The two young scientists, who recently became Outstanding Young Citizens of Ho Chi Minh City in 2023, had previously received the Golden Globe Award for young talents in science and technology under 35 years old.
Associate Professor Dr. Le Thanh Long (center) guides his colleagues in his research group - Photo: Provided by the interviewee.
Both recipients of this Golden Globe Award are lecturers at the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City. Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong is the head of the Department of Regenerative Medicine and head of the Brain Health Laboratory (International University), while Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Thanh Long currently works at the University of Technology.
Embark on a scientific journey.
The dream of becoming a scientist has driven Ha Thi Thanh Huong since her high school days. This was when Huong learned about the suffering of people with brain-related, neurological, and depression-related illnesses and longed to find ways to better support and care for these patients. This aspiration followed her through university and gradually became a reality when she won a doctoral scholarship in neuroscience at Stanford University (USA) and returned with a PhD. In 2020, she was one of 15 young researchers worldwide to receive the Early Career Award from the International Brain Research Organization, marking the first time a Vietnamese female PhD holder received this award. Another significant achievement was being one of three female scientists honored as "Outstanding Female Scientist" in 2022 (L'Oréal - UNESCO for Women in Science) for her promising research projects contributing to health and community benefit. Together with her colleagues, she won third prize at the 16th National Technical Innovation Competition with the project "Research and development of an artificial intelligence (AI) and big data application system to support doctors in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease based on cranial MRI images." Meanwhile, Associate Professor Dr. Le Thanh Long chose his main research direction as computational fluid dynamics for application in electronic devices. His outstanding work studies the thermal capillary motion of liquids in microfluidic channels under the influence of a laser heat source. This research has provided a new method for flexibly controlling liquid droplets in microfluidic channels using heat emitted from a laser. This method is quite important in the development of electronic chip devices used in nanotechnology, MEMS microelectromechanical systems, and the field of automation.
Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong receives the Golden Globe Award for young talent in the field of science and technology - Photo: Provided by the interviewee.
Contributing to a better community.
Long and his research team have successfully developed two products that have been applied in practice. The first is a disinfection chamber, adding another tool to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic during a critical period in Ho Chi Minh City. The other is an IoT check-in system for the Polytechnic University, which identifies people entering the school by scanning their cards with a camera in just 5 seconds, thus eliminating congestion when many people are present at the same time. All data is stored in the school's centralized database system. Besides the Polytechnic University, the product has also been applied at several other schools. "We have completed the final stage of the negative pressure room product. With the pressure inside the room lower than the ambient pressure, air can only enter from one side and cannot escape through the side it entered. This helps ensure microbiological safety, preventing viruses from spreading back into the environment during patient care and treatment," Long said. This product is part of the project "Research on the design and fabrication of a modular isolation buffer container with automatic surface disinfection for use in field hospitals." This project, funded by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology, was approved in early 2023 and received approval in 2020, a time when the whole country was beginning its COVID-19 pandemic response. Mr. Long is also one of the school's active young staff members in the "Green Summer" campaign for many years, working alongside the school's volunteers to complete numerous rural road projects in remote communes of several provinces in the Mekong Delta. The Brain Analytics software, which analyzes MRI images of the brain and diagnoses Alzheimer's disease accurately, automatically, and quickly (within seven hours), was proposed and developed by Dr. Thanh Huong and her colleagues. The results have been trained and tested on the ADNI (USA) database, achieving an accuracy rate of up to 96%. The project demonstrates the importance of applying technology in solving medical problems. The software has now been tested and evaluated by doctors and medical students from eight different hospitals nationwide. The results show that 80% of users reported satisfaction with the software's features. The Brain Analytics project has connected with nearly 300 doctors and medical professionals at 42 hospitals across the country and has won numerous awards at both national and international levels. These include third prize at the GIST-Catalyst ASIA competition, second prize at the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award, and third prize at the National Technical Innovation Competition... demonstrating that Thanh Huong and her colleagues' initiatives are making a positive and effective contribution to the medical field of the city and the country.Scientific tools
To date, Dr. Thanh Huong has published 24 articles in prestigious international scientific journals (listed in Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 categories). She is also the author of three monographs in the field of biomedical science and the principal investigator of the research project "Studying the impact of mindfulness meditation on stress levels and brain activity in students, contributing to the development of applications for protecting mental health," which has been successfully completed. Dr. Thanh Long has also published 35 scientific articles in prestigious international scientific journals and participated in 16 domestic scientific journals and conferences. He is a co-author of a monograph; the principal investigator of a national-level project; and the principal investigator of projects at the provincial, national university, and institutional levels, all of which have been successfully completed.Tuoitre.vn
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