Dr Aung (33), a postdoctoral fellow in the Otago microbiology and immunology department, was ''honoured and very proud'' to receive the award.
An Otago University graduate, he has lived in Dunedin for the past 10 years.
He aims to use powerful new techniques in genetic testing to achieve much faster, more detailed and cost-effective diagnosis of extremely drug-resistant strains of Tb in Burma. About 26,000 people die from Tb in Burma each year.
The new diagnostic approach would ''make a significant difference to people who have Tb'', both in Burma and in New Zealand, Dr Aung said.
New Zealand's first case of an extremely resistant strain of Tb occurred in Dunedin in 2010, and involved a man from Burma.
Prof Greg Cook, also of the microbiology department, Dr Aung and Otago Centre for International Health co-director Prof Philip Hill last month received $450,000 from the Health Research Council to undertake cutting edge research into the genetics of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Indonesia and Burma.
Dr Aung is one of 40 people to be honoured by the New Zealand Government for significantly contributing to New Zealand's relationship with the Southeast Asia region.
The 40 awards celebrate the 40th anniversary of formal partnership between New Zealand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a political and economic organisation of 10 nations with a combined population of 625million.
