Dr. Nguyen Thi Hiep (fourth from right) at the award ceremony held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, October 19.
Dr. Hiep was awarded with US$20,000 and the recognition for her outstanding research on homecare solutions to reduce the pressure on the public healthcare system, as announced on October 20 by the US Diplomatic Mission to ASEAN.
The annual award was launched by ASEAN and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global safety science company, and is one among the US initiatives to support ASEAN and its ten member countries.
Dr. Hiep was honoured at the award ceremony last night in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, with the attendance of ministers and senior officials from ASEAN, during the 2017 ASEAN ministerial meeting on science and technology in the host country.
Migration from rural to urban areas has placed a lot of pressure on healthcare services in major cities but biological materials and 'smart' medical devices can help people at home, Dr. Hiep, a lecturer and senior researcher in biomedical engineering at the Ho Chi Minh City University, said.
According to Hiep, her research focuses on bio-based materials, such as bio-glue and non-needle-based suturing kits, which can easily be used to make first aid more effective.
The 2017 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women supports potential young females, in the ASEAN region working in applied science, to improve society in safe and sustainable ways, while encouraging cooperation among the ASEAN member states and the US on sustainable solutions for urban centres in the whole of Southeast Asia.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Hiep, 36, graduated from the University of Science, under the Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. She then received a master's degree and a doctorate from Soonchunhyang University, in the Republic of Korea. In 2012, Dr. Hiep returned to Vietnam to work as a lecturer in biomedical engineering at her International University.
Dr. Hiep has spent over ten years researching materials used in medicine and their interaction with cells and tissues. By the end of 2016, Dr. Hiep had 26 published Institute for Scientific Information’s researches, six published in international scientific journals, six domestic papers and more than 40 scientific articles presented at international conferences.
In 2016, the topic of researching new discoveries of Titanium material in dental restoration by the young doctor was highly evaluated by the Scientific Council of L'Oréal - UNESCO for the Women in Science Awards.