Professor, Dr. Yoshida Lay Myint received a certificate of gratitude from the provincial People's Committee. |
More research for public health
We met Professor, Dr. Yoshida Lay Myint at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Pasteur Institute Nha Trang, when he and his colleagues were enthusiastically discussing the results of the project "Evaluation of the effectiveness of the reduced pneumococcal vaccination schedule in children from 2 months to 3 years old in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa ". When hearing the report on the initial positive signals, his face lit up with a gentle smile. Immediately after the discussion, he and his research team continued their work in the laboratory next door, carefully culturing and analyzing the samples that had just been collected from the community. Recalling the first days of arriving in Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa in February 2006, Professor Lay Myint said that right from the initial surveys, he and his colleagues realized that pneumonia and acute respiratory infections were the main causes of death in children under 5 years old; Next are diarrhea and dengue fever, common diseases but with serious consequences if not treated early.
The Board of Directors of Pasteur Institute Nha Trang presented flowers to express gratitude for the contributions of Professor Yoshida Lay Myint. |
As an expert in pediatric infectious diseases, Professor Lay Myint decided to focus on acute respiratory infections in children, specifically pneumonia and dengue fever. The study was conducted on a large scale, including 353,525 participants, including 24,781 children under the age of 5. Through the study, the team discovered the main pathogens including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus and influenza A, and pointed out the risk of co-infection with multiple viruses and their interactions with bacteria in the development of pneumonia. The project, funded by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), began in February 2007 and is expected to be completed in 2025. Not only that, with deep expertise in pediatric infectious diseases, the research team has also expanded to infectious diseases transmitted from mother to child, including rubella infection, cytomegalovirus infection and other infectious diseases. "We discovered that rubella infection during pregnancy is a major risk for both mother and child. From this research data, we have provided evidence to health authorities, contributing to promoting the inclusion of rubella vaccine in the national expanded immunization program," said Professor Yoshida Lay Myint.
Professor, Dr. Yoshida Lay Myint supervises the cultivation and analysis of clinical samples in the laboratory. |
Since 2016, Professor Yoshida Lay Myint, together with a research team at the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, the Department of Health and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, has conducted a study on “Evaluating the effectiveness of a reduced pneumococcal vaccination schedule for children from 2 months to 3 years old in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa”. This is one of the major studies funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - a prestigious global organization specializing in supporting initiatives to improve public health. To date, the study has completed the collection and testing of more than 53,000 samples from research subjects. More importantly, the research team has proposed to the Ministry of Health and received approval to include pneumococcal vaccines in the expanded immunization program in the coming time. This will contribute to reducing the burden of pneumococcal vaccination costs for children, while improving the effectiveness of disease prevention and control in the community. Notably, the results from this pilot study have been selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) as scientific evidence to develop recommendations on pneumococcal vaccination schedules for low- and middle-income countries. “In the upcoming WHO recommendations, our study data will be the basis for guiding global vaccination policies,” said Professor Yoshida Lay Myint.
Under the dedicated and prestigious leadership of Professor, Dr. Yoshida Lay Myint, research groups are continuing to conduct many important studies such as: Evaluating the relationship between the rate of pneumococcal and staphylococcal infection through nasopharyngeal swab samples, the rate of hepatitis B infection through serum samples in the student community; clinical trials of drugs for treating patients with severe dengue fever; a project to study the molecular epidemiology of drug-resistant HIV and Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in HIV-positive people in 4 localities: Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan, Binh Dinh and Da Nang in the period of 2024 - 2028; a project to study dengue fever based on hospitals and communities in the period of 2025 - 2029, etc.
The teacher of graduate students
For many generations of staff and researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang, Professor, Dr. Yoshida Lay Myint is not only an international expert, but also an exemplary teacher, a close and compassionate colleague. Having collaborated with him on a number of research projects, Ms. Huynh Kim Mai (Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Pasteur Institute Nha Trang) shared: “In 2020, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work directly with him through research projects on Covid-19; a project on molecular epidemiology of drug-resistant HIV and most recently a research project on dengue fever. During the collaboration, my colleagues and I were enthusiastically guided by Professor Lay Myint. The professor was willing to answer all our questions, even staying up late to answer and guide us online while in Japan. The professor is not only good at epidemiology and clinical practice, but also very knowledgeable and proficient in laboratory work. I have learned a lot from him, not only knowledge but also a responsible and humble scientific attitude.”
Professor, Dr. Yoshida Lay Myint discussed with the research team of Pasteur Institute Nha Trang. |
For the staff of Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, the respected professor is an unusually friendly and simple teacher. Everyone affectionately calls him by the intimate name: "Dr. Lay" - a way of calling that contains both respect and closeness. At the ceremony to honor his 20 years of dedication, Dr. Do Thai Hung - Director of Nha Trang Pasteur Institute said that Professor Yoshida Lay Myint is always dedicated, devoting all his heart to imparting his valuable knowledge and experience to the graduate students, staff of the institute, and the Khanh Hoa Health sector. The professor has considered Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa as his second hometown and Nha Trang Pasteur Institute as his beloved family for the past 20 years. More than his academic contributions, what makes everyone respect Professor Yoshida Lay Myint is his spirit of serving science, his love for humanity, and his perseverance in sowing the seeds of knowledge for the future.
Bridge in medical cooperation
Professor Yoshida Lay Myint is currently the head of the clinical research team in international research projects of Nagasaki University in Vietnam. Under his direction, the research team has conducted many important studies with high community applicability, helping to understand and control infectious diseases in the region. The professor said that in the early stages, many researchers and professors at Nagasaki University did not know about the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute and the Khanh Hoa Department of Health. Through his research cooperation, Nagasaki University has now known and recognized the role of these units. He is trying to bring more colleagues to invest and conduct more research at the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute. In addition, he is also making efforts to promote bringing Japanese students to Vietnam to learn from the experiences of Vietnamese researchers, and at the same time selecting and inviting Vietnamese researchers to Japan to study master's or doctoral training programs.
Over the past 20 years, as the representative coordinator of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University in Khanh Hoa, Professor Yoshida Lay Myint has made important contributions to scientific research cooperation projects between the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nha Trang Pasteur Institute and Khanh Hoa Department of Health, National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. These research results have been recorded through more than 100 scientific articles published internationally, clearly reflecting the important contributions of Professor Yoshida Lay Myint not only in Vietnam but also in many other countries.
At the ceremony to honor Professor, Dr. Yoshida Lay Myint recently organized by Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, Mr. NGUYEN TAN TUAN - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee acknowledged the valuable contributions and dedication of Professor, Dr. Yoshida Lay Myint to the health sector of Khanh Hoa in particular and Vietnam in general. The Professor has supported and accompanied scientists of Nha Trang Pasteur Institute to implement research, training and technology transfer programs in the field of preventive medicine and disease control; contributing to better and better health care for the people. The Professor is a prestigious scientist, leaving good feelings and impressions about the image of a physician in Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa. Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Tan Tuan hopes that Professor Yoshida Lay Myint will continue to support the cooperation between Nagasaki University and Nha Trang Pasteur Institute in scientific research; thereby contributing to strengthening the good friendship between Vietnam and Japan.
GLASS
Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/phong-su/202506/nha-khoa-hocben-bi-noi-nhip-cau-hop-tac-y-te-5116708/
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