Dr. Vo Van Thi posed for a commemorative photo with Prof. Kristiina Tammimies – his principal supervisor for his PhD thesis
at the Karolinska Institute
On May 18, 2026, Dr. Vo Van Thi – Lecturer in Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, successfully presented his research proposal and officially began his PhD program in Medical Sciences at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, with a research focus on pediatric neurology, autism, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Minh Phuong, MD, Ph.D, Chairwoman of Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy (CTUMP), and Prof. Terje Falck-Ytter, Lecturer, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute, are the two professors who co-supervised Dr. Vo Van Thi's PhD thesis.
Dr. Vo Van Thi poses for a commemorative photo with Prof. Kristiina Tammimies. after defending his doctoral research proposal at the Karolinska Institute
The Karolinska Institute is one of the world's leading and largest medical universities, the country's largest center for medical science research, founded in 1810 in Stockholm, Sweden. The Institute is globally renowned as the Nobel Committee of the Institute directly selects and awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine annually.
Dr. Vo Van Thi at the research center of the Karolinska Institute, where he will conduct his research during his doctoral studies
Dr. Vo Van Thi is a former student of Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, graduating with honors in Medicine and retained as a lecturer in the Pediatrics Department, Faculty of Medicine. He continued to complete his Master's program in Pediatrics at Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy; and graduated with distinction in English Language at Can Tho University.
Throughout his career and research, Dr. Vo Van Thi has achieved many outstanding professional and scientific research accomplishments. In 2022 and 2024, he won First Prize at the National Youth Science and Technology Conference in the Health Sector with research related to autism spectrum disorder and a model for screening, diagnosis, and early intervention for autistic children in Ca Mau province. In 2024, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the People's Committee of Ca Mau province for his outstanding achievements in research on screening, diagnosis, and early intervention for children aged 18-36 months with autism spectrum disorder, and also received a Certificate of Merit from the Minister of Health in 2025.
In addition, Dr. Vo Van Thi won Second Prize at the Vietnam Medical Education Conference in 2024 with a topic on developing clinical and preclinical skills training; and won Second Prize at the Vietnam Science Summer School in 2023. He guided students to win Second Prize in the 26th Eureka Student Scientific Research Award in 2024 and guided trainees and students to win Second Prize in scientific research in 2026. He was a key member in three provincial-level research projects, one of which was successfully completed with an Excellent rating.
In the field of international cooperation and academics, Dr. Vo Van Thi participated in clinical observation programs at Monash Children’s Hospital (Australia), Perth Children’s Hospital (Western Australia), and was selected to participate in clinical observation at Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital (USA).
He also received numerous scholarships and international academic programs such as the ICNA Global Burden of Disease Fellowship 2025 from the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA) with the topic “Sustainable Model for ASD Screening, Diagnosis, and Intervention in Vietnam”; and the ICNA Travel Bursary Award for ICNC 2026 in Taipei, Taiwan. He received scholarships for the OMI Seminar “Adolescent Medicine” in 2026 from the Open Medical Institute (Austria) and the OMI Vietnam – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia General Pediatrics Seminar in 2024.
In addition, he had a scientific paper accepted at the American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting 2025 held in Atlanta, USA; participated in the Vietnam National Pitching Research Competition 2023 under the international academic network InSPiR₂eS; and also participated in the Vietnam-Singapore Young Leaders Dialogue Program in 2022 to develop leadership capacity and promote youth exchange between the two countries.
Before receiving the offer of admission from the Karolinska Institute, Dr. Vo Van Thi was also accepted into the PhD program in Child Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia – a university ranked 19th in the world according to the QS World University Rankings 2026.
Offer letter to Dr. Vo Van Thi for presenting Doctoral Research Proposal
Accepted in the doctoral research program at the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) is a significant milestone in the academic, research, and professional development of Dr. Vo Van Thi. This is not only an honor and source of pride for Dr. Thi and his family, but also a strong inspiration for young lecturers and students of Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy to continue striving for more outstanding results in their studies and research, contributing to affirming the quality of training, scientific research, and expanding international integration of the university.
External Relations Section, CTUMP’s Office
