“I grew up in Vietnam where I obtained my first degree in electrical engineering. Later in 2011 I moved to Tampere, Finland, to obtain my Master’s and PhD degree in the Institute of Signal Processing at Tampere University of Technology. During that time, I was directed to signal processing and biophysics. Starting in 2016, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Institut Curie and École Normale Supérieur, Paris, until October 2021.
My research has always been at the interface between theoreticians – myself included – and experimentalists, where we combine state-of-the-art tools of genetics, imaging and computational modeling to achieve mechanistic understanding of biological phenomena.
As measurement techniques move towards being more quantitative, many biological systems in nature are found to operate at their physical limits, potentially due to evolutionary selection. Tools in physics have become very effective in identifying these limits, enabling us to reduce the models’ free parameters and to “understand” the origin and behaviors of complex biological systems, beyond plain parameter fitting. Thus, I believe theoreticians and experimentalists need to interact and learn of each other’s perspectives, motivations and capacity to make collaborative efforts the most fruitful possible.
Now I return to Tampere to work as a post doctoral researcher in Prof. Jari Hyttinen’s group. I will be studying the role of cell-to-cell communication and gene expression in tissue behavior in both short and long terms. Away from Paris (where many consider the centre of the universe), I am glad to see that my story is hardly unique: many previous students choose to return to Finland after post doctoral training abroad, not only for the renowned work-life balance but also for Finland’s emergence as a centre for interdisciplinary research and industry-academia connections. Hopefully I can pull my weight (or mass?) to contribute toward this trend.”
Huy Tran, Postdoctoral researcher
Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Prof. Jari Hyttinen’s group
Tampere University