{"id":208940,"date":"2025-01-08T10:46:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T20:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=208940"},"modified":"2025-01-08T10:46:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T20:46:04","slug":"robert-mann-thailand-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/08\/robert-mann-thailand-award\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> forensic anthropologist honored for contributions in Thailand"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Robert Mann (third from left) with representatives from Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Decades of advancing forensic anthropology in Thailand and training the country\u2019s first forensic osteologists have earned Robert Mann, professor at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM<\/abbr>), the Sood Sangvichian Gold Medal Award from Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok. The award honors those who have made significant contributions to the field of forensic medicine, and Mann is the first recipient from outside Thailand.<\/p>\n

Mann\u2019s relationship with Thailand began in 1992, during his work with the Central Identification Laboratory (CIL<\/abbr>) in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>. On his first mission, he ventured into the jungles of Laos to recover remains of American soldiers lost during the Vietnam War. His expertise soon caught the attention of Thai officials, leading to his first lecture on skeletal trauma at the Royal Thai Air Force Base. Over the next three decades, Mann conducted workshops, trained forensic professionals and helped develop Thailand\u2019s forensic capabilities.<\/p>\n

Building forensic expertise in Thailand<\/h2>\n
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Robert Mann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Thailand didn\u2019t have forensic anthropologists when I started visiting nearly three decades ago,” said Mann. “I started giving a lot of training over the years to the Missing Persons Identification Centre Section in Bangkok.” <\/p>\n

He began training police, medical doctors and archaeologists in forensic techniques, focusing on skeletal analysis methods commonly used in the U.S. Since his first visit in the 1990s, Mann built relationships with Thai institutions, including Siriraj Hospital, Chiang Mai University and Khon Kaen University. His mentorship has helped establish forensic anthropology programs and labs across the country.<\/p>\n

“Many of the people I\u2019ve trained are now referred to as Thailand\u2019s pioneer forensic osteologists,” he said. “It\u2019s been incredible to watch them take what they\u2019ve learned and apply it to their own cases and investigations.”<\/p>\n

Advancing global collaboration<\/h2>\n
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Robert Mann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mann\u2019s contributions extend beyond training. He has assisted with challenging cases involving unidentified human remains, providing crucial insights to law enforcement and medical examiners. His expertise has been instrumental in elevating the country\u2019s forensic capabilities, benefiting both legal investigations and humanitarian efforts.<\/p>\n

“Teaching in Thailand has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my career,” he said. “I\u2019m very grateful to get an award like this from a prestigious hospital, and it helps strengthen and spread the word about the role and importance of forensic anthropology not only in Thailand, but worldwide.”<\/p>\n

Read more on JABSOM<\/abbr><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Mann is recognized for his contributions to forensic anthropology and training Thailand’s pioneering forensic osteologists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[598,904,31,1363,9],"class_list":["post-208940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-faculty-recognition","tag-forensic-anthropology","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-manoa-research","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208940"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208949,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208940\/revisions\/208949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}