A month in Thailand…amazing how quickly adaptable a person can become given continuously changing circumstances. I work in the Virology Dept of a U.S. military medical science institute (AFRIMS). My focus, dengue virus with perhaps occasional forays into malaria and avian influenza. Being raised in Hawaii and having traveled abroad to Central and South America I thought I was prepared for inevitable massacre of heat and humidity. Alas, nothing can prepare you for the literal melting of your body the moment you step onto the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi airport. I suppose it doesn’t help that I’ve decided to enter Thailand at the hottest time of year. No it’s actually perfectly in keeping in a life where I decided to go to graduate school in Montana, moving from Hawaii in mid-January and stepping off the plane to 10 below zero. Apparently I live for extremes.

I am an aspiring infectious disease ecologist attempting to learn some mathematical modelling just to frustrate and excite my intellect more and…because all the cool kids are doing it. This blog is strictly a personal blog and NOT a professional blog. For a link to my academic profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mel-melendrez/3/ba9/629 For interest in my academic publications: R Takhampunya, A Kengluecha, T Monkanna, A Korkusol, S Leepitakrat, B Tippayachai, MC Melendrez, BP Evans and JH Richardson.