The Steering Committee of the European-funded Pandemic Information to Support Rapid Response (PAIR ) project saw the participation of Dr. Nguyen Thu Hien, a Vietnamese senior clinical scientist currently working at Danish University Hospital.
This is a large project with 20 partners comprising 14 universities, research institutes, organizations and 6 companies from 10 countries in Europe and the US, with a total budget of EUR 7 million for 5 years of implementation from 2024 to 2028.
The PAIR project kick-off meeting took place at the end of January at the Danish Polytechnic University (DTU). This time, the hospital where Dr. Nguyen Thu Hien is in charge will participate in tool development and clinical validation of the tool. Dr. Nguyen Thu Hien said that this is an extremely wonderful experience to meet partners in person after more than a year of only virtual meetings for the project preparation and writing process.
She revealed that she is ready for the 5-year journey with project participants. Interestingly, her husband Dr. Le Quy Vang, also joined the Steering Committee of the PAIR project as the head of two related work packages using big data and machine learning for tool development.
Dr. Nguyen Thu Hien's normal day in Aalborg City (Denmark) often revolves around completing patient records, carrying out research and teaching at the university.
After marriage, she started a career abroad but however busy she is, Thu Hien still actively participates in community activities, especially participating in the Covid-19 Taskforce towards Vietnam (Covid-19 Rapid Response Team of AVSE Global Association of Vietnamese Scientists and Experts), because she always thinks about devotion to Vietnam, her homeland.
In November 2023, Hien took on the role of host (coordinator) in the seminar ‘Experience finding a post-doctoral job in Denmark’ organized by the Association of Vietnamese Experts and Intellectuals in Denmark (AVIDE). Participants who are Vietnamese graduate students were provided with a lot of practical experience in the process of applying for jobs in the academic field as well as at companies in Denmark after defending their doctoral thesis.
Thu Hien is currently Vice President of AVIDE. Through these activities, she also hopes that her two children will keep their Vietnamese roots deeply. Recently, she received a certificate of merit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam for her devotion to the well-being of the community.
Those who have a chance to chat with Thu Hien will hear stories about specialized scientific data analysis in addition to the ability to subtly observe life as well as the thick and sensitive emotions radiating from her. Certainly, Hien's love of literature came before Hien's later commitment to science. She won first prize in the writing contest for teenagers in the Northern Province of Nam Dinh in 1998 with a series of short stories, Stars in the Sky, and first prize in the writing contest for students at the University of Natural Sciences, Hanoi National University in 2000 with short story Ca phe dang (Bitter Coffee).
Recently, Thu Hien revealed that she started to write a children's book to go along with her children.
