Phuong completed her PhD in biological imaging from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Here, she developed a new technology that combines innovative quantum dot nanotechnology and single-molecule counting to provide new insights into cancer at single-cell and single-protein scale. This imaging technology is helping us to understand how environmental inputs trigger cell fate, such as division or cell death, in homeostasis and pathogenesis processes.
As a Schmidt Science Fellow at the Yeo Lab, Phuong pivoted into an ambitious interdisciplinary plan to combine her bio-imaging technology experience with stem cell technologies and functional genomics to study RNA and RNA binding protein in the context of neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
She is now a Schmidt AI in Science Fellow at the University of California, San Diego.
Phuong is excited about working across disciplines to better understand cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.