Tuan Vo-Dinh facts for kids

Tuan Vo-Dinh (Vietnamese: Võ Đình Tuấn) was born in Nha Trang, Vietnam, on April 11, 1948. He is a very important professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry at Duke University. He also leads the Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics at Duke.

Early Life and Education

Tuan Vo-Dinh was born in Nha Trang, Vietnam. He studied hard and earned his doctorate degree in biophysical chemistry. He got this degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich in 1975. Later that same year, he moved to the United States.

Before joining Duke University in 2006, he worked at several other places. He was a director at the Center for Advanced Biomedical Photonics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. He also taught as a professor at the University of California and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Amazing Research with Light

Dr. Vo-Dinh is an expert in photonics. This is a special science that studies light and how we can use it.

His research focuses on many exciting ways to use light. Some of his main areas include:

• Biophotonics: Using light to study living things and solve health problems.
• Nanophotonics: Working with light at a super tiny, or "nano," scale.
• Plasmonics: Using tiny metal particles to control light.
• Biosensors: Creating small devices that use light to detect things. These can find chemicals in the environment or important markers in your body.

Finding Diseases Early

Dr. Vo-Dinh was a pioneer in developing new tools to find diseases early. He created special gene probes that use a method called surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). These tools are like tiny detectives. They can find very small amounts of DNA or other genetic material. This helps doctors detect diseases like cancer much sooner.

He also developed "Molecular Sentinels." These are special probes that can find different types of genetic signs of cancer. They help doctors see if cancer is present without needing many different tests.

Fighting Cancer with Light and Gold

His research team is also working on a new way to fight cancer. It's called photothermal immunotherapy. This method uses lasers and tiny gold particles. The gold particles are designed to go to the cancer cells. When the laser shines on them, the gold particles heat up. This heat helps to destroy the tumors.

This treatment also works with special medicines that boost your body's own immune system. This means your body can fight the cancer even better.

Awards and Recognition

Dr. Vo-Dinh is a very well-known and respected scientist.

• He was once ranked among the world's top 100 living geniuses. This was in a survey by a global consulting firm called Creators Synectics.
• In 2017, he was chosen to be part of the National Academy of Inventors. This is a big honor for inventors.
• In May 2019, he received the Sir George Stokes Award. This award is from the Royal Society of Chemistry. He got it for his amazing and lasting contributions to science. He was recognized for his new ideas in photonics, spectroscopy, molecular biology, and nanotechnology.