La, Cuong Manh was born and grew up in a small town named Thai Binh, 100 kilometers northern Hanoi Capital city of Vietnam. After finishing his high school, he went to Hanoi Agricultural University in 1991 and Hanoi National University in 1996 and earned his first B.A. in Agricultural Economics, and the second one in English. In 2003, he received the Ford Foundation scholarship to pursuit his M.A. degree in Human Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University, USA. His professional experience includes work with the Vietnam Farmers’ Union on family planning and reproductive health, Futures Group/ Policy Project on HIV/AIDS policy and advocacy, CDC and UNAIDS on men sexual health, particularly on men who have sex with men.

La, Cuong Manh enlisted in the Hanoi School of Public Health in December, 2006 as a Ph.D. candidate to further study in Medical Anthropology in the United States, proposed in the Fall Semester, 2007. At the moment, Mr. Cuong is serving as a researcher involving in a number of researches in sexual health, HIV/AIDS for his institution. He is also providing his teaching classes in qualitative research methodologies for B.A. and M.P.H students.

La, Cuong Manh’s academic awards include scholarships from UNFPA, Danida, Ford Foundation, and Rockefeller. He is now a lecturer and researcher at Hanoi School of Public Health, Hanoi Vietnam.