Nguyen Xuan Bach, 24, from Hai Phong city in northern Vietnam, is currently a third-year doctoral student in biochemistry at Duke University School of Medicine.
In December 2023, Bach received a $67,388 research grant from the AHA for his project to develop new antibiotics.
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Nguyen Hoang Xuan Bach at Duke University School of Medicine. Photo courtesy of Nguyen Hoang Xuan Bach |
Bach came to the United States in fall 2021 after earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Nagoya University, Japan.
He then received doctoral scholarships from seven universities, including Harvard, Cornell, Duke in the United States, Oxford in the United Kingdom and British Columbia in Canada, ranging from $500,000 to $672,000 for five to six years . He chose Duke because he was impressed by the university’s reputation for biomedical sciences, which matched his research interests.
During his first year of his doctorate, Bach explored various laboratories and worked with professors to find a suitable research project. He eventually joined a study on the process of synthesizing a new antibiotic with his mentor, Professor Kenichi Yokoyama.
He explained that Gram-negative bacteria, which are resistant to several drugs and are increasingly resistant to most available antibiotics, have become a serious problem in medicine.
Gram-negative bacterial infections cause serious complications and devastating consequences on the cardiovascular system via several critical pathways, he said.
When bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, the effectiveness of treatment may be reduced or even eliminated.
In 2019, Professor Kim Lewis of Northeastern University in the United States discovered darobactin, a substance capable of killing many bacteria and considered promising as a new antibiotic.
Following this discovery, since June 2022, Bach and Professor Yokoyama have been studying the production mechanism of darobactin in order to find ways to synthesize and develop it.
Using bioinformatics analysis tools, Bach discovered that darobactin is produced naturally by the DarE enzyme. A challenge in studying DarE is that the enzyme is oxygen sensitive, meaning it is rapidly inactivated in the presence of oxygen, requiring refinement and experimentation in a nitrogen atmosphere.
Due to the enzyme’s sensitivity and expensive experimental conditions, few scientists in the world can study it, leaving Bach with limited research to rely on, so he almost had to start from scratch.
After about a year of continuing the project, Bach successfully refined the DarE enzyme, gaining a first understanding of its mechanism.
“I feel lucky because the initial research data was not too different from my predictions. Many people only discover in their second or third year that their research direction is not suitable and need to change course , which takes more time,” he shared. .
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Nguyen Xuan Bach works in a laboratory at Duke University School of Medicine. Photo courtesy of Nguyen Xuan Bach |
In September 2023, Bach decided to apply for the AHA award. His application included personal information, a research project, future research directions, his findings, three letters of reference, and a training plan from his mentor.
The difficult part of the AHA application process is that doctoral students cannot apply directly but must be approved by the university.
In documents sent to the association, Professor Yokoyama claims that Bach is the best student he has ever supervised. He noted that Bach was able to describe and prove the feasibility of the project in a few months, while it typically takes years for a doctoral student to make similar predictions.
In addition to the AHA, Bach also received funding from Duke University School of Medicine and a research award from the Center for Evolutionary Medicine Research in 2023, thanks to his research contributions.
“Overall, Bach is intelligent and has great potential to become a next-generation leading figure in the field of microbial metabolism research,” Yokoyama said.
Bach’s immediate goal is to gather enough data and evidence to explain the production process of darobactin, creating a library of compounds for clinical animal trials.
Regarding his postgraduate career, he believes that working in a commercial or academic environment is a good thing, provided he can continue his research. “I am always curious about nature, especially chemical reactions and the processes that take place in it. Research may seem boring, because it can take 10-20 years or even a lifetime to complete a project, but every day brings new developments and I learn new knowledge,” Bach said.
In addition to the prize money, Bach has now become a member of the AHA, which allows him to participate in scientific seminars and connect with academics in the association.
The Duke University website states that the AHA is the largest non-governmental, nonprofit organization for cardiovascular research in the United States. The AHA Doctoral Fellowship is a prestigious and highly competitive award. For Bach’s work, Duke University awarded him an additional $5,000.
“For me, the AHA is not only an award with strong support but also recognition from professionals for the research I conduct.”
The young student also recognized that he was standing on the shoulders of giants.
“My supervisor, Ken Yokoyama, has been very supportive throughout my academic journey so far, and especially during the scholarship application period. Not only did he have to prepare some of the application documents himself application, but he also provided very helpful feedback on my proposal. I am happy to have his support throughout the process.”
