Truong Thanh Tung, former student of Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted - Top 10 Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces 2022

Together with his colleagues, Dr. Tung is the co-author of an international patent on targeted cancer treatment agents, which has been protected globally. The results of the research are being developed into “Make in Vietnam” drugs.

In addition, Dr. Tung has had 40 scientific works published in prestigious journals, of which 32 articles were published in prestigious international ISI scientific journals, 4 published in international conferences and 04 domestic works. It is known that in the 32 articles, there are 19 articles in category Q1 (14 articles are main authors), 02 articles in category Q2 (01 article is main author), 02 articles in category Q3 and 01 article in category Q4.

Once a Promising Young Vietnamese Face, winner of the Golden Globe Award for Science and Technology in 2021, Outstanding Young Teacher of Hanoi Capital 2022, Dr. Truong Thanh Tung was also elected by the International Council as an official member of the prestigious Sigma Xi International Research Science Association 2022 (the world's oldest and most prestigious scientific association headquartered in the US, operating since 1886 with 200 Nobel Prize-winning members, members of the association are elected directly by the association council). Dr. Truong Thanh Tung is the first young scientist (outside the US) in Vietnam to be directly elected in 2022. In the same year, from 2,000 global applications in round 1, 130 applications in round 2, Dr. Truong Thanh Tung was elected as 01 of 28 outstanding young scientists in the world to become a member of the international advisory board for the prestigious ISI international scientific journal Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry.

Difficulties and unforgettable memories in the process of scientific research

In the process of doing science, what is the biggest difficulty that Tung has ever experienced?

Thanh Tung: “The most difficult period for me was the first 4 months of studying for a master's degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Seoul National University, Korea, around 2012. I was 23 years old at that time. The scientific research environment in Korea is quite harsh. Back then, there were days when I had to work in the lab from early morning until 1-2 am the next day. Working on weekends was completely normal.

Because I was not used to the pace of work, there were times when I wanted to give up. Maybe because I was young at that time and did not have much experience in scientific research, so catching up with the pace in a new environment was really a big challenge. However, later I realized that those were the foundations that helped me become more courageous and resilient to adapt to even harsher environments in other countries.

What is the most memorable memory in your scientific research journey?

Thanh Tung: “The most memorable memory is the first ISI article in which I was the main author, published when I was a fourth-year university student. The topic of the article was about new substances with potential for cancer treatment. For me, having a scientific article in an ISI journal was a great happiness, and was the motivation for me to decide to pursue scientific research after graduation. Because at that time, my peers often chose the pharmaceutical business after graduation - a job with a much higher income than pursuing scientific research.

In the past, was Tung good at chemistry or biology? What chance brought Tung to this path of scientific research?

Thanh Tung: “I have had a passion for chemistry since junior high school. That is also the reason why I was determined to take the exam and choose to study in the specialized chemistry class at Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted, Hai Duong province. Besides, I am also very interested in the possibilities that chemicals can have on biological mechanisms and environments. Therefore, biology is also a subject that I love. Thanks to these things, it also helps me have more motivation, determination to study and win the national excellent student award in chemistry.

After graduating from high school, because I loved chemistry and biology, I wanted to choose a major that could apply the knowledge of these two subjects. At that time, I had two choices: Medicine or Pharmacy. But with a simple thought, studying Medicine could save a few people in each case, while studying Pharmacy, if successful, could save many, even many people at the same time. That's why I chose to study Pharmacy at Hanoi University of Pharmacy. Here, I had the opportunity to participate in scientific research very early - my research path also started from here.

Promising research direction in HIV treatment

It is known that you have researched and invented a new HIV treatment drug and it is highly appreciated by the world for its potential as a future treatment drug. Can you share more about your research direction and the novelty of your invention?

Thanh Tung:My research direction is how to eliminate all HIV-infected cells and viruses from the body. It can be said that the drugs currently on the market only control and reduce the concentration of the virus in the blood, but cannot completely eliminate HIV from the body. That is, current HIV patients, when using drugs regularly, have only reached the threshold of "living, avoiding infection and coping with HIV".

My research is aimed at a complete cure for HIV in the future. My research is funded by the AmfAR Foundation for AIDS Research – the world’s most prestigious HIV research fund. The most prominent of my research results are drugs that can awaken the HIV virus from its “sleeping” state in cells, tag and destroy it.

The most difficult part of HIV treatment today is to completely eliminate the dormant virus from the body – something my research can solve. Currently, this research-based treatment method is being tested clinically in Germany and has shown initial positive results.”

What are the most advanced HIV treatment drugs in the world today? Could you please share?

Thanh Tung:“Currently, there are drug combinations in the world for treating patients, such as ARVs being used in Vietnam and can control the concentration of virus in the blood. In general, these drug combinations cannot completely eliminate the HIV virus from the human body.”

Can your inventions and initiatives on HIV treatment be implemented in Vietnam? Can you share the difficulties in the process of researching new HIV treatment drugs?

Thanh Tung:“My inventions and innovations on pharmaceutical chemicals can still be carried out in Vietnam, but biological testing is not possible yet, I still have to do it in Europe.

It can be said that in Vietnam there are not enough conditions to conduct further research.

The most difficult part in further developing new HIV treatment drugs is that testing depends on foreign facilities and equipment.

Up to now, are there any “Make in VietNam” drug products following your research direction that are about to be completed? Can you share your plans for the near future?

Thanh Tung: “Currently, my research group is developing the synthesis of natural antibacterial peptides for topical use to treat infections and heal scars. This is a group of cosmeceutical products. This product is in the testing process to become a topical drug product to replace antibiotics.

In the near future, I hope to expand the research group to become a strong research group, a pioneer in the field of drug synthesis in Vietnam."

According to Giadinh.phenikaa