VinUni won £1 million global grand prize in The Trinity Challenge

HANOI, VIETNAM - Media OutReach Newswire - 8 June 2024 - On June 6, 2024, The Trinity Challenge (TTC), an organization dedicated to finding innovative solutions for the world's most pressing health challenges, awarded the Grand Prize worth £1 million, the largest prize in TTC 2024, to the virtual veterinary platform solution Farm2Vet. The solution is led by lecturers from VinUni University, with the expectation of effectively addressing the issue of antibiotic resistance in veterinary medicine - one of the top 10 greatest global health threats.

The project led by VinUni faculty on antibiotic resistance in Veterinary Medicine has just excellently won the Grand Prize at the Global Healthcare Innovation Competition – Trinity Challenge

The Trinity Challenge partnered with MIT Solve this year to focus on the challenge of "Antibiotic Resistance." The program called on global scientists to propose solutions by leveraging big data from low- and middle-income communities (LMICs) to mitigate the impact of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

Winners will receive funding and be connected and mentored by prestigious organizations to implement their solutions in real-world scenarios, creating tangible changes in people's lives.

Led by Dr. Phi Thi Linh Giang (Faculty of VinUni College of Business Management) and Dr. Doan Dang Khoa (Faculty of VinUni College of Engineering & Computer Science at VinUniversity), along with Professor Thanh Huong (Helen) Nguyen (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA), the Farm2Vet platform triumphed over 285 impressive solutions from teams across 57 countries. The team won the £1 million prize (over 32 billion VND) in the 2024 Trinity Challenge.

The misuse of antibiotics in livestock to prevent short-term disease outbreaks has exposed farmers to long-term risks of disease and poverty due to Antibiotic Resistance. To address this, Farm2Vet encourages responsible antibiotic use in livestock by providing farmers with instant, easy, and low-cost access to reliable veterinary advice and support. The Farm2Vet database enables farmers to diagnose diseases and receive treatment advice through the platform.

Farm2Vet's knowledge base empowers policymakers with early warnings to prevent outbreaks and AMR hotspots, enabling them to design effective biosecurity policies for livestock. Additionally, it connects safe production farms with businesses and consumers to meet global demands for quality and organic food.

Dr. Phi Thi Linh Giang, Faculty of VinUni College of Business Management and former Director of VinUni's Entrepreneurship Lab, shared: "Global challenges today are complex and require comprehensive interdisciplinary collaboration. Our team, comprising members from leading universities and in partnership with Vettech Hanoi, has real connections with millions of farmers and thousands of veterinarians in Vietnam. Farm2Vet hopes to initiate similar projects, bringing long-term benefits to hundreds of millions of farmers in LMICs globally while protecting consumer health by promoting clean and safe food from farms."

Dr. Le Mai Lan, President of the University Council, VinUniversity, stated: "We are truly proud of the Vietnamese spirit as, for the first time, scientists from a Vietnamese university have been named winners of the Grand Prize in a prestigious global competition like the Trinity Challenge. With a data-driven interdisciplinary approach, Farm2Vet is an innovative, feasible solution with the potential for scaling. VinUniversity will support the implementation of this solution in real life, contributing to solving challenges not only in Vietnam but also in other countries worldwide."

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chair, the Trinity Challenge and UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance, said: "The vision and hard work of our winners has been inspiring. They each show that everyone can make a difference and be part of the solution to the antibiotic emergency; no one has the whole answer but we can each still act. For example, with their plans to create a new platform for farmers to access diagnosis and treatment advice for their animals, our grand prize winner is focussing on the food chain, and yet creating a powerful solution that can generate data to fill our knowledge gaps and inform decision-makers."

By focusing on the needs of millions of Vietnamese farmers and hundreds of millions of consumers who demand safe meat, Farm2Vet transcends a simple research initiative. It's a creative project with the potential for significant impact, tackling a critical issue that can transform Vietnamese agriculture. Looking ahead, solutions like Farm2Vet are well-positioned to expand to other countries, benefiting broader communities globally.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is among the top 10 global health threats, which could cause 10 million deaths annually and $3.4 trillion in GDP losses by 2050. Vietnam is currently ranked 11th globally in antibiotic consumption and has one of the highest AMR rates in the world.

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