Professor Mansyur Arief was born on 4 November 1964 on Selayar Island, the main island of Selayar Islands which lies off the coast of Cape Bira of South Sulawesi Province. He is one of the INA Respond’s Steering Committee (SC) members. Currently, he also serves as the Chairman of the Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, the Chairman of the Functional Medical Staff (SMF) Laboratory of Clinical Pathology, Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital, Makassar, and as an active lecturer of the Department of Clinical Pathology at Hasanuddin University, Makassar.

Prof. Mansyur earned his medical degree in 1989 from the Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar. He then received his PhD research course in Hematology and Oncology from Hiroshima University, Japan. After returning from Japan, he took his specialization in Clinical Pathology at Hasanuddin University and earned his Hematology consultant title from the Collegium of Clinical Pathology Indonesia in 2007.

Although he has myriads of jobs, he is still active in organizations. Prof. Mansyur once served as the Chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association, Makassar and the Chairman of Association of Clinical Pathologist, Makassar. He is now a member of Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital Ethics Committee/ IRB.

As one of the network SC members and also as the Executive Member of the SEAICRN network, he knows that site 550 Makassar faces many challenges and obstacles. One of the major challenges now is the activation of sepsis study.

This study is a community-based study with a tiered referral system. The patients recruitment becomes even more challenging than other studies mostly because of the ignorance of the society and the cultural differences among the sites. Several attempts have been made, including communicating with colleagues and associates in Public Health Center as well as type C and type B hospitals, so patients presenting sepsis and severe sepsis signs and symptoms can be immediately referred to Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo hospital as a research site. Yet, Prof. Mansyur is really proud that Makassar has been selected as the site in the Eastern part of Indonesia, and he is convinced if we retain and increase our quality project, Makassar can develop further; not only in clinical research result but also in human resources.

INA-RESPOND allows us to carry out good clinical research in accordance with the ethics process. In the future, he hopes that Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital, Makassar can maintain its performance and complete the study, showing significant results. Last but not least, he is open handed to collaborate not only in the study field of Infectious Diseases but also in other study fields. Hopefully, Makassar can be one of the role models of clinical research in the eastern part of Indonesia by doing more good clinical research.