About Suan Tuang

Tuang was born and raised in a rural town called Tedim in northwestern Myanmar. His family, practicing Christians and members of the Zomi ethnic group, immigrated to Orlando, Florida during the height of the 2008 economic recession.

Believing that education was the key to helping his family overcome their socioeconomic challenges, Tuang entered high school in the U.S. as a junior with limited English skills, fully determined to succeed. With the guidance of his ESL teacher, Ms. Jacquelyn Gomez, who inspired him to believe in his ability to achieve any dream in America, he was accepted to MIT with full financial aid.

At MIT, Tuang developed a passion for chemistry, conducting research in bioinorganic chemistry and systems biology as an Amgen scholar. He worked in the lab of Dr. Stephen Lippard at MIT and in the lab of Dr. Ralph Weissleder at Massachusetts General Hospital. Having benefited from service projects during his childhood in Myanmar, he sought to create community-focused service initiatives worldwide. As president of MIT’s International Development House (iHouse), he found a supportive community on campus. He also discovered a love for teaching, serving as a teaching assistant for two undergraduate classes and earning the Frederick D. Greene Teaching Award. In his senior year, Tuang received the Albert G. Hill Prize and was featured on the MIT homepage.

Tuang earned his MD through the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology medical program and a PhD in Chemistry at MIT. Today, he works as a biotechnology investor, focusing on identifying and supporting therapeutic innovations with the potential to significantly transform medical practice.