Tuan Vo-Dinh (Vietnamese: Võ Đình Tuấn) (

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...

, 11 April 1948) is R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Professor of

Biomedical Engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). BME also integrates the logica ...

at the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering and professor of

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and director of the Fitzpatrick Institute for

Photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in the form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. E ...

at Duke.

Early years and education

Born in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, he earned his doctorate in biophysical chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

in 1975 and emigrated to the United States in 1975. He researched at

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

as director of Center for Advanced Biomedical Photonics, and was professor at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

and the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, (

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

), before coming to Duke in March 2006.

Research

He specializes in

photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in the form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. E ...

, the physical science of light. His research activities and interests include biophotonics, nanophotonics, plasmonics, laser-excited luminescence spectroscopy, room-temperature phosphorimetry, synchronous luminescence spectroscopy, surface-enhanced

Raman spectroscopy Raman spectroscopy () (named after physicist C. V. Raman) is a Spectroscopy, spectroscopic technique typically used to determine vibrational modes of molecules, although rotational and other low-frequency modes of systems may also be observed. Ra ...

, field environmental instrumentation,

fiber optics An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

sensors, nanosensors,

biosensors A biosensor is an analytical device, used for the detection of a chemical substance, that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector. The ''sensitive biological element'', e.g. tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell rece ...

and biochips for the protection of the environment and the improvement of human health. He pioneered the development of a new generation of gene probes using surface-enhanced

Raman scattering In chemistry and physics, Raman scattering or the Raman effect () is the inelastic scattering of photons by matter, meaning that there is both an exchange of energy and a change in the light's direction. Typically this effect involves vibrationa ...

(SERS) detection with ‘Molecular Sentinels’ and Plasmonic Coupling Interference (PCI) molecular probes for multiplex and label-free detection of nucleic acid

biomarkers In biomedical contexts, a biomarker, or biological marker, is a measurable indicator of some biological state or condition. Biomarkers are often measured and evaluated using blood, urine, or soft tissues to examine normal biological processes, p ...

(

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

mRNA In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of Protein biosynthesis, synthesizing a protein. mRNA is ...

microRNA Micro ribonucleic acid (microRNA, miRNA, μRNA) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21–23 nucleotides. Found in plants, animals, and even some viruses, miRNAs are involved in RNA silencing and post-transcr ...

) in early detection of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. His research group is developing a photothermal immunotherapy technology that uses lasers and

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

nanostars to heat up and destroy tumors, in combination with an immunotherapeutic drug.

Recognition

He was ranked No. 43 on a list of the world's top 100 living geniuses in a survey conducted by Creators Synectics, a global consultants firm. He was elected to the

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 201 ...

in 2017. In May 2019, he received the Sir George Stokes Award from the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

in recognition of "outstanding and sustained contributions to analytical science through innovations in the field of photonics, spectroscopy, molecular biology and nanotechnology."

