Dr. Vo-Dinh is R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Chemistry, and Director of the Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics at Duke University. After high school in Vietnam, he pursued studies in Europe, receiving a B.S. in physics at EPFL-Lausanne, Switzerland (1970) and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at ETH-Zurich, Switzerland (1975). Before joining Duke University in 2006, he was Director of the Center for Advanced Biomedical Photonics and a Corporate Fellow, one of the highest honors for distinguished scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). His main research goal is focused on developing advanced technologies to protect the environment and human health. His research has centered on the development, integration, and application of nanophotonics, biophotonics, molecular spectroscopy, molecular biology, and nanotechnology for medical diagnostics and treatment, photoimmunotherapy, precision medicine, and global health.

Dr. Vo-Dinh has received seven R&D 100 Awards for Most Significant Advance in Research and Development; the Gold Medal Award, Society for Applied Spectroscopy (1988); the Languedoc-Roussillon Award (France) (1989); the Scientist of the Year Award, ORNL (1992); the Thomas Jefferson Award, Martin Marietta Corporation (1992); two Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer, Federal Laboratory Consortium (1995, 1986); the Lockheed Martin Technology Commercialization Award (1998); the Distinguished Inventors Award, UT-Battelle (2003); the Distinguished Scientist of the Year Award, ORNL (2003); the Exceptional Services Award, U.S. Department of Energy (1997); the Award for Spectrochemical Analysis, American Chemical Society (2011);  the Sir George Stokes Award, Royal Society of Chemistry, United Kingdom (2019); and the SPIE’s President Award,  SPIE The International Society for Optics and Photonics (2022). He has authored over 500 publications, is a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors, and holds over 65 patents.