Having passed through three rigorous rounds of evaluation by the Preliminary Council, Professional Committee, and Professional Council, consisting of leading professors, scientists, and experts, Dr. Vu Thai Ha’s groundbreaking doctoral thesis “Computational Approaches to Expand the Applications of Chromatin State Annotations” has been awarded the SIU Prize Computer Science Season 1 Honorable Mention.
Dr. Vu Thai Ha is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Gladstone Institutes, University of California, USA. In 2023, she successfully defended her doctoral thesis titled “Computational Approaches to Expand the Applications of Chromatin State Annotations” at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), an prestigious institution in education and research, ranked #1 among Top Public National Universities in the U.S and #7 in Computational Biology/Bioinformatics/Biotechnology programs by USNews in the year of her graduation.
Dr. Vu Thai Ha’s doctoral thesis tackles a critical challenge in biological research: creating accurate systems for annotating the human genome through epigenetic data. Her innovative work introduced computational tools that enhance genome labeling and analysis, enabling researchers to explore the biological properties of genetic regions with greater precision. These tools are not only groundbreaking in their technical design but also pivotal in their application, as they process terabyte-scale datasets using parallel computing pipelines across clusters. By resolving issues of numerical instability and data engineering in high-dimensional data analysis, Dr. Vu Thai Ha has set a new benchmark for handling complex biological datasets.
Dr. Ha expressed her honor to receive the SIU Prize Computer Science Season 1 award and regretted her inability to attend the award ceremony due to ongoing research commitments
The impact of this research extends beyond the theoretical. Dr. Vu Thai Ha’s work has been integrated into the work of the International Human Epigenetics Consortium (IHEC), where her universal chromatin annotation systems are being utilized to analyze large-scale genetic data. The datasets generated from her research are invaluable resources, advancing our understanding of the genetic factors underlying human health and disease.
During her doctoral studies, Dr. Vu Thai Ha published 11 peer-reviewed journal articles, including 3 as the lead author, in prestigious journals such as Nature Aging, Genome Biology, Bioinformatics, and Science. These publications highlight her independent research capabilities and her influence as a leading voice in the scientific community. Her work has also attracted funding from renowned organizations, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), underscoring the global recognition of her groundbreaking contributions.
Dr. Vu Thai Ha is a shining example of what it means to push the boundaries of human knowledge. Her innovative solutions to some of the most pressing challenges in Computational Biology have not only elevated the field but also created tangible benefits for humanity.
| SIU Prize Computer Science Season 1 Honorable Mention offers a total prize value of 400.000.000 VND (Four hundred million VND) in cash; SIU Prize silver commemorative medal; and a tour incorporating with international conference, award ceremony worth up to VND 200,000,000 (Two hundred million VND).
At the Award Ceremony, Dr. Vu Thai Ha expressed her appreciation for the connection that the SIU Prize has offered, helping those far from home have the opportunity to interact and to learn from teachers, as well as other Vietnamese researchers. |
