Overview
Undergraduate Student at Duke University | Class of 2028
Major: Neuroscience (B.S.)
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Background: My father came to the US shortly after the Vietnam War as a refugee as one of the first boat people. He passed away when I was two years old from stroke and heart attack complications. My mother worked in a nail salon and raised me and my older brother on her own. 50% of nail salons are owned by Vietnamese Americans. The origin of Vietnamese nail salons began in 1975 at the Hope Village refugee camp in my hometown of Sacramento.
Growing up, we spent time in Little Saigon, a Vietnamese enclave in Sacramento served by two family doctors. I saw firsthand how health inequities affected the community I grew up in. I realize now that the factors my father and I grew up with were social determinants of health, and I finally understood the importance of representation in medicine.
My story as a first–generation Vietnamese American raised by a single mother isn't unique, but it is important to share in order to highlight how we can work to improve health outcomes in underserved communities.
At Duke, I serve as the Vice President of the Vietnamese Student Association, President of the Buddhist Meditation Community, and am actively involved in the Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter at Duke. My identity as a first–generation Vietnamese–American, Buddhist woman has helped me understand how my various identities– culture, faith, and gender intersect with health and belonging.
I became interested in neuroscience after working at a skilled nursing facility during the summer, where many patients had dementia and Alzheimer's. I joined the Reitman Lab in October 2025, where I've been working for several months as a research assistant at the intersection of neuroscience and radiation oncology. I enjoy the work I do because I get to apply scientific knowledge, learn from failure, and try again.