UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE

Department of Biochemistry

227 Nguyen Văn Cu St., Ward 4, Dist. 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel. (84-8) 028 3 00560
Head of Department: Dr. Ngo Dai Nghiep, Email: ndnghiep@hcmus.edu.vn
1. Introduction
Founded in 1963, the Department of Biochemistry has been doing many studies on enzymes for
over 45 years. Currently, the Department has 12 staff members (5 PhD, 3 MSc, 4 BSc) who have
been leading research projects and supervising undergraduate and postgraduate students in the
field of biochemistry.

2. Main research groups

Enzyme technology
 Extraction and characterization of wild-type enzymes and recombinant enzymes for
medical environmental and agricultural application and food: Laccase, nattokinase,
glutamate dehydrogenase…
 Studies of purification processes for high-value enzymes
Dr. LUONG BAO UYEN
M.Sc. TRAN QUOC TUAN
 Identification and functional characterization of genes encoding for enzymes involved in
the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites (prenyltransferase, terpene synthase,
methylketone synthase…)
Dr. NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG THƯƠNG

Natural compounds and biological activities – Biomedical Engineering

 Extraction of natural compounds from plant, animal and microorganism
 Chemical synthesis for enhancement of biological activities and biocompatibility
 Biological activities including anti-bacteria, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammation,
enzyme inhibition for application on food, cosmetics, medicine and agriculture
 Nanomedicine and biomaterials for biomedical application
Assoc. Prof. NGO DAI NGHIEP
Dr. VONG BINH LONG
M.S. TRAN DANG KHOA
B.S. LE MINH XUAN
Biosynthesis, function and metabolic engineering of plant specialized metabolites
 Investigating the biochemical pathways involved in the plant specialized metabolism, the
enzymes that catalyze them, and the genes that encode these enzymes with a focus on
volatiles from native tree species in Vietnam in order to understand the genetic and
biochemical factors that contribute to the vast natural variation of volatile plant
specialized metabolism
  Translate this knowledge into developing metabolic engineering and synthetic biology
systems for important bio-based products.
Dr. NGUYEN THI HONG THUONG, (Group leader)
MSc PHAM THI MY BINH
MSc KHUAT LE UYEN VY
B.S TRAN THI DIEM HUONG

Bio-Energy
 Isolate microbial mixture for hydrogen fermentation
 Study on producing hydrogen by dark fermentation
Dr. NGUYEN DUONG TAM ANH