Doctor Nguyen Thanh Liem (Photo: vietnamfriendship.vn)Tokyo (VNA) – Nguyen Thanh Liem, Directorof the Stem Cell and Gene Technology Institute at Vinmec Times CityInternational Hospital, has become the first Vietnamese doctor to receive the2018 Nikkei Asia Prize in the science and technology category.
The honour was awarded to the doctor at a ceremony in Tokyo on June 13 inrecognition of his work advancing health care for children.
Nikkei said Liem performed Asia's first laparoscopic surgery on a child.Commonly used on adults, the procedure involves making small incisions in theabdomen, but is more difficult to perform on children because their bodies aresmaller, leaving less room to work.
Having learned minimally invasive surgery from French pioneer Philippe Mouret,Liem was determined to "bring pediatric endoscopic surgery toVietnam" to reduce the need for major procedures that leave serious painand scars. In 2014, he became one of pioneers in using stem cell transplants totreat serious disorders such as cerebral palsy.
The Nikkei Asia Prize was also presented to Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun inthe field of business innovation prize, and founder of Sulabh International ofIndia Bindeshwar Pathak, in the culture and community category.
The prize was created in 1996 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Nikkei'smain Japanese language newspaper. Past winners include Manmohan Singh, who wonin 1997 before becoming India's prime minister, and Bangladeshi socialentrepreneur Muhammad Yunus, who was honored in 2004 and went on to receive the2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering the concept of microfinance.-VNA
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