Van Q. Truong
Introduction
Hi, I'm Van! I'm currently an PhD/MA candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and Wharton School working on problems in biomedical computing, data science, and artificial intelligence. As a 2023-2024 Perry World House Graduate Associate, I'm deeply interested in the technical, sociocultural, business, and policy implications of global trends in AI applications, computing infrastructure, and multinational tech policy. I have a decade of experience in academic, government, and private sectors.
While I am primarily a computational scientist, sometimes I wear other hats in art, anthropology, biotech ecosystem leadership, community involvement, or hobby side quests. I previously served as the liaison between the Philadelphia STEM Equity Collective and the Penn Interdisciplinary Network for Scientists Promoting Inclusion, Retention, and Equity.
Additionally, I am committed to the mentorship and empowerment of underrepresented students. Previously at age 19, I biked solo across the country to fundraise for this cause which is close to my heart. I continue to closely mentor high school, college, post-bac, and graduate students.
JUST FOR FUN
My interests outside of science include mountain biking, rock climbing, playing on the Wharton "Wildebeests" rugby team, previously playing on Penn Women's "Venus" ultimate frisbee team, camping, cooking, foraging, freelance scientific illustration, designing interactive art sculptures, and serving as the Executive Director of Village Bridges, a Vietnamese heritage organization I co-founded with a team of young women from my village to serve our diaspora community.
Some things I've put together:
Favorite hikes (in progress)
NEWS
2024
February - Began the Traineeship in Advanced Data Analysis hosted by the NIH AIM AHEAD and NCATS Programs for underrepresented AI/ML researchers
January - My Fulbright application advanced through Semi-Finalist status
2023
December - Presented my research at the NeurIPS AI4Science Workshop
November - Accepted the ACM SIGHPC Award onstage at SC23 in Denver, CO which drew over 13,000 attendees in the computing field
September - Selected for the Perry World House Global Affairs Graduate Associates Program!
August - Awarded the Graduate Leadership and Engagement Award by my graduate group!
August - Invited to join the organizing team for the 2024 London Geometry and Machine Learning Summer School (LOGML)
July - 1 of 6 awarded the 2023 ACM SIGHPC Computational and Data Science Fellowship globally!
June - Invited to join the organizing team for the 2023 Machine Learning for Health (ML4H) Symposium
June - Started an internship at Eli Lilly & Company at the Lilly Biotechnology Center in San Diego, CA
May - Invited to attend the Symposium on Artificial Intelligence in Learning Health Systems (SAIL)
Travel supported by the Ritchie Lab and Penn's Biomedical Graduate Studies Career Development Fund
February - Attended the 6-Day Stillpond Computational Cytometry Data Analysis Workshop
2022
November - My 1st first-author publication is in print!
1st Author, "Quality Control Procedures for Genome-Wide Association Studies"
October - 1 of 36 awarded the 2022 Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship globally!
September - Submitted our chapter for review in the Current Protocols for Human Genetics
1st Author, "Quality Control Procedures for Genome-Wide Association Studies"
August - Awarded the Excedr Travel Grant to attend the inaugural Nucleate Summit in Boston, MA
August - Abstract accepted at the American Society for Human Genetics Conference in Los Angeles, CA
July - Attended the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCiS) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA
Systems Immunology Course
Big Data in Immunology Course
June - Became a dual-degree PhD/MA Candidate with Penn Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School of Business
May - Successfully passed the Genomics & Computational Biology PhD Candidacy Exams!
April - Invited Speaker at the 2022 Catalyzing Change: Curriculum to Career, Building a Diverse and Equitable STEM Talent Pipeline
January - Abstract accepted at the Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing in Kona, Hawai'i
2021
June - Awarded the Galaxy Conference Fellowship in honor of Dr. James Taylor to support trainees in genomics and data-intensive science to reduce barriers for learning and collaboration by the Galaxy Genomics Community Fund
March - Published our editorial in BioData Mining Journal!
2nd Author, "Ten Important Roles for Academic Leaders to Promote Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Data Science." https://doi.org/10.1186/s13040-021-00256-9
2020
August - Inducted into the Fontaine Society with PhD training support from the Fontaine PhD Fellowship, awarded by the University of Pennsylvania to support the academic development of PhD students from underrepresented backgrounds
May - Graduated from Johns Hopkins with my MS in Biotechnology with two concentrations in Bioinformatics and Molecular Targets & Drug Discovery
May - Published a paper in Nature Communications!
2nd Author, "Dissociable Neural Correlates of Uncertainty Underlie Different Exploration Strategies." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15766-z
FEATURED PRESS
ACM Special Interest Group on High-Performance Computing Press Release, “2023 ACM SIGHPC Computational and Data Science Fellowship Winners”
Penn Graduate Student Center Newsletter, Three PhD Students from Penn Selected as 2022 Microsoft Research PhD Fellows, https://gsc.upenn.edu/2022-microsoft-research-phd-fellows
Women In Bio Press Release, “WIB Awards Founders Scholarship to Six Women in the Life Sciences”
The Huffington Post, "One Florida Student Turned Studying Into Art"
USA Today, "Art meets science: Florida student's creation catching campus' eye"
The Gainesville Sun, "UF students' community projects gain financial support"
Lake Alice Magazine by the University of Florida College of Liberal Arts & Sciences featured a profile on my relentless drive and perseverance as a first-generation college student from an immigrant background
