(From left to rìght) Scientists Trần Thị Thu Hà, Vương Thị Ngọc Lan, Lê Thị Quỳnh Mai, Phạm Tiến Sơn and Nguyễn Trương Thanh Hiếu. Photo www.asianscientist.com

HÀ NỘI – Five Vietnamese scientists have been listed in the 2021 edition of Asian Scientist 100, an annual list that recognises the achievements of the region’s outstanding researchers by Singapore’s Asian Scientist magazine.

The list highlights their contributions to solving urgent global issues including climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

They are Assoc. Prof. Dr. Trần Thị Thu Hà of Thái Nguyên University; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vương Thị Ngọc Lan from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in HCM City; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lê Thi Quỳnh Mai from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE); Phạm Tiến Sơn of Đà Lạt University; and Dr. Nguyễn Trương Thanh Hiếu from Tôn Đức Thắng University.

Hà was named ninth on the list, while Lan, Mai, Sơn and Hiếu ranked 19th, 21st, 89th and 98th, respectively.

Trần Thị Thu Hà won the 2019 Vietnamese Kovalevskaya Award for her research into the breeding and intensive cultivation of trees, the rearing of non-timber forest products and the development of medicinal plants. 

Lê Thị Quỳnh Mai leads a team of women who were awarded the 2019 Vietnamese Kovalevskaya Award for further successful isolation of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2, making Việt Nam one of the first four countries to successfully isolate the virus in 2020.

Her team has spent the last two decades fighting deadly diseases, most notably SARS, A/H5N1 bird flu and H1N1.

Vương Thị Ngọc Lan was one of the three recipients of 2020 Tạ Quang Bửu Award thanks to her study on the efficiency between the transfer of fresh or frozen embryos in women without polycystic ovaries for in vitro fertilisation (IVF). It showed the transfer of frozen embryos yielded similar results to fresh ones, and the research has helped doctors and patients make better choices and increase the chance of success of IVF.

Tạ Quang Bửu Award is an annual prize held by the Ministry of Science and Technology to encourage scientists with outstanding achievements in basic research in the field natural sciences and engineering.

Phạm Tiến Sơn and Nguyễn Trương Thanh Hiếu were also recipients of the 2020 Tạ Quang Bửu Award.

Phạm Tiến Sơn was honoured for the project 'Generic properties for semialgebraic programmes' which was published by SIAM Journal on Optimization, while Hiếu was awarded for a project entitled 'Low energy electron inelastic mean free path in materials'.

To be considered for the 2021 edition of Asian Scientist 100, individuals must have been awarded a national or international prize in 2020 for their research.

Alternatively, the honoree must have a significant accomplishment in scientific discovery or leadership that benefits academia or industry.

As COVID-19 spread across the world last year, scientists from all across Asia joined forces to stop the coronavirus in its tracks.

 “It is now clearer than ever that science - and scientists - are what will help us overcome challenges like COVID-19 and longer term issues like climate change,” said Dr. Rebecca Tan, editor-in-chief of Asian Scientist Magazine.

“We are committed to shining a spotlight on the scientists who often work behind-the-scenes to bring much needed innovations like new vaccines to the world,” he said. – VNS