Introduction of Deyn Natthakhet Yaemim - Dr. Deyn
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Honouring the most Inspiring people in the local to global LGBTQ Community.
"Inspiring the community"Gay men's well-being initiative by Dr.Deyn
Introduction of Deyn Natthakhet Yaemim - Dr.Deyn
The Basics
From: Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Thailand
Living in: Bangkok, Paris, and Zurich.
Profession:
2015 - present: Founder and CEO, PULSE CLINIC (Global)
2015 - present: Medical Director, PULSE CLINIC (Thailand)
2016 - 2024: Research Physician, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience
2016 - present: Tech Designer, PULSE Tech and Innovation
2020 - present: Artist
Medical Education, Virology Education & Research Presentation:
2011 Japanese Governent Scholarship.
Elective in gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Japan.
2012 Japanese Governent Scholarship.
Elective in Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Japan.
2013 Doctor of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University
2014 Internship Physician, Anatomic Pathology. King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital
Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University
2015-2017 Anatomic Pathology. King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital
Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University
2016-2024 Bangkok International Symposium on HIV Medicine - HIV-NAT
2017 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science, 23-26 July 2017 | Paris, France
2018 Speaker: Worldwide PrEP: Online-to-offline HIV prevention for foreigners in Bangkok
AIDS 2018, July 2018, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Speaker: “PrEP tourism” in Bangkok and sexual risk behavior of MSM: A three- and six-month follow up study
AIDS 2018, July 2018, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Speaker: Digital innovations are promoting HIV testing and prevention to MSM in Asia
AIDS 2018, July 2018, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2018 Speaker: HIV Prevention among Transgender People
Symposium held in conjunction with AIDS 2018 – 22 July 2018 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2018 Speaker: ‘Expanding HIV PrEP Access in Asia and the Pacific’
Australasian HIV0AIDS conference, September 2018, Sydney, Australia
2019 Social media content triggers for crystal methamphetamine driven HIV risk sexual behavior
The 14th AIDSImpact conference - in July 2019, London, UK
Determinants of PrEP use among men-having-sex-with-men (MSM) tourists to Thailand
The 14th AIDSImpact conference - in July 2019, London, UK
2019 European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) - HIV summer School, Montpellier, France
2020 Speaker: PrEP, Chemsex and STIs
The Asia-Pacific AIDS & Co-Infections Conference (APACC), Hong Kong
2020 Speaker: Asian Stigma & Discrimination Forum 2020
The Asia-Pacific AIDS & Co-Infections Conference (APACC), Hong Kong
2020 How to Become “HIV Negative, on PrEP” in the Post-AIDS Era:
The Material Culture of Gay Taiwanese Men’s Sexual Health
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO
2021 Speaker: Prevention and Treatment of STIs Among Transgender
International Workshop on HIV and Transgender People 2021
2024 International Neuro-Urology INUS Congresses 2024
INUS International Course on Neuro-Urology, 27-28 June 2024, Bangkok, Thailand
2024 Speaker: Long Acting (injectable) PrEP in Asia
AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, Munich, Germany
Scientific Publication:
2018 HIV prevention after discontinuing pre-exposure prophylaxis: Conclusions from a case study
Jonas, K. J. & Yaemim, N., 9 May 2018, In: Frontiers in Public Health. 6, 4 p., 137.
2021 Factors Predicting Uptake of Sexually Transmitted Infections Testing among Men Who Have Sex with Men Who Are "Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Tourists": An Observational Prospective Cohort Study Wang, Z., Fang, Y., Yaemim, N., Jonas, K. J., Chidgey, A., Ip, M., Cheng, T. & Lau, J. T. F., 30 Mar 2021, In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18, 7, p. 1-15 15 p., 3582.
Public Advocacy:
2018 HIV Prevention Among Transgender People: Advances and Challenges
2019 New HIV/Aids clinic offers help without stigma or judgement for Hongkongers
South China Morning Post
2019 Thailand’s Pulse Clinic now opens in Hong Kong
2020 Creative Entrepreneur • NIA 100 Faces 2020
100 Faces of Thailand's innovation inspirers, National Innovation Agency (Government Office Thailand)
2021-2022 The FUTURE List (Advocacy) Link
2021
- Pulse Clinic holding sexual health art competition Bangkok Post
- Asia’s leading sexual health provider unveils PULSE Awards to promote the importance of sexual health
2023 UNAIDS Asia-Pacific Regional Support Team, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
Bangkok Fast-Track Cities towards ending AIDS by 2030
Bangkok is a founding member of the Fast-Track Cities Initiative to End AIDS in 2030 which
was launched in 2014 through the Paris Declaration on Fast Track Cities Ending the AIDS
Epidemic to galvanize cities to achieve the Fast-Track targets especially the 90-90-90 targets.
Art Exhibition:
2022 Sex and Spirituality, Vienna, Austria
2022 KinkyBKK Sexhibition, Bangkok, Thailand
2022 Mango Art Festival in 2022 curated by Myrtille Tibayrenc, Chiang Mai, Thailand
2022 NOW CALLING The Annual Solo Sexhibition, Bangkok, Thailand
2023 Clifford Chance Arcus Pride Art 2023 Inclusion and diversity – Hong Kong
2023 finalist in the Positive Art Exhibition at the 19th European AIDS Conference, 18-21 October 2023, Warsaw, Poland
2023 FLY THAT DICK The Annual Solo Sexhibition, Bangkok, Thailand
2023 The Embassy of France - Bangkok Galleries Night 2023, OH LA LA Bangkok, Thailand
2024 Sinful House GALA Art Auction, Bangkok, Thailand
2024 "You Haven't Seen Everything" Amsterdam Pride 2024, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2024 The Embassy of France - Bangkok Galleries Night 2024, Bangkok, Thailand
Part 1: Inspiration & Dreams
| Who were you when you were a kid?
