Vanessa Vongsouthi is a Ph.D. candidate within the Research School of Chemistry at the Australian National University (ANU). Vanessa earned a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) with First Class Honours from the ANU in 2017, majoring in Chemistry and Biology.

Vanessa's research focuses on protein engineering and ranges from the design of fluorescent biosensors used to study neurological disease, to the improvement of enzymes used in the biodegradation of plastic. Beyond research, Vanessa has been a STEM coach for young girls as part of the Curious Minds program, delivered by the Australian Mathematics Trust.