Mona Jasmine Ahonen

Mona Jasmine Ahonen has worked in various roles in the field of research and development since 2013. In 2013, they worked as a Summer Undergraduate Research Assistant at Princeton University, where they synthesized iron nanoparticles in uniform plasma glow discharge using ferrocene as a precursor and assessed morphology using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. In 2014, they worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at Iona College, and as a Graduate Research Assistant and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where they synthesized water-soluble high and low molecular weight biopolymers to store and release nitric oxide (NO) for therapeutic applications, characterized the purity and toxicity of synthesized materials, and evaluated the antibacterial efficacy of modified biopolymers against aerobic, anaerobic, and biofilm bacterial cultures. Since 2019, they have been working at Vast Therapeutics as a Principal R&D Scientist and Senior Chemist.

Mona Jasmine Ahonen began their educational journey in 2009 when they earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of the Philippines. Mona Jasmine then attended Iona University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 2014. In 2019, they received their Doctor of Philosophy in Polymer/Materials Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.