Accordingly, the group of female scientists working in the Influenza Laboratory of the Virology Department (the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology) won the Kovalevskaia Awards 2019 for the outstanding team.
The Influenza Lab aims at conducting research on methods to minimize negative effects of seasonal influenza upon the community and to protect the public health of Vietnam as well as other nations.
Developing vaccines for common flu types is one of the top priorities of this group. These scientists were able to create vaccine for Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, and is on their way to make another vaccine for Influenza A virus subtype H1N1/2009 epidemic.
Recently, this female team has cooperated with their colleagues to successfully grow and isolate the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the laboratory.
Regarding the Kovalevskaia Awards 2019 for the outstanding individual, Associate Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Thu Ha, Head of the Institute of Forestry Research and Development (a member of Thai Nguyen University) won the title.
She and her partners were successful in mass propagating Acacia hybrid (Acacia mangium x Acacia auriculiformis) and Eucalyptus hybrid (Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus camaldunensis). This allows the provision of around 3 - 5 million high-quality seedlings per year to Northern and Central provinces.
Dr. Ha is now concentrating on propagating valuable medicine plants of Vietnam such as Anoectochilus setaceus, Zingiber zerumbet, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Polyscias fruticose.
The award ceremony this year will be postponed until mid May, 2020 due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
