Trung completed a PhD in Neuroscience with Jack Pettigrew (FRS) followed by an NHMRC Clinical Research Fellowship at Alfred Health and Monash University. He is continuing an interdisciplinary research program at TRI & UQ to 'Bring Discoveries of the Brain to Life!'
CURRENT MISSION:
[1] Precision Pain Medicine — the largest genetic study of persistent (chronic) pain in Australia, in collaboration with QIMR Berghofer & Monash University, aims to identify pharmacogenomics causal pathways for the design of personalised therapeutics & effective early screening technologies.
[2] IP Search Solutions — developing an IP/patent database training course (in collaboration with UniQuest) to enhance researchers’ skills — esp. HDRs — and increase targeted translational research projects across the University with its strategic partners.
[3] Precision Switch Medicine (PSM) — advancing a transdisciplinary research program to develop diagnostic, genetic & therapeutic technologies based on a fundamental bistable switching mechanism observed/conserved across different species (e.g., E. coli through to Drosophila, birds, aquatic mammals, rodents & humans); with potential clinical applications across psychiatry, neurology, cardiovascular/autonomic and sleep medicine.
This PSM program includes:
(I) Developing a digital biomarker testing platform to advance early diagnosis & intervention in mental health, esp. in youth populations;
(II) Validating an early screening device for sleep apnoea & heart attacks (e.g., in safety-critical occupations) to improve OHS & workplace productivity with industry partners; and
(III) Determining the optimal personalised protocol for lasting therapeutic efficacy in brain disorders (e.g., depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, dementia, epilepsy, persistent pain, migraine, post-stroke syndromes, sleep apnoea) with a repeated vestibulocortical stimulation (rVCS) device.
Trung is also actively engaged in supporting and promoting the work of early- to mid-career researchers (EMCRs) in mental health & clinical neuroscience as an EMCR Committee Member of the Australasian Society for Bipolar & Depressive Disorders (ASBDD) and the Society for Mental Health Research (SMHR).
His other substantive role at UQ involves high-level strategic research metrics assessments (reports), assisting EMCRs in fellowship/grant funding applications and helping to enhance the discoverability of their research. In particular, he enjoys meeting and connecting people with shared scientific and business interests to forge diverse strategic partnerships that deliver direct benefits for the wider community.
