Female PhD "wins awards wherever she goes" and the opportunity from a mental hospital

(Dan Tri) - Winning the 2023 Golden Globe Award, Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong is also one of the 200 outstanding teachers nationwide this year.

Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong, 34 years old - International University, Ho Chi Minh City National University - is one of 10 outstanding young scientists to win the 2023 Golden Globe Science and Technology Award. Immediately after that, the female doctor was also named one of 200 outstanding teachers nationwide in 2023.

Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong is one of 10 young scientists to receive the 2023 Golden Globe Award (Photo: Nguyen Ngoc).

It is not an exaggeration to call Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong a scientist who "wins awards wherever she goes". Going back in time, in 2012, at the age of 23, Ms. Huong won a scholarship to study neuroscience at Stanford University (USA). After completing her doctoral thesis in 2018, she returned to Vietnam to work at the International University, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering. In 2020, Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong was one of 15 young researchers worldwide to be awarded the Early Career Award by the International Brain Research Organization based in France. This is the first time a female doctor in Vietnam has received this award. At the end of 2022, she was one of three female scientists honored as "Outstanding Female Scientist of 2022" (L'Oréal - Unesco for Women in Science) with potential research projects for health and benefits for the community. Just before that, she and her colleagues also won the 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 brain MRI images". The project can be considered the first product applying AI to diagnose and monitor Alzheimer's disease in Vietnam. The AI ​​application software uses the XG-Boost and 3D-ResNet algorithms to train and test the ability to classify Alzheimer's patients and people with normal cognition using brain MRI images with a high accuracy of up to 96.2%. Fate from visits to mental hospitals Talking about the "incident" of pursuing a scientific career, the female lecturer said that when she was in high school, while she was a student specializing in biology at the Gifted High School, Huong followed her relatives to mental hospitals many times.

Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong (Photo: Nguyen Ngoc).

Realizing the limitations of the mental health care system in Vietnam, the female student ignited a desire and aspiration to improve this situation. Currently, the Brain Health Lab research group founded by Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong focuses on solving problems related to brain health, especially problems specific to the context in Vietnam. Typically, designing intervention methods to help limit cognitive decline in the elderly, or to reduce stress. Having a relative with depression, the female doctor witnessed the tormenting pain caused by this disease. This further urged her to research deeply in neuroscience, bringing her biological and technical knowledge to this field. The path she took, the field she chose, Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong admitted that doing research was very difficult, writing articles was also very difficult, and asking for research funding was not easy, finding partners from the clinical side was not easy. But in return, on that journey, she was able to accompany students, see the maturity and passion of young people through each stage. Or recently, when hearing news from Military Hospital 175 that patients using the group's research product had good progress, she felt that all challenges were worth it. Dr. Huong said that the most effective way to learn is to learn from those around her, every day she learns from her colleagues, from her students... "What I have done may not immediately change the overall picture of mental health in Vietnam. But my colleagues, the students of the next class will continue on this path," Ms. Huong said about the teaching profession she is pursuing. Being a mother is like doing research, having to learn new things every day. Talking about "housework", Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong said that she is lucky to have her husband and both sides of the family supporting her in taking care of her children.

Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong believes that being a mother is like being a scientist, you have to learn new things every day...

Leaving the research lab, she, like many other mothers, enjoys cooking for her family and taking her children to school... When a scientist becomes a mother, the female doctor expressed that her medical knowledge helps her gain a lot of knowledge when taking care of her children. However, her children are also at a disadvantage because their mother - with the personality of a scientist - is often strict and has many expectations. Not to mention the time spent with her children is also limited. "As a mother, I tell myself to find quiet moments to reflect and correct myself. Doing research requires learning new things every day, and being a mother is the same," Dr. Huong confided.

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