP in 2019, he was co-investigator on the RV254 trial of acute HIV infection and the project lead on a number of clinical trials implemented in collaboration with MHRP at the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dr. Colby received his B.A. in Biology at Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He did his internal medicine residency training and Masters in Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2001 he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study the epidemiology of HIV in Vietnam, leading to over two decades of collaborative work in Southeast Asia. He was voted Distinguished Alumni of the year by the University of Washington School of Public Health in 2006.

Dr. Colby’s has published extensively on the epidemiology of HIV in Southeast Asia, clinical outcomes among people living with HIV, the implementation of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and clinical trials of novel therapeutics investigating the potential to cure HIV infection. He is also a member of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), HIV Reservoirs and Viral Eradication (Cure) Transformative Science Group and an academic editor for PLoS One

Dr. Donn Colby

Mr Huu Tran Thanh -Project Coordinator

Tran Thanh Huu graduated with a Bachelor degree in Accounting-Finance Auditing from Hung Vuong University in 2012.

In March 2014, Huu began working as an Accountant-Administrator at CARMAH, concurrent with conducting interviews for the Project on Building Physical Health Interventions in the Group of Male Sex Workers, an NIH-sponsored collaboration with Hanoi Medical University and New York University. During his time at CARMAH, Huu once participated as a project manager in the Center’s projects such as TransVN cooperating with the University of Pittsburgh, VinaPrEP cooperating with UNAIDS, TestSGN cooperating with APPCOM, PrEP expansion project in cooperation with Hanoi Medical University and US CDC, etc.

In 2020, with technical and financial support from CARMAH, TestSGN Social Enterprise was established with two clinics specializing in Psychiatry and HIV/AIDS treatment with the desire to provide comprehensive healthcare services to the LGBTQ+ community in Ho Chi Minh City.

Lê công tâm - cán bộ kế toán

Le Cong Tam graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Banking and Finance from Ho Chi Minh City Open University in 2013.

Since 2014, he has held sales support positions at Mitsubishi and general accountant for Khanh Nguyen Production.

In January 2017, he had been employed at CARMAH up to now as Chief Accountant – General Administration. During his working process at the Center, he experienced the following jobs included: consulting, customer service related to HIV testing and prevention (PrEP), supporting HIV-positive customers to connect to treatment, monitoring and planning the payment of the project’s budget lines reasonably, and preparing financial statements for sponsors in each period.

Tô Vĩnh Oai - Cán bộ truyền thông

To Vinh Oai graduated with Advanced Diploma, specializing in Tourism and Hospitality Management at Melior Business School (Singapore) in 2010.

Since 2010, Oai has worked at many companies in the communication department, where he has contributed to the creation and execution of planning.

In July 2020, Oai started communication and community mobilization work at the CARMAH center. He was in charge of nonprofit programs like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), HIV testing, and other programs for the community, particularly for young target groups.

bùi quang tuấn - cán bộ kỹ thuật

In September 2022, Bui Quang Tuan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Counseling and Psychotherapy from Hoa Sen University after taking first place in the “Excellent Lotus” category at the university’s 2021 scientific conference competition.

Tuan began an internship in clinical psychology in November 2022 at the Department of Clinical Psychology at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy and the Touching Soul Center mental health facility.

From October 2020, he was an Intern and a collaborator before becoming a full-time employee in the position of Technical Officer of the Mental Health Program, in charge of the Florida State University Project Research Assistant at the Center for Applied Research in Men’s and Community Health (CARMAH) and also support case management at the TestSGN Clinic.

During the Covid-19 epidemic, Tuan joined the Psychological Support Volunteer at Field Hospital No.02.

Working experience and scientific research on LGBTQ+ subjects (come-out, HIV/AIDS, self-compassion, self-esteem) and the quality of life of the senior citizen.

đỗ nguyễn anh minh - technical specialist

Do Nguyen Anh Minh is a technical specialist at CARMAH, specializing in supporting individuals participating in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) HIV prevention projects. Minh has over 3 years of experience in providing assistance to individuals and working with relevant agencies in delivering community support services. Minh can help you feel safe and confident about your sexual health before and after engaging in intimate activities with a partner.

đỗ nguyễn anh minh - technical specialist

Nguyễn Tuấn anh - Điều dưỡng PK TestSGN

Nguyen Tuan Anh graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in General Medicine at Quang Trung Intermediate School in 2022.

From October 2020 to November 2022, Tuan Anh worked as a collaborator for CARMAH Center, outreaching and advising the community on programs such: Pre-Exposure Prevention (PrEP), HIV testing and support, and helping the community connect to free health services.

Tuan Anh joined the TestSGN clinic’s nursing team full-time in December 2022 as part of the CARMAH center. He was in charge of undergoing testing, counseling, and frequent follow-up care for clients.