An interview with Alumni Award winners Victoria Tiase and Tuyet Chuong

We spoke with both award recipients about their journeys, the meaning of this recognition, and the principles that guide their work.

Q: What does receiving this award mean to you personally or professionally?

Victoria:
Receiving this award is genuinely humbling, and honestly, the first thing I felt was that I hope it makes UVA proud. That matters deeply to me, because the School of Nursing gave me so much. The education, the community, the formative experiences in leading as president of the SON and the school representative on the Honor Committee—all of it shaped who I am as a nurse, a researcher, and a person. To have that investment recognized through an award like this feels like a full‑circle moment. Professionally, it's affirmation that the work I've been doing at the intersection of nursing and digital health is resonating. Personally, it means I'm honoring the foundation that UVA built in me.

Tuyet:
Receiving this award means a lot to me. It represents not just an achievement, but a reflection of my journey so far and how I found my love for serving others, research, and clinical practice. I’ve learned that the most meaningful growth happens when you have the courage to try and go for it.

Q: Looking back, what moment or accomplishment are you most proud of in your career so far?

Victoria:
My role as the informatics expert on the National Academy of Medicine’s Future of Nursing 2030 committee has meant the most to me professionally. To be in that room, contributing a nursing informatics perspective to a report that will shape the direction of the entire profession for decades, was extraordinary. It was a reminder that the work I've dedicated my career to, sitting at the intersection of nursing and digital health, isn't peripheral to the future of nursing. It is central to it. Looking back, my involvement with SNAV set me up to participate in policy decisions and leadership conversations that most students never get access to. It taught me early on that nurses belong at every table.

There are so many places to translate nursing skills, and the discipline gives you a lens for understanding people, systems, and care that is unlike any other.

Victoria Tiase

Tuyet:
My proudest achievement is the growth I experienced by consistently stepping outside my comfort zone. By saying yes to opportunities, I gained unique experiences as a firefighter, EMS provider, and CPR and Stop the Bleed instructor. My clinical experience in the Surgical Trauma ICU helped me learn how to best care for my patients and their families during the most difficult and sensitive times of their lives and inspired me to pursue research in neuroprotection.

Q: How has your education at the School of Nursing influenced your path or approach to your work?

Victoria:
UVA School of Nursing fundamentally shaped how I think about what nursing is and what it can be. My education made clear that nursing isn't just one thing or one role. There are so many places to translate nursing skills, and the discipline gives you a lens for understanding people, systems, and care that is unlike any other. That thinking has followed me everywhere, from the bedside to informatics to health system leadership to research. I didn't leave nursing when I moved into information technology roles; I brought nursing with me. UVA taught me to see the full breadth of what this profession can do, and I've tried to live that out in every chapter of my career.

Tuyet:
The UVA School of Nursing introduced me to my mentor, Dr. Regina DeGennaro, who helped me pursue my goals of bridging the gap between scientific discovery and clinical. From my first critical care class with Professor Sarah Craig to my clinical experience as a registered nurse in the Surgical Trauma ICU, I found a profound sense of purpose. Surgery and critical care have earned a permanent place in my heart, not just as specialties, but as a calling. Every patient I have cared for serves as a reminder of why I pursue research today: to better understand the new discoveries found that can offer better outcomes for a person’s overall health.

Q: What impact do you most hope your work has on patients, communities, or the profession?

My experiences have been shaped by a simple yet powerful saying from my mom and dad: “If you care deeply about it, have the courage and be brave enough to go for it.”

Tuyet Chuong

Victoria:
More than anything, I hope my work creates a better place for the nurses who come behind me. If I can help design systems that reduce burden, eliminate inefficiencies, and let nurses spend more time doing what they were trained to do—caring for people—then I'll feel like I've done something that matters. And I hope it signals to the next generation that nurses have the ability to not just coordinate care, but to coordinate people, lead communities, and genuinely make the world a better place. That's what our profession is capable of.

Tuyet:
I would like to continue to make an impact in serving my community and the patients I take care of. My goal is to help us increase our knowledge on neuroprotection along with utilizing data analysis to then apply that to help enhance the quality of life for my patients and the community.

Q: What advice would you offer to current students or early‑career nurses?

Victoria:
I would tell them, without hesitation, that this is the most rewarding career you could choose and also, hands down, the most versatile. Nurses are needed everywhere. In hospitals, yes, but also in technology companies, in policy offices, in research institutions, in boardrooms. Don't let anyone, including yourself, put a ceiling on what a nursing degree can do. Follow the problems that matter to you, bring your nursing lens with you wherever you go, and trust that your training has prepared you for more than you might ever imagine.

Tuyet:
My experiences have been shaped by a simple yet powerful saying from my mom and dad: “If you care deeply about it, have the courage and be brave enough to go for it.” My parents taught me that while it takes a certain level of bravery to start, the reward is that I get to fall in love with a calling I would have never expected. Following this advice brought me to the UVA School of Nursing, the STICU, the research lab, and it continues to drive my curiosity and advancement in scientific knowledge to help improve our patient outcomes.