The Swiss - Vietnamese Medical Association (HELVIETMED) announced on Monday the list of seven Vietnamese scientists who had won the Alexandre Yersin Prize for outstanding research achievements in 2021.

The first prize was given to Dr. Dang Quang Vinh and his associates in My Duc Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

The second prize went to Dr. Vuong Ngoc Lan and colleagues at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City; Dr. Hoang Khuong Duy and associates at Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City; Dr. Nguyen Lam Vuong and colleagues at Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Ho Chi Minh City; Dr. Luong Quoc Chinh and colleagues at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi; Dr. Nguyen Minh Nam and colleagues at the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City.

Dr. Tran Le Son and colleagues at the Medical Genetics Institute in Ho Chi Minh City won a consolation prize for their work.

This is the third time that the Alexandre Yersin Prize has been given to Vietnamese scientists making significant contributions in the medical field.

The prize is only for medical works conducted in Vietnam by Vietnamese scientists. It is given out once every two years.

The Alexandre Yersin Prize for outstanding research achievements was an idea created by the HELVIETMED, a non-profit and humanitarian association, in order to recognize the achievements of Vietnamese medical scientists and push the idea into the international medical field.

It is named after Dr. Alexandre Émile-John Yersin (1863-1943), a great pioneer in medical research in Vietnam who discovered the bubonic plague bacillus and Yersinia pestis, according to the HELVIETMED’s official website.

Each individual research is properly examined through different criteria such as the effects it would have clinically or scientifically and its innovative potential.

The judging board consists of eight professors and doctors from Switzerland, France, and Australia under the leadership of Professor Nguyen Van Tuan from the University of New South Wales and the University of Technology in Sydney.

Prof. Tuan stated the quality of research this year is double that of previous competitions, with some articles published in leading publications such as The Lancet and eLife.

Each year, Vietnamese scientists publish thousands of articles about the medical field, but ones written by Vietnamese in Vietnam are very rare.

It is even rarer for them to be featured in an influential magazine, he said.

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