Dr. Truong Thanh Tung: "There are many places to go but only one place to return to, that is homeland"

Dr. Truong Thanh Tung at the award ceremony of Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces 2022

That is Dr. Truong Thanh Tung (born in 1989), a former student majoring in chemistry at Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted. He is currently the Head of the New Drug Research Group, Phenikaa Advanced Research Institute, and a lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Phenikaa University (Hanoi).

Mr. Tung is from Thanh Giang commune (Thanh Mien). Since childhood, he has been passionate about studying at Nguyen Luong Bang Secondary School, the district's specialized school, and then the chemistry class of Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted.

Meritorious Teacher Nguyen Thi Nhi, former Vice Principal of Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted, said that when teaching the school's entrance exam preparation class, on the very first day of class, Tung met Ms. Nhi privately and expressed his desire to be guided by her to pursue his passion for chemistry. During his studies, Tung was very passionate, often meeting her privately to ask for homework, even late at night, Tung came to her house to ask for homework, sometimes when she came home late, Tung waited no matter what. Despite great efforts, it was not until grade 12 that Tung won second prize at the provincial level and third prize at the national level in chemistry, but this result did not discourage Tung but made him more determined. It was the passion, eagerness to learn and determination of the young man from a poor countryside that created sympathy, urging Ms. Nhi to devote much love and enthusiasm to helping Tung.

Mr. Tung said that returning to contribute to his country would be much more meaningful.

With his talent and intelligence, Tung has many conditions to live and work abroad, but his decision to return to Vietnam to contribute is truly wonderful. This is for the homeland, for the flag. "I believe in Tung's scientific path, he will not be afraid of hardship, because he dares to accept challenges, dares to think, dares to do, does things that no one else has done, I believe he will succeed. Tung will always be more than just my pride", said Ms. Nhi.

After leaving high school, Tung continued to study pharmacy at Hanoi University of Pharmacy. In 2014, after graduating with a master's degree from Seoul National University (Korea), Tung continued to study for a doctorate at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), one of the cradles of medical and pharmaceutical science. This was also the time when he began researching the inhibition of bacterial communication pathways (quorum sensing) to find alternative drugs to antibiotics. After completing his doctoral thesis in 2017, Tung began to participate in research in developed countries such as Finland, the UK, and the US. He received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and researched in the US as an assistant professor.

Dr. Truong Thanh Tung with Meritorious Teacher Nguyen Thi Nhi, former Vice Principal of Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted

In 2019, Tung decided to return to Vietnam and chose Phenikaa University as his starting point. He was also introduced to Phenikaa Group with many sources of support for laboratories, research activities, and at the same time, it is a place to apply inventions and results of research groups.

When asked why Tung decided to return to Vietnam, he shared: “There are many places to go but only one place to return to, which is home.” Although Vietnam still has limited facilities for research, he said it is still possible to conduct successful scientific research. “The pharmaceutical chemistry industry in Vietnam is still underdeveloped, with very few young scientists or research groups specializing in this field. With the amount of knowledge I have accumulated during my time studying and researching abroad, I want to return as a teacher to guide Vietnamese students, contributing to training the medical and pharmaceutical science human resources that are still lacking in our country. Because contributing to my country will be much more meaningful,” Tung said.

Mr. Tung is living happily with his wife and cute son (Photo provided by the character)

After many tireless efforts, Dr. Truong Thanh Tung has achieved remarkable achievements at the age of 34. He has 1 international patent, 30 scientific works in the field of medical technology published in international journals, chaired a grassroots topic, participated in reviewing 20 top journals of the publishing system Nature, Springer Nature, Elesevier. He was also honored as a Promising Young Vietnamese Face in 2021, won the Golden Globe Award for Science and Technology in 2021, and was a typical young teacher of Hanoi Capital in 2022.

In particular, in 2022, Dr. Truong Thanh Tung was the first young scientist in Vietnam to be elected as an official member of the prestigious Sigma Xi International Research Society. This is the oldest and most prestigious scientific association in the world, headquartered in the US, operating since 1886. He is an official member awarded to scientists who have demonstrated remarkable achievements in scientific research in the world...

Tung said that in the near future he hopes to expand and develop his research group to become a strong research group, a pioneer in the field of drug synthesis in Vietnam.

THE ANH