Born into a family of STEM educators, Dad and Mom were a Math-Physics college professor and a Chemistry high school teacher respectively. My early life in Vietnam was marked by resilience and perseverance. After my father was taken to a concentration camp in North Vietnam post-1975 United States-Vietnam War, I supported my Mom and four siblings by selling fruits on the streets of Saigon from the age of eight. At fifteen, I escaped Vietnam on my own, eventually reaching the USA where I worked various odd jobs to support myself and my family while completing high school and going to college.My professional journey began in the United States Navy, where I served as a Medical-Surgical Corpsman and Preventive Medicine Officer. Following my honorable service, I transitioned into drug discovery and development research at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, where for seven years as a Staff Research Associate, I conducted several hundreds of in-vivo efficacy, formulation and toxicology studies for CoCensys, GlaxoSmithKline, ACEA and other companies. My career in the pharmaceutical industry includes increasing roles at leading biotech startups, large medtech, CRDMO, and pharmaceutical companies:Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc.: First In-vivo Pharmacologist hired for the University of California Irvine spinoff startup Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Pharmacology Lead, oral GPR119/GLP-1R agonist Pfizer Global R&D Inc.: Research Scientist and PI on early ASO-siRNA partnered projectsIonis Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Senior Scientist, rare disease programs Regulus Therapeutics Inc.: First In-vivo Pharmacologist hired for the Ionis-Alnylam microRNA therapeutics ventureAlfa Wassermann, Alfasigma Italia: Founding Director, Business Development BioPharma Research WuXi AppTec CRDMO: Senior Director, RNA In-vivo Pharmacology Subject-Matter-ExpertBound Therapeutics: Interim CEO / Industry Advisor Currently, I serve as the President and CEO at SirnaMed Therapeutics Inc., leveraging my broad domain expertise and background in biotech and pharmaceuticals to drive innovation and growth.