Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong - The one who nurtures talents for the biomedical engineering industry

Leaders of Ho Chi Minh City National University commended Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong. (Photo: VNA)

Choosing the research direction of the mind and brain, Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong (34 years old) - Head of the Department of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, International University, Ho Chi Minh City National University, has had many international and domestic scientific publications, with experimental products in the field of mental health care.

Her contributions have been recognized in many major awards at home and abroad. Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong was honored at the 2023 Golden Globe Award, organized by the Central Youth Union in coordination with the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Having accompanied her relatives to hospitals for depression many times, Ms. Ha Thi Thanh Huong realized that the actual conditions for mental health care for patients were not good.

Worried about this reality, the student majoring in Biology at the High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City National University, at that time thought about what she would study to be able to contribute to solving this problem. That is the reason why Ms. Huong decided to choose the major of Biotechnology, University of Natural Sciences, Ho Chi Minh City National University.

In 2011, after graduating as valedictorian of this major, she applied to work as an assistant for a research group on HIV-induced dementia at the Oxford University Clinical Research Center in Vietnam. Six months of working here gave her the opportunity to approach and accumulate research experience in neuroscience.

Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong discusses with the research team. (Photo: VNA)

Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong received a VEF (Vietnam Education Foundation) scholarship to continue pursuing research in neuroscience at Stanford University (USA) in 2012.

Here, Dr. Huong has the opportunity to study and research with leading professors in this field, and is exposed to many new areas of knowledge and skills, helping her to develop her abilities.

In 2018, right after graduating with a PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford University, Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong returned to Vietnam and taught and researched at the International University, Ho Chi Minh City National University.

In addition to scientific research, her decision to return home was also due to her desire to train and guide generations of scientific research students, contributing to improving mental health care conditions in the country.

Returning to Vietnam, Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong connected with doctors, learned about practice, understood clinical problems to provide research directions and support products for doctors and patients.

Dr. Huong founded the Brain Health Lab research group to conduct research on improving brain function and improving mental health. This is also a place for her to nurture talents for the Biomedical Engineering industry, with the hope that they will make certain contributions to the development of the industry.

Currently, the group has about 20 members including students, graduate students and research assistants. The two main research branches that the group specializes in are Alzheimer's disease and Stress. Regarding Stress, the group has conducted research projects on diagnosis and intervention to reduce Stress.

Regarding Alzheimer's disease, in 2020, the group had a research topic on the software "Brain Analytics" used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease using Artificial Intelligence based on brain MRI images, with fast results and high accuracy of about 96%. The software also has a number of other functions to support doctors such as providing parameters about brain regions, viewing MRI images right in the software... This software is being continued to be researched and tested by the group.

Along with that, the group also continues to complete research topics on Alzheimer's disease such as finding solutions to prevent and reduce dementia; finding ways to develop a blood test kit to diagnose Alzheimer's disease...

From these research directions, Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong hopes to create products that can be widely applied, contributing to solving medical problems in Vietnam.

Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong in the laboratory. (Photo: VNA)

During her work and scientific research, Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong has had many international and domestic publications, including 3 articles in scientific journals in the Q1 category, 2 articles in journals Q2, 4 articles in journals Q3, 1 article in journal Q4/Scopus...

In addition to the research product, Dr. Huong's research team has a product being tested at Military Hospital 175, which is the application "Brain Train" (a cognitive training application).

Assessing the research direction of Dr. Huong, Professor Vo Van Toi, Assistant to the Board of Directors for the development of science, technology and health and life technology, International University, Ho Chi Minh City National University (former Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the University) said that the research direction on neuroscience and brain engineering that Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong is pursuing is very necessary for the Vietnamese Biomedical Engineering industry in the current context.

Not only stopping at theoretical research and publishing scientific papers, Dr. Huong also has specific products and equipment that are being tested for practical application. The research results in the past as well as the direction that Dr. Huong will continue to implement in the future will contribute to filling the gap in current research in this field./.

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tien-sy-ha-thi-thanh-huong-nguoi-uom-mam-tai-nang-cho-nganh-ky-thuat-y-sinh-post935575.vnp