23/06/2026
Dr. Rethy Chhem, born in Phnom Penh in 1952, is a Cambodian medical doctor, biomedical scientist, science diplomat, historian of medicine, and educationalist whose career spans medicine, policy, and scholarship. After surviving the Khmer Rouge era, during which his parents and two siblings were killed, he rebuilt his education in France and later studied in the United States and Canada, eventually serving as a professor of radiology for 28 years in Canada, Singapore, Austria, and Japan. He also chaired the Medical Imaging Department at Western University and later directed the Division of Human Health at the International Atomic Energy Agency from 2008 to 2014.
He is currently based in Phnom Penh, where he serves as Senior Minister and Distinguished Professor of AI and Humanities at CamTech University, Cambodia. His academic work now bridges artificial intelligence, the humanities, philosophy of technology, ethics, and global governance. Dr. Chhem also leads the Cambodia Development Resource Institute and was appointed special health advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2018. With more than 100 scientific articles and 17 edited textbooks, he remains a leading Cambodian intellectual whose research on Angkorian medicine helped reveal the existence of a free, state-run healthcare system in the Khmer Empire.
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