Untold stories behind scientific works serving humanity
Few people know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has experienced cold “winters”. Those were the “winters” in the 1980s and early 1990s, when many studies were met with public skepticism, even opposition, and investment companies turned their backs.
“30 years ago, many people did not care about AI, this field was even forgotten, considered dead. Public interest in AI always fluctuates. Machine learning was almost dead at times” - Prof. Yann LeCun - One of the winners of the VinFuture 2024 Main Prize recalls.
It was also during this difficult period that the young LeCun began his journey to decipher the “secret of intelligence” with his first work on neural networks. However, the limited computing power at that time made it difficult to implement, leading to widespread skepticism.
In 1987, while working at Bell Labs (USA), he and his colleagues, including Geoffrey E. Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, invented the Convolutional Network. Thanks to that, a breakthrough era of AI was opened when machines could "learn" from huge amounts of data and make surprisingly accurate predictions.
“Research is a journey of discovery, which may not bring immediate results, but the important thing is to diversify ideas and not be afraid of failure,” concluded Professor Yoshua Bengio.
The 1980s were also the time when Professor Carl H. June, one of the scientists who won the VinFuture 2024 Special Prize, struggled with the journey to save the lives of leukemia patients. Bone marrow transplants still caused patients to die when their bodies were incompatible with the donor.
“I had the idea of how to create T cells right from the patient's body. Before that, scientists had never tried to do that,” he recalled.
At the time, only a handful of labs were working on immunotherapy, which was not considered a promising approach to cancer treatment. Carl H. Junne’s idea was even considered far-fetched because it involved genetic modification.
However, he and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) did not give up. The journey to bring CAR-T cell cancer therapy to reality took him and his colleagues nearly 30 years.
Studying for a PhD at the University of Liverpool in 1980, despite having the opportunity to stay in the UK, Dr. Firdausi Qadri decided to return home when he saw that every year in his home country, about 70 - 80 million people were at risk of cholera.
“While working in the research lab, I witnessed many patients suffering from diarrhea problems. I thought that just working in the research lab was not enough. So I decided to expand into other areas, such as public health and policy, focusing on vaccine research to be able to support and contribute more to the community,” shared Dr. Firdausi Qadri.
Dr. Firdausi Qadri’s innovation of an oral cholera vaccine has led to the implementation of large-scale vaccination campaigns in Bangladesh and other low-income countries, and her work has earned her the 2024 VinFuture Special Prize for Scientists from Developing Countries.
The prestigious VinFuture Prize and more
Standing on stage at the VinFuture 2024 Awards Ceremony, many scientists said that the award was a great recognition and encouragement for them on their journey of contributing to science.
“The award not only reflects my personal achievements but also rewards my agency team and reflects the power of science in building a better life for everyone,” shared Dr. Firdausi Qadri.
Mr. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, also expressed his honor to be nominated and awarded the VinFuture Prize. The world's most influential businessman assessed that Vietnam has initiated a meaningful award of the stature of the Nobel Prize to honor breakthrough scientific achievements and promote global cooperation.
The winners of the VinFuture 2024 Prize also expect new cooperation opportunities that this prize opens up to bring more practical values in many important fields, such as the development of Artificial Intelligence, Biomedicine, Energy and Environment... For example, Professor Carl H. June said that his research group at Philadelphia University and the University of Pennsylvania is collaborating with medical schools in Vietnam regarding CAR-T cell therapy.
Distinctive vision and outstanding contributions are also the foundation that helps the VinFuture Prize increasingly affirm its position as one of the most prestigious science and technology awards in the world.