Patents

*T. Vo-Dinh, "Dosimeter for Monitoring Vapors and Aerosols of Organic Compounds," U.S. Patent No. 4,680,165 (1987). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Practical Substrate and Apparatus for Static and Continuous Monitoring by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy," U.S. Patent No. 4,674,878 (1987). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Surface-Enhanced Raman Optical Data Storage," U.S. Patent No. 4,999,810 (1991). *M. J. Sepaniak and T. Vo-Dinh, "Fiber Optic-Based Regenerable Biosensor," U.S. Patent No. 5,176,881 (1993). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Enhanced Photo Activated Luminescence for Screening Polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and Other Related Compounds," U.S. Patent 5,272,089 (1993). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Raman-Based System for DNA Sequencing, Mapping and Other Separations," U.S. Patent 5,306,403 (1994). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Improved Surface-Enhanced Raman Optical Data Storage System," U.S. Patent 5,325,342 (1994). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Apparatus and Methods for Detecting Chemical Permeation," US Patent 5,376,554 (1994). *T. Vo-Dinh, EPAL Apparatus for Screening Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), and Other Chlorinated Compounds," US Patent 5,318,751 (1994). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Dosimeter and Probe," U.S. Patent 5,400,136 (1995). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Article of Protective Clothing Adapted for Detecting Chemical Permeation and Methods Therapy," US Patent 5,493,730 (1996). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Photo-activated Luminescence Sensor and Method for Detecting Trichloroethoplene and Related Volatile Organochloride Compounds," US Patent 5,525,520 (1996). *T. Vo-Dinh and P. Viallet, "Biosensor and Chemical Sensors Probes for Calcium and Other Metal Ions," US Patent 5,496,522 (1996). *T. Vo-Dinh, M. Panjehpour and B.F. Overholt, "Laser-Induced Differential Normalized Fluorescence Method for Cancer Diagnosis," US Patent 5,579,773 (1996). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Advanced Synchronous Luminescence System for Medical Diagnostics," US Patent 5,599,717 (1997). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Raman and Surface-Enhanced Raman Gene Probe and Detection System," US Patent 5,721,102 (1998). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Advanced Surface-Enhanced Raman Gene Probes and Method Thereof," US Patent 5,783,389 (1998) *T. Vo-Dinh, "Advanced Surface-Enhanced Raman Gene Probes and Method Thereof," US Patent 5,814,516 (1998). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Surface-Enhanced Raman Medical Probes and System for Disease Diagnostics and Drug Testing," US Patent 5,864,397 (1999). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Advanced Synchronous Luminescence System for the Detection of Biological Agents and Infectious Pathogens," US Patent 5,938,617 (1999). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Advanced Surface-enhanced Raman Gene Probe Systems and Methods thereof," US Patent 6,174,677 (2001). *T. Vo-Dinh, N. Erickson, and A.L. Wintenberg, "Integrated Circuit Biochip Microsystem Containing Lens," US Patent 6,197,503 (2001). *T. Vo-Dinh and S. Norton, "Method and apparatus of spectro-acoustically enhanced ultrasonic detection for diagnostics," US Patent 6,212,421 (2001). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Nanoprobe for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy in medical diagnostic and drug screening," US Patent 6,219,137 (2001). *T. Vo-Dinh and A. Sadana, "Fractal Analysis of Time Varying Data," US Patent 6,422,998 (2002). *T. Vo-Dinh, N. Erickson, and A.L. Wintenberg, "Integrated Circuit Biochip Microsystem" US Patent 6,448,064 B1 (2002) *T. Vo-Dinh "SERODS Optical Data Storage with Parallel Signal Transfer", US Patent 6,583,397 (2003). *T. Vo-Dinh "SERODS Optical Data Storage with Parallel Signal Transfer", US Patent 6,614,730 (2003). *T. Vo-Dinh "Multifunctional and Multispectral Biosensor and Methods of Use", US Patent 6,743,581 (2004). *T. Vo-Dinh and M .Hajaligol "Monitoring of Vapor Phase Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons", US Patent 6,744,503 (2004). *T. Vo-Dinh and A.L. Wintenberg "Integrated Tunable Optical System" (US Patent 6,965,431 (2004). *T. Vo-Dinh, "Advanced Synchronous Luminescence Imaging for Chemical and Medical Diagnostics", US Patent 7,103,402 (2006).

Books

*Vo-Dinh T., Room Temperature Phosphorimetry for Chemical Analysis, Wiley Interscience, New York (1984). *Vo-Dinh T., Editor, Chemical Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds, Wiley, New York (1989). *Vo-Dinh T. and Eastwood D.L., Editors, Laser-Based Approaches in Luminescence Spectroscopy, ASTM Publishers, Philadelphia (1990). *Vo-Dinh T., Editor-in-chief, Biomedical Photonics Handbook, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL (2003). *Gauglitz G. and Vo-Dinh T., Editors, Handbook of Spectroscopy, Wiley-VCH, New York (2003). *Vo-Dinh T., Editor, Protein Nanotechnology, Humana Press, New York, (in press).

References

External links

Official bio of Tuan Vo-Dinh
at Duke University Pratt School of Engineering
Vo-Dinh Research GroupThree Duke Biomedical Engineers Elected to National Academy of Inventors
December 2017

, May 2002 * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20031022132340/http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/vodinh.html Inventor of the Week Archive: Tuan Vo-Dinh

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, 1996
Dr. Tuan Vo-Dinh to serve on new international journal as editorial board member
, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Communications and External Relations. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vo-Dinh, Tuan 1948 births Living people Vietnamese community activists Vietnamese biologists Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Duke University faculty American biomedical engineers People from Nha Trang People from Khánh Hòa province ETH Zurich alumni