Honoring Vietnamese women to do science

Three young Vietnamese female scientists were honored to receive the 2010 L'Oréal National Science Research Scholarship for the development of women in science.

The ceremony of honoring and awarding awards was held on October 19 in Hanoi, on the occasion of the Vietnamese Women's Day 20.10.

Three women in the picture (left to right): Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Dr. Dinh Thi Mai Thanh and Dr. Doan Thi Mai Huong . (Photo: Nhu Y)

Although the world has had many studies to find the active ingredients leading to cancer cells, but for Vietnam, the use of this active ingredient is still new. With the desire to study this active ingredient on the basis of Vietnamese medicinal resources, Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Anh, lecturer, head of bio-nano department, Department of Biology, Hanoi University of Natural Sciences focused on studying save the topic. According to the scientific council, Vietnam is a tropical and developing country where infectious diseases in fisheries and human cancer are emerging issues and challenges.

From left to right: Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Dr. Dinh Thi Mai Thanh and Dr. Doan Thi Mai Huong .

The idea of ​​making chemotherapeutic transporter to cancer cells is quite unique. Usually when a patient takes medication, the medicine runs throughout the body. For areas affected, the drug will intervene and improve, but with other areas will be affected by the opposite reaction. But if using lead, the drug will focus properly on the disease area to help cure more effectively.

Dr. Van Anh said, what she is most concerned about when studying this topic is the result can be applied in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In particular, successful results can be produced in large quantities so the price is competitive with foreign products. " Many patients have association to use to treat their disease, " said Dr. Van Anh.

With the research topic: ' Detecting bioactive compounds from 2 species belonging to genus Macaranga they Castor (Euphorbiaceae) of Vietnam ', Dr. Doan Thi Mai Huong, Institute of Marine Biochemistry (Institute of Science and Public Vietnam technology) has discovered compounds that have anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, and anti-microbial activity. Dr. Huong said that many drugs have been discovered such as taxol for cancer treatment from red pine , vinblastine for cancer treatment from periwinkle , artemisinin for treating malaria from yellow flowers , Ara - C (Cytarabin) separated from sponges . These compounds are used not only as effective medicines but also as guiding agents to synthesize derivatives with higher activity and superiority.

Importantly, Vietnam currently has about 13 species of castor plants. Some species are used in traditional medicine for healing but there are very few species that are studied in plant chemistry and biological activity. Therefore, Dr. Huong's research direction is considered as a research topic with high potential and application orientation, contributing to creating valuable products from rich natural resources and availability of Vietnam.

Another topic highly appreciated by the Council and awarded this year is the fabrication of nanostructured materials with high corrosion resistance and good electrochemical catalysts in the treatment of polluted organic compounds. toxic in paper industry waste water. The project was conducted by Dr. Dinh Thi Mai Thanh, Institute of Tropical Technology (Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology).

With initial success, three female scientists received scholarships, each worth VND 150 million to continue their research projects. Dr. Doan Thi Mai Huong expects that the topics will reach the final destination as products that directly serve life.