My V.T. Phan
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Phone: 602-496-2986
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Arizona Biomedical Collaborative Mailcode 8920 425 N. 5th Street Phoenix, AZ 85004
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Mail code: 8620Campus: Phoenix
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Dr. My V.T. Phan is an assistant professor in genomic epidemiology and bioinformatics of viruses. She combines both wet-lab work and computational data analyses to investigate viral (meta)genomics, virus discovery, and to track virus emergence, transmission and evolution, as well as supporting outbreak preparedness and responses. Dr. Phan was involved in several large consortia in virus genomic investigations, including large-scale virus genomic surveillance (VIZIONS, Wellcome Trust Strategic Award) to investigate viral zoonoses in Vietnam, and the EU Horizon 2020 COMPARE and Virogenesis consortia to study viruses at a global scale and to develop innovative computational tools for studies on virus genomics and evolution, respectively. For global health and outbreak responses, Dr. Phan was part of the team working on the ground to perform real-time sequencing of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone during the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa, and the SARS-CoV-2 virus surveillance in Uganda, South Sudan and Burundi; results from which helped inform rapid responses and enhanced strategies in disease control management.
- Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil), University of Oxford, England, United Kingdom
- Bachelor of Medical Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Dr. Phan's research integrates virus genomics, bioinformatics, evolutionary phylodynamics and genomic epidemiology to track virus emergence, transmission and evolution, as well as supporting outbreak preparedness and responses. An overarching theme of my research is developing and refining sensitive molecular sequencing approaches combined with the computational tools needed to detect important and informative patterns in viral sequence data.
Selected publications include:
- Matthew Cotten, My V.T. Phan. Evolution to increased positive charge on the viral spike protein may be part of the adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 to human transmission. iScience. 2023; 26(3): 106230. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106230. IF 4.5.
- Daniel Lule Bugembe*, My V.T. Phan*, Isaac Ssewanyana, Patrick Semanda, Hellen Nansumba, Beatrice Dhaala, Susan Nabadda, Áine Niamh O’Toole, Andrew Rambaut, Pontiano Kaleebu, Matthew Cotten. Emergence and spread of a SARS-CoV-2 lineage A variant (A.23.1) with altered spike protein in Uganda. Nature Microbiology. 2021, 6: 1094-1101. IF 18.7 [ * shared first authorship].
- Kirsty T.T. Kwok, Myrna M. T. de Rooij, Aniek B. Messink, Inge M. Wouters, Lidwien A. M. Smit, Matthew Cotten, Dick J.J. Heederik, Marion P.G. Koopmans, My V.T. Phan. Establishing farm dust as a useful viral metagenomic surveillance matrix. Sci Rep. 2022 Sep 29;12(1):16308. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-20701-x. IF 4.9.
- Michèle M. Molendijk, My V.T. Phan, Lonneke G. M. Bode, Nikolas Strepis, Divyae K. Prasad, Nathalie Worp, David Nieuwenhuijse, Claudia M.E. Schapendonk, Bouke Boekema, Annelies Verbon, Marion P.G. Koopmans, Willem J. B. Van Wamel, Miranda de Graaf. Bacteriophage susceptibility of clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates in human serum. Viruses. 2022; 15(1): 14. doi: 10.3390/v15010014. IF 3.5.
- My VT Phan, Charles Agoti, Patrick Munywoki, Grieven Otieno, Mwanajuma Ngama, Paul Kellam, Matthew Cotten and D. James Nokes. Identification of missed respiratory viruses by metagenomic sequencing of clinical respiratory samples from Kenya 2021. Sci Rep. 2022, 12:202-213. IF 4.9.
- Armando Arias*, Simon J. Watson*, Danny Asogun*, Ekaete Alice Tobin*, Jia Lu*, My VT Phan*, Umaru Jah, Raoul Emeric Guetiya Wadoum, Luke Meredith, Lucy Thorne, Sarah Caddy, Alimamy Tarawalie, Pinky Langat, Gytis Dudas, Nuno R. Faria, Simon Dellicour, Abdul Kamara, Brima Kargbo, Brima Osaio Kamara, Sahr Gevao, Daniel Cooper, Matthew Newport, Peter Horby, Jake Dunning, Foday Sahr, Tim Brooks, Andrew J.H. Simpson, Elisabetta Groppelli, Guoying Liu, Nisha Mulakken, Kate Rhodes, James Akpablie, Zabulon Yoti, Margaret Lamunu, Esther Vitto, Patrick Otim, Collins Owilli, Isaac Boateng, Lawrence Okororo, Emmanuel Omomoh, Jennifer Oyakhilome, Racheal Omiunu, Ighodalo Yemisis, Adomeh Donatus, Solomon Ehikhiametalor, Patience Akhilomen, Chris Aire, Andreas Kurth, Nicola Cook, Jan Baumann, Martin Gabriel, Roman Wölfel, Antonino Di Caro, Miles W. Carroll, Stephan Günther, John Redd, Dhamari Naidoo, Oliver G. Pybus, Andrew Rambaut, Paul Kellam, Ian Goodfellow, Matthew Cotten. Rapid outbreak sequencing of Ebola virus in Sierra Leone identifies transmission chains linked to sporadic cases. Virus Evol. 2016, 2(1):1–20. PMID: 28694998. IF 3.8 [ * shared first authorship].
Courses
2027 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BMI 799 | Dissertation |
| BMI 792 | Research |
| BMI 560 | Teachng Biomedical Informatics |
| BMD 514 | Molecular Diagnostics |
| BMI 484 | Internship |
| BMI 584 | Internship |
| BMI 590 | Reading and Conference |
| BMI