During my childhood I lived in poverty next door to the Arts and Craft College - my playground - where students create fine arts, statues and from time to time I saw many exhibitions, I am always inspired by the differences and interaction of colors and lights. , shapes, forms, and colors, and the message the artist delivered, some exhibitions did make me cry.
In the college and the neighborhood, there were trees, flowers, guppies, chipmunks, birds, and butterflies. I would have spent all day staring at birds' activities while trying to listen to what are they communicating when they sing. I would try to catch butterflies for the garden that I created. I would be staring at guppies giving birth to their babies.
Back then my mother was a nurse assistant working two shifts a day so I grew up in the secondary hospital where I had a lot of opportunities to see with my eyes and mind about life and a big variety of how it changes as well as people's state of mind. A hospital is where you can observe life at every state - at its best and its worst. I am fascinated by the different shapes and forms of life and how it changes.
inspired by these two major surroundings, I always dreamed of being both a physician and an artist but everyone told me “Don’t become an artist you’re gonna be poor.” So I spent my childhood and teenage years studying hard to get into med school, and when I had free time I would learn to do drawing and painting by myself.
Part 2: The Monkhood in the Forest
| What does it mean to be truly healthy?
When I was 13 years old, I had the opportunity to become a young monk practicing medication and learning about the world inside resulting higher level of peace and calm.
To me, being healthy means living according to what you need, physically, psychologically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. One needs to be healthy as a whole to be able to reach their greatest potential.
Part 3: Growing up gay and passion to support the well-being of gay community
| What does it mean to be truly healthy?
I was aware that I had feelings about men since I was around 3-4 years old. Growing up I realized that being gay is not what people would expect and accept easily. When I was 14, I moved to another city to become a new person using higher quality education in another city as a reason to leave my hometown.
When I was 19, I was admitted into medical school.
Realizing there are not enough services for the gay community, going to receive healthcare for sex-related or gay-related matters would be a painful process. When I graduated at the age of 26, I set my mind to improving the holistic health of people in the gay community.
What it means for me to do these works is every day when I wake up I feel that my life is meaningful and things I do make a difference in other people's lives. Every night I go to bed, I go to bed knowing that I have done my best for other people and I feel fulfilled.
Part 4: Creating Careers for hundreds of people and sharing knowledge
| PULSE, medical service from the heart of a family that wants to help
After working days and nights for 2 years, I was able to pay off all government and family debts. By the age of 28, I started my small practice in the heart of the gay district in Bangkok. Without any money to hire people, I asked my retired mom dad, and my older gay brother to help without getting paid. I told them about what I wanted to do and what it meant to do it, everyone moved to Bangkok and worked together every day from morning until 11 PM or sometimes 3 or 4 AM if people knocked on our door looking for help. I am happy that the work not only keeps our family together but also our community.
We have been providing non-stigmatizing friendly service, taking care of our community as if they are our close friends and important family members. We provide free HIV and STD screening to tens of thousands of high-risk populations as well as free HIV treatment to underprivileged people in the region such as sex workers, immigrant sex workers, students younger than 24 years old who do not wish to receive treatment at government hospitals, and more.
After the first year, the small clinic became seriously too small, we had patients visiting from over 130 countries and we had to move to a new location.
7 years gone by, we have grown into 16 branches in 5 countries (Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and The Philippines), with 1 laboratory focusing on the detection of 28 infections with DNA amplifying technic and 1 Tech company.
| Research Physician
With the fast growth due to high demand in the region and from another continent, I gathered data and published knowledge and experience from our clinics and shared with the world through medical conferences around the world. We collaborated with multiple universities such as Mahidol University (Thailand), Maastricht University (The Netherlands), Chinese Hong Kong University (Hong Kong), University of Malaya (Malaysia), University of California San Diego (United States), Center of Disease Control (International), USAID and global funds.
I am a speaker for many conferences related to HIV, STD, and gay men's health around the world.
| PULSE Tech and Innovation
I have designed our own online clinic and business operating system, websites, and mobile application making providing high-quality healthcare service 365 days/year more convenient, running a business become more fun and challenging, especially through the years of COVID-19 pandemic. We have been providing our services offline-to-online for 7 years and we were able to survive the pandemic without having to close a branch of our clinic.
Part 5: Finally time to pursue the other dream, "fine arts"
| Space to relieve, release, relax, think and grow
Running businesses through years of pandemic was not easy. I felt that I needed to make time for myself, to connect deep into myself again and art is the way I can meditate, connect with myself, relieve my stress, and feel content again.
The power to heal lies in many things in the universe. Art is one of them. Art has the power to heal and it’s not just a “belief”. It’s the “truth”. There are connections between art, healing, individual holistic health, and public health.
I started to use art as a therapeutic tool for my patients. You may not be able to get rid of your illnesses, pain, or trauma, but you can use art and the power in art to keep you mentally OK and to stay alive. We can always transform trauma and pain into beauty and even inspire the world.
In 2021, I started the PULSE Awards, the annual art contest to raise awareness on sex, gender, sexuality, sexual health, mental health, or support people who are working hard to make our world a better place and pass on our legacy of wisdom and creativity to the next generation. This year 2022, we are welcoming contestants from around the world to join PULSE Awards.
Through learning and making art, I have been able to connect with a positive mind and great supporters from around the world such as Paris, Vienna, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and Sao Paulo.
The fire for art and creation is still burning in me. As I no longer have to go to med school or work as hard as before, I want to spend time developing myself and growing together with fellow artists through creating art for the world.
