Le Duy Hoang is a PhD candidate in biochemistry at Dartmouth College (Dartmouth University, USA) with a 5-year full scholarship, focusing on developing drug and vaccine delivery methods for cancer treatment.
Renew yourself every day
After graduating from the University of Natural Sciences - VNU Hanoi in 2018, Hoang received a professorship scholarship for a master's degree in biomedicine, studying and researching at Chonnam National University (Korea). Here, the 9X guy began designing proteins used in vaccines and immunotherapy. Next, he had the opportunity to work as a research assistant at Queen Mary University (London - UK) to learn about the innate immune system and from basic knowledge, apply it to the development of new generation mRNA vaccines. Since the middle of this year, he has entered a new field related to biomedical materials and chemical synthesis at Dartmouth College. The research he is pursuing is related to the synthesis of new biomedical materials, applied in drug delivery. "There are currently many different therapies and drugs to treat cancer, but by conventional routes, these drugs may not reach the tumor environment and cause damage to surrounding healthy cells. New materials help deliver drugs precisely to tumors or disease centers, helping to reduce drug side effects and optimize treatment regimens," Hoang explained.
Always curious about how things work, Hoang wants to challenge himself in different environments, apply knowledge into practice, and help the community. His joy is learning new things from the people around him every day. From there, he broadens his perspective, improves his skills, and becomes more confident.
Hoang chose the US as his destination for his PhD because it is always a place that gathers talents from all over the world and also has the fiercest competition. The US PhD training program usually lasts 5-6 years to ensure that students have a solid foundation and can become independent researchers. Besides, Dartmouth College is a long-standing university, belonging to the Ivy League. Only 2 hours drive away, he can go to Boston - one of the largest biotechnology centers in the world with a series of biomedical start-ups.
For Le Duy Hoang (second from right), commitment is an important factor that helps young people integrate and rise up.
The Journey of Endurance
The main purpose of scientific research is to create new knowledge and contribute a small part to the general understanding of science. The challenge of this is that one must constantly face new problems that have not been solved by anyone. Once, Hoang diligently repeated the experiment for many months but the results were still not positive, which made him discouraged and doubted his own ability. However, after actively discussing with colleagues and teachers, Hoang learned to break down the problem, approach the hypothesis from different angles to find a solution. Working in a multicultural environment helped Hoang's thinking become sharper and his heart more open. He learned another lesson about seeking help from those around him.
When coming to the UK, Hoang was impressed by the quote in the movie "Paddington Bear": "In London, everyone is different but that also means everyone can integrate". In the cultural differences, Hoang realized the common values of kindness and empathy in work and social relationships. He said: "Although I am not good at cooking, I once tried to fry more than 80 spring rolls to invite international friends and received many compliments". Hoang is proud and appreciates his friends from all over the world and the excellent individuals he has worked with, considering them as indispensable colorful pieces in the picture of life. And the most important support is his family and relatives who always wholeheartedly support him. That is also the strength for Hoang to steadfastly achieve his goals, especially during the 2-year arduous process of finding a doctoral scholarship. His goal is to find materials that can optimize the "transportation" of drugs to certain types of cancer and to cooperate with domestic researchers to conduct multi-center clinical studies or trials, helping the world have more information needed to research cancer in Vietnam. "From these basic studies, I hope to be able to put them into clinical trials, gradually commercialize them, and help patients through cheaper drugs with similar effectiveness," Hoang shared.
“Don’t forget to treat everyone around you sincerely and kindly. Sincerity helps spread your personal brand, helping to enhance your reputation and position” – Hoang emphasized.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/khong-ngung-no-luc-196250705200104613.htm
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