Sydney Vietnam Academic Network
Impacting lives through collaborative research and education
August 2025 Newsletter
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| Sydney Vietnam Academic Network Newsletter
Featuring some of our current research projects, achievements,
opportunities, news and events
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Welcome to the August edition of the SVAN Newsletter. As you can see, there’s a lot happening across our network – enjoy the updates!
I especially want to encourage people to get involved in our in-person events – they’re a great way to connect, collaborate and build community. If you’re in Sydney, join us this Thursday evening at The Alfred for a relaxed social catch-up with Thu Anh Nguyen. And if you’re heading to Hanoi next month, don’t miss the Sydney Vietnam Innovation Symposium on the 12 September. Whether you can make it or not, do consider submitting a poster to showcase your work at the Symposium, no matter what stage it’s at.
Please forward this newsletter to any colleagues who might be interested in joining SVAN – we are always happy to welcome new members. And finally, if you’ve ever thought about learning Vietnamese, now’s a great time – our online language classes are a fun and meaningful way to engage with culture and a proven way to keep your brain sharp in the long run.
Associate Professor Justin Beardsley
Director, Sydney Vietnam Academic Network
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Kevin Hobgood-Brown AM awarded honorary doctorate
Congratulations to Kevin Hobgood-Brown AM, Chair of the Sydney Vietnam Institute’s Members’ Council, on being awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business by the University of Sydney. This significant honour recognises his incredible commitment to advancing international relationships through higher education and his work as a corporate adviser and lawyer on investment projects with Australia’s major Asian trading partners. He is celebrated for his outstanding contributions to international business, his exceptional leadership in advancing the University of Sydney’s engagement in China and Vietnam, and his dedication to mentoring the next generation of leaders.
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 | Professor Greg Fox. Photo: University of Sydney/Emlyn Crockett
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VQUIN trial a Eureka Prize finalist!
Congratulations to the VQUIN trial team – Prof Greg Fox, Prof Thu-Anh Nguyen, A/Prof Nguyen Viet Nhung, Prof Guy Marks, Prof Ben Marais and Prof Steve Graham – who have been named finalists for the 2025 Eureka Prize in the Infectious Diseases Research category. The Eureka Prizes are among Australia’s most prestigious science awards, recognising outstanding achievements in research and innovation, leadership and science engagement.The VQUIN trial, a collaboration between Australian and Vietnamese partners, demonstrated that a simple antibiotic can halve the incidence of tuberculosis among contacts of patients with multidrug-resistant TB. This discovery has changed World Health Organization policy, benefiting millions globally.
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Preparing for the next pandemic
The University of Sydney was honoured to welcome Dr Vo Ho Son, Deputy Director General of the Department of Preventive Medicine, and Prof Tran Dac Phu, Chair of the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group, from Vietnam’s Ministry of Health for a working session focused on pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance. For over a decade, University researchers have partnered with the Ministry to tackle major health challenges – from tuberculosis to vaccine-preventable diseases – building a foundation of trust and collaboration.
Experts, researchers and public health leaders from both countries shared the latest advancements in immunisation, vaccine access and development with a special focus on tuberculosis vaccines, laying the groundwork for future joint initiatives to improve public health in Vietnam and the region.
The visit was supported by the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, Sydney Vietnam Institute and the Office of Global and Research Engagement.
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Politics in Action 2025
Now in its tenth year, the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre’s flagship Politics in Action forum offered fascinating insights into the evolving political landscape in Southeast Asia. The event featured Andrew Goledzinowski, former Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, who delivered the Vietnam update. His presentation explored economic and political reforms under General Secretary To Lam, in the context of Vietnam’s history. It also examined Vietnam’s neutral foreign policy, guided by its “four no’s” policies; it’s expanding strategic partnerships beyond traditional allies to include Australia, Japan and the United States; and its position as a rising regional player.
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Mapping the future of TB diagnostics
Congratulations to Dr Emily MacLean who has been awarded a £325,000 (A$670,000) Wellcome Trust (UK) grant to co-lead a project on the tuberculosis (TB) biomarker landscape. The study aims to identify TB biomarkers that can be translated into accessible, high-impact tests deployable in high prevalence settings, such as Southeast Asia.Building on Emily’s previous work synthesising TB biomarker knowledge (including her 2019 Nature Microbiology paper and a 2022 co-authored study in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology), the project will include a scoping review to map the various use-cases for which biomarker-based tests have been developed and a systematic review of biomarkers aligned with those use-cases. It will also develop a prioritisation framework to guide future test development and identify barriers and enablers to translating biomarkers into real-world diagnostic tools.
The project co-leads include Dr Rishi Gupta (University College London) and Dr Ankur Gupta-Wright (Imperial College London/Heidelberg University), with mentorship from Prof Thu-Anh Nguyen, Prof Claudia Denkinger (Heidelberg University) and Prof Mahdad Noursadeghi (UCL). The team will be assisted by eight part-time Research Associates (HDR students), including Khay Mar Aung and Thi Mai Nguyen.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
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Join us in Hanoi for the Sydney Vietnam Innovation Symposium
The Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, Sydney Vietnam Academic Network and Sydney Vietnam Institute are busy making final preparations for the 2025 Sydney Vietnam Innovation Symposium, to be held in Hanoi on Friday 12 September.
The event promises to be a great opportunity to showcase the breadth of work being conducted in collaboration between the University of Sydney and Vietnamese researchers, and to network with existing and new contacts.
The Symposium will comprise panel discussions on pursuing shared opportunities, explorations of how to make collaboration work, exciting research talks and skills-building workshops.
When: Friday 12 September 2025
Where: In person in Hanoi, Vietnam, and online via Zoom
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Call for posters extended: Showcase your research in Vietnam!
We are keen to maximise opportunities to showcase everyone’s current, completed, or planned research at the Sydney Vietnam Innovation Symposium. Posters will be displayed in the common areas during breaks to promote discussions and provide a ‘research introduction’.
If you have research you would like to share in poster format, complete the poster expression of interest form and submit it by 5:00pm (AEST) Monday 25 August 2025. This call is open to all, regardless of whether you will attend the Symposium in person. A prize will be awarded for the poster with the most engagement!
Once selected, final posters will be required by 1 September 2025 so that printing can be arranged in time for the Symposium.
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Join us for a SVAN gathering at The Alfred
This is a chance for USyd academics interested in Vietnam to connect, share ideas, and build new collaborations. We’re delighted that Prof Thu Anh Nguyen, Director of the Sydney Vietnam Institute, will be joining us – offering a great opportunity to meet her or catch up in an informal setting. Some light snacks will be provided, so come along, grab a drink, and pull up a chair. When: Thursday 21 August 2025 | Where: The Alfred, 51 Missenden Road Camperdown
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IASC-ARS Conference 2025
Registrations are open for the 13th Conference of the International Association for Statistical Computing-Asia Region (IASC-ARS 2025). The conference theme is “Interfaces Between Statistics and AI: Towards Collaboration and Unification”.
When: 4–6 December 2025
Where: University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City
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CLINICAL TRIALS IN VIETNAM
The FLIRT study, a multinational clinical trial led by Prof Greg Fox, has recruited its first participants, marking a significant milestone. The study will evaluate a fluoroquinolone-based treatment for isoniazid-resistant tuberculosis (TB). Participants were recruited at Can Tho Hospital where, to date, 43 TB patients have been pre-screened, with 40 eligible for screening and 30 providing informed consent. Seven patients with isoniazid resistance have been identified, randomised and commenced treatment. This achievement reflects the outstanding efforts of the SVI together with the National Lung Hospital – National Tuberculosis Program and other local partners.
The first participants for the TBSWAB study, led by Dr Emily MacLean, have also been recruited in Can Tho. TBSWAB explores a promising new approach to diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis by the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra test on tongue swab samples. This method aims to improve diagnostic accuracy, efficiency and comfort, particularly for adolescents aged 10–19, who often experience difficulties in providing sputum samples.
The PHOENIx trial on multidrug-resistant TB has successfully completed the recruitment and treatment phases. All participants have now entered the follow-up stage.
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Curating Futures: A new era for Vietnamese museums
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The Curating Futures: Vietnamese Museums in Transition forum held in Ho Chi Minh City in June brought together over 100 delegates from museums, galleries, universities and cultural ministries across Vietnam, marking the first time public and private museum communities have convened to collectively address the future of curatorship in the country. The forum is the second in the Curating Futures initiative founded by A/Prof Jane Gavan, which aims to enhance cultural leadership, foster creativity and innovate museum models in Vietnam. Co-hosted by the Sydney Vietnam Institute, UNESCO Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture, and timed ahead of key national policy updates, the forum explored community-based curatorship, storytelling and memory, sustainable cultural institutions, building professional pathways and global-local knowledge exchange. It featured keynote speeches, in-depth panel discussions, professional collaboration sessions and site visits to several museums.
In her keynote address, A/Prof Gavan described museums as “cultural gardens” that flourish through creativity, investment and public trust. She emphasised the urgent need to support those working collaboratively within heritage spaces, especially in Vietnam’s dynamic and rapidly evolving cultural sector. Prof Thu Anh Nguyen emphasised the importance of institutional partnerships that are both locally grounded and globally informed, noting that the University of Sydney’s role is to support capacity-building and inclusive knowledge-making with long-term impact.
The forum generated strong media attention, including national coverage in Báo Văn Hóa and a television feature by HTV, which aired in July.
A/Prof Gavan’s leadership has been instrumental in shaping the initiative’s interdisciplinary and inclusive approach, advocating for recognition of curatorial roles and the development of sustainable career pathways. The final forum will be held in Da Nang in December 2025.
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Congratulations to Dr Jaslyn Doshi!
“I’ve really enjoyed working in Vietnam, especially collaborating with my Vietnamese colleagues during fieldwork,” Jaslyn said. “It’s been incredibly rewarding, and I’m excited to continue researching antimicrobial stewardship and supporting hospital systems to improve antibiotic use.”
Currently a member of the SAPPHIRE-AMR team, Jaslyn hopes to continue her work to scale up antimicrobial stewardship programs in hospitals across the country.
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Planning a research trip to Vietnam?
To facilitate support for University of Sydney researchers and academics visiting Vietnam, the Sydney Vietnam Institute has created a shared calendar where members can quickly and easily enter their travel schedules. The calendar will help to plan events, meetings and networking opportunities in Vietnam. To opt in to receive the “Visit to Vietnam” calendar invite, simply complete this form – it only takes a minute. If you have any questions, please c ontact Quynh Anh Dam at SVI.
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Something about Australia-Vietnam you should know...
A sporting first for Australia–Vietnam relations
Jayden Nguyen made history in July as the first player of Vietnamese descent to play in the AFL (Australian Football League), debuting for Essendon Football Club against the Sydney Swans. Born and raised in Melbourne to Vietnamese parents, Nguyen’s achievement is being celebrated as a powerful symbol of multiculturalism and the growing connection between Australia and Vietnam.
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Member special offer! Online Vietnamese language classes
Interested in learning Vietnamese in a friendly and supportive group environment? Academics across the University have been participating in an innovative online Vietnamese language program with our in-country language partner, Tieng Viet Oi. Classes are held twice a week online with expert teachers from Vietnam, and are available at beginner, intermediate and advanced level. This is a fantastic way to build confidence in your speaking and listening skills and gain insights into Vietnamese culture.
SVAN members and affiliates of the University of Sydney have access to up to 20 hours of subsidised classes. Fee support is based on group class attendance rate, so why not apply with another budding Vietnamese speaker. The classes are run in collaboration with the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre.
Email Sydney-Vietnam.network@sydney.edu.au to express your interest.
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Join the Sydney Vietnam Academic Network to share your projects and hear about the latest news, events and grant opportunities tailored to research on and in Vietnam.
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