Nguyen Xuan Hung, PhD
Deputy Director Head of Cancer Immunology
Assistant Professor
Biography
Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hung is an internationally recognized molecular immunologist and biomedical researcher and earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology from the University of Lübeck/Research Center Borstel, Germany (2010), following earlier degrees in Biotechnology (2004) from Hanoi University of Science and Technology and Economics (2003) from the National Economics University, Vietnam.
After postdoctoral training in France at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMC, Strasbourg) and the Center for Pathophysiology of Toulouse-Purpan (CPTP, Toulouse), Dr. Hung joined Vinmec in 2018. He has since served in leadership roles including Deputy Director of the Vinmec – VinUni Institute of Immunology (from 2023), Director of Vinmec Hi-tech Center, and former Director of Vinmec Institute of Applied Science and Regenerative Medicine
His scientific contributions include over 70 international publications, with articles in leading Q1 journals such as Nature Communications, Science Translational Medicine, EMBO Journal, Blood, PNAS, Journal of Experimental Medicine, and Journal of Autoimmunity. Notably, his clinical trial research published in Nature Communications (IF:16.6):
(i) contributed to protecting the community during the COVID-19 pandemic by successfully vaccinating nearly 20,000 participants;
(ii) led to the regulatory approval in Japan and Europe of self-amplifying mRNA vaccine technology in 2023, paving the way for its application in other preventive vaccines;
(iii) demonstrated the safety and clinical efficacy of several novel therapeutic strategies, facilitating their rapid translation into medical practice.
He has secured major research grants as Principal Investigator, including: $816K (2024–2026) on microbiome markers for colorectal cancer, $150K (2025–2028) on hiPSC-derived engineered heart tissues, $60K (2019–2021) from ICGEB on narcolepsy autoantigens, and several other PI/co-PI grants totaling over $1.2M
Beyond research, Dr. Hung has significantly contributed to education and science communication. He is the sole author of the Vietnamese book “Liệu pháp tế bào miễn dịch điều trị ung thư” (Immune Cell Therapy Against Cancer, Medical Publishing House, 2024), as well as a co-author of several international book chapters. He also served as the principal translator of the Vietnamese edition of Harvey Lodish’s Molecular Cell Biology, acted as an editor of the Vietnamese Biotechnology website, and co-founded the Vietnamese Students’ Association in Strasbourg, serving as its first president.
1) Cell biology; 2) Stem cell and immune cell technology; and 3) Clinical trials.
1. Ho TN, Huges S, Nguyen X-H# et al. Safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of the self-amplifying mRNA ARCT-154 COVID-19 vaccine: pooled phase 1, 2, 3a and 3b randomized, controlled trials. Nat Commun. 2024;15(1):4081. (IF: 16.6)
2. Le TT, Nguyen X-H, et al. Current state of microbiota clinical applications in neonatal and pediatric bacterial infections. Gut Microbes. 2025;17(1). (IF: 12.33)
3. Nguyen TTT, Dang XTT, Nguyen X-H, Yeo EYM, et al. Safety and efficacy of KRAS antisense oligonucleotides and RIG-I agonists delivered by extracellular vesicles for pancreatic cancer peritoneal metastasis treatment. J Control Release. 2025;387:114239. doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.114239. (IF: 11.5)
4. Ho TN, Huges S, Sekulovich R, Nguyen X-H#, et al. Self-amplifying mRNA vs. adenovirus-vector COVID-19 vaccines: a comparative assessment in a phase 3 study. NPJ Vaccines. 2024;9(1):233. (IF: 9.2)
5. Khajavi L, Nguyen X-H, et al. The Transcriptomic Profiling of Blood CD4 and CD8 T-cells in Narcolepsy Type I. Front Immunol. 2023;14:1249405. (IF: 8.7)
6. Nguyen HP, Bui VA, Nguyen X-H#, et al. The correlation between peripheral blood index and immune cell expansion in Vietnamese elderly lung cancer patients. Int J Mol Sci. 2023;24(5):4284. (IF: 6.2)
7. Nguyen TC, Nguyen LT, Do XH#, et al. Fresh human umbilical cord arteries as a potential source for small-diameter vascular grafts. ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2024;10(11):7120–7131. (IF: 5.4)
8. Le TT, Ha T, Nguyen X-H#, et al. Osteosarcoma patient with Li-Fraumeni syndrome: the first case report in Vietnam. Front Oncol. 2024;14:1458232. (IF: 4.7)
9. Hoang HT, Vu MD, Vo SN, Nguyen X-H#, et al. A study of genetic variants associated with skin traits in the Vietnamese population. BMC Genomics. 2024;25:52. (IF: 4.4)
10. Huynh DC, Nguyen MP, Nguyen X-H, et al A comprehensive analysis of the immune system in healthy Vietnamese people. Heliyon. 2024;10(9):e30647. (IF: 4.0)
11. Nguyen THN, Dauvilliers Y, Liblau R, Nguyen X-H#, et al. Absence of specific autoantibodies in patients with narcolepsy type 1 as indicated by an unbiased random peptide-displayed phage screening. PLOS One. 2024;19(3):e0297625. (IF: 3.7)
AWARDS
22016 La Région Occitanie Post-doctoral Fellowship, France
2007 Leibniz Research Center Doctoral Fellowship, Germany
RESEARCH AWARDS
2025-2028 VinUni. The amount awarded: $150K. Role: PI
Advancing Cardiovascular Disease Modeling and Therapeutics with hiPSC-Derived 3D-Engineered Heart Tissues
2024-2026 Vinmec/VinUni. The amount awarded: $816K. Role: PI
Identification of Microbiome-Based Markers to Improve the Early Detection and Treatment of Colorectal Cancer.
2023-2025 OrganoidSciences. The amount awarded: $133K. Role: co-PI
Tumor organoid for evaluation of cancer drug responses.
2019-2021 ICGEB. The amount awarded: $60K. Role: PI
Identification of target autoantigens for narcolepsy type I.
2019-2021 Nafosted. The amount awarded: $60K. Role: PI
Identification of target autoantigens and autoreactive T cells for narcolepsy type I.