PJ is making science more inclusive for Hmong and Karen populations in the US by investigating the link between the microbiome, and diabetes and obesity in immigrant populations, as well as first and second generations, who have much higher rates of diabetes and obesity when compared to the general population of the US. Her study, the Immigrant Microbiome Project, adds diversity, cultural awareness, and community to a field of science that is not often accessible to immigrant communities. During her time at the University of Minnesota, PJ has embraced every hurdle to becoming a scientist in the computational biology field, and soon she will be defending her thesis, then will be heading off to a new endeavor into science-based public policy as Miss Pajau Vangay, Ph.D. And we wish her nothing but the best. https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-06-21/scientist-pajau-vangay-used-make-pretty-code-now-she-studies-guts