A long-standing and continuous scientific collaboration between Tran Hung Dao Hospital (108 Military Central Hospital), Hanoi, and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Germany, led to the establishment of the Vietnamese-German Center for Medical Research (VG-CARE) in 2015. Located on the hospital campus, which houses 2500 inpatient beds and serves about 3000 outpatients per day, VG-CARE is one of the competent entities for conducting GCP/GCLP-compliant clinical research.

The vision of VG-CARE is to conduct basic and applied clinical research on infectious diseases in the region and to expand and strengthen healthcare capabilities. With this unique opportunity for research and practice, VG-CARE aims to build sustainable individual, institutional, and infrastructural/organizational capacity through ongoing education and training, clinical research and patient and community engagement to achieve health equity for all populations.

Continued support from the BMBF has now enabled VG-CARE to be a well-equipped site for conducting GCP/GLP-compliant clinical trials. VG-CARE was selected by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as a global health hub for pandemic and outbreak preparedness and response to infectious diseases. The PAN-ASEAN coalition for Epidemic and Outbreak Preparedness (PACE-UP) project brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of 28 institutions from North-South and South-South collaborations involving local, regional, and international stakeholders.

VG-CARE receives financial support from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and also from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Tübingen, and the 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi. In addition, the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED -Vietnam) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) support this international bilateral initiative.

VG-CARE supports vibrant research that makes the best use of resources and is in line with rapidly advancing scientific developments in the field of infectious diseases. We provide this platform and welcome international scientific projects to conduct basic, clinical and applied research on infectious diseases.