Tran Ha Lien Phuong has become Vietnam's first scientist to be named in the top 15 International Rising Talents, an honour bestowed on only the best female scientists in the world.

Dr. Tran Ha Lien Phuong

Phuong lectures in pharmaceutical sciences and cancer in the biomedical engineering department at Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City.

Unesco oversees the Rising Talents awards, which aims to encourage greater involvement of women in science, which currently has a participation rate of only 30 percent.

The 15 women will be honoured on March 18 in Paris for their contributions to ecology and sustainable development, physics, pharmacology, epidemiology, medical research, neuroscience and evolutionary biology.

Phuong gained attention for her work in the development of fucoidan-based polymeric micelles for cancer treatment and diagnostics.

She turned down a scholarship for further study at an institute in South Korea to remain in HCM City.