Le Viet Hang, 29, a resident of Da Nang, gives her community pride and joy as she graduated as valedictorian at the University of Nottingham which is regarded as one of the best universities in the world and regularly features in the UK's top 30 Higher Education institutions, as well as attained her Ph.D from the University of Aberdeen which is a UK Top 20 and World Top 200 University with outstanding levels of student satisfaction, at the age of 28. Currently, the Da Nang lady is a PhD student in the field of neuro-oncology at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) based in the USA.

In 2022, Le Viet Hang obtained her Ph.D at the University of Aberdeen at the age of 28.

After graduating from the Le Quy Don Senior High School for the Gifted, Hang decided to study abroad in England after a period of hesitation as she was most worried about expensive tuition fees and living costs in the UK. The quote 'Pressure Makes Diamonds' is indeed true in Hang's situation. Financial pressure urged the Da Nang female student to study harder to get a scholarship in order to allow her to achieve her goals in higher education in the UK.

As a result of her commitment and dedication to study, she got a scholarship and studied her master's degree in the University of Nottingham.

She did her first degree at the University of Nottingham and achieved a first-class honours degree in Biomedical Sciences.

After graduating as valedictorian at the University of Nottingham, Hang continued her education with a doctoral degree. In addition to studying for a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, she also actively participated in extracurricular activities at her school in order to expand her knowledge and improve her life skills. Her efforts have paid off as in 2022, Hang attained her PhD from the University of Aberdeen only at the age of 28. She is currently a PhD student in Neurology and Neurological Sciences at the CSHL which traces its roots to 1890. CSHL has an educational and research component. CSHL has eight Nobel Laureates who have been associated with the lab. Many break-through discoveries have been made at CSHL. Among the discoveries is the work by John D. Watson who co-discovered the double helix structure of DNA with Francis Crick. Robert J. Roberts received the Nobel Prize for the co-discovery of introns and RNA splicing.

Working at CSHL, the 29-year-old Da Nang lady is focusing her studies in two main fields namely genetic mechanisms in generalized epilepsies, and direct effects of nerves on tumor progression. Her studies aim to identify causative agents of infectious diseases in order to develop a gene therapy which is a therapeutic strategy using genetic engineering techniques to treat various diseases.

According to Hang, finding motivation to study is an important factor to help yourself achieve the expected results. Professor Neil Vargesson who was her PhD supervisor to provide guidance during her PhD research gave her the motivation. He is a professor in Developmental Biology of the University of Aberdeen, and a developmental biologist interested in understanding how embryos form normally and determining how some drugs cause birth defects, most notably thalidomide.

“Professor Neil Vargesson announced that no materials are available for my final semester course while I was in my final year at the University of Nottingham. Hence, students were required to analyze and learn about the latest research results on enzymes from genetically modified microorganisms, thereby helping me realize the clear connection between advanced research results and human life. This pushed me to pursue a PhD. In particular, I witnessed my research results that helped me understand more about the patient's medical condition, with my own eyes while these results will be useful to the patient for effective treatment" Hang said.

The Da Nang lady believes that the mission of life science researchers is to move our life in a new and positive direction. With that desire, she recently organized a forum which brought Vietnamese medical students together to discuss and analyze new researches in order to develop them into cell and gene therapy to treat, prevent, or potentially cure diseases. She hoped that the forum provided the opportunity for Vietnamese young people to apply what they have learned in real-life situations, and acquire advanced research methods, as well as help them develop a purposeful mindset, and develop their useful skills and knowledge.

Reporting by NGAN HA – Translating by H.L