Phuong is a Ph.D. student performing her graduate research in the lab of Elizabeth Nance in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Her research focuses on characterizing and investigating the role of brain-derived extracellular vesicles in injury response in neonatal ischemia models. Extracellular vesicles are membrane-bound vesicles that have emerged as a new pathway of cellular communication and a valuable source for injury stage-specific information and as fingerprints of injury progression. They have become an exciting new research thrust in therapeutics due to their intrinsic capability to carry active biomolecules, endogenous bioavailability, and biocompatibility. The long-term goal of her research is to develop targeted therapies for neonatal ischemic injury, which is an underserved population in translational research. Phuong obtained her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Materials Science & Engineering at Stanford University and the University of Washington, respectively.