Dr Narita is responsible for ASEAN science diplomacy, managing regional cooperation and policy development in science, technology and innovation, focusing broadly on developing human resource capacity and promoting networks, centres of excellence and research and development. Before working at the ASEAN Secretariat, she was the expert coordinator of the National Innovation Committee of the Republic of Indonesia, an independent body that reported directly to the President and was in charge of oversight, steering and coordination of national innovation. In the Council, she assisted the formulation of Innovation 1-747, Indonesia’s Innovation Strategic Initiatives. Before being transferred to the Committee, she worked at Indonesia’s Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) as the Chief Engineer at the Pharmaceutical Technology Center and the Special Staff to the Chairman of BPPT.

As a researcher, graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA, she holds two patents on Hepatitis-B and dengue recombinant proteins within a national consortium of vaccines and medicine led by WHO-acknowledged company, PT Bio Farma. She has also been working on antibiotic resistance in human-impacted environments as a visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She is the Ambassador for Indonesia of the International Society of Microbial Ecology. Vanny received awards as World Economic Forum Young Scientist New Champion, ASEAN-US AAAS Science and Technology Fellow, Inter Academic Panel-UNESCO Fellow of World Science Forum, Tempo Magazine 45-Women without Boundaries and Global Young Academy Member.  

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