Nguyen Huu Loc

Loc grew up in Quang Tri in central Vietnam with his parents and three siblings. His parents were laborers in the rice fields. He enjoyed making toys from items in the woods and fishing as a children 

He attended a small and not well ranked grade school where his teachers saw his talent and referred him to the talented and gifted high school. Loc became interested in biology based on his experiences in nature. In 8th grade he won 3rd prize in the regional biology competitions. He went on to the national competition but didn’t win anything. He tried again in 12th grade. After 3 days of exams (2 days of theory and 1 day of applied biology), he won 2nd prize nationally. This secured him acceptance into a national university but his family did not have enough resources to send him.

He was able to secure a full scholarship to the Pirogov National Research Medical University in Moscow, Russia. He spent his full first year learning Russian and spent his second year studying medicine. He did well though describes it as “a bit tough” as it was the high ranking medical school in Russian where even native Russian speakers have a hard time sticking with the program

He returned to Vietnam because is father was diagnosed with rheumatism and his sister was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in the same year. Both were left highly disabled and unable to walk. He describes learning that two family members had an incurable disease as a “crisis moment in his life”. He took a gap year such that he could bring up his English in hopes of transferring to VinUni to study medicine with a greater emphasis on pursuing a research career in muscular dystrophy and molecular biology. He received a full scholarship which he says his study would have been otherwise impossible.

Loc is planning on pursuing a master’s degree in research methods as part of our joining program with Penn before applying for a Ph.D. program. 

He would like to thank the supporters of his scholarship for making his dream to pursue research to cure and heal disease possible. He hopes to give back by paying the generosity he has received forward. He also hopes to create a foundation to support VinUni scholarships such that other students like him can pursue higher education and pursue their dreams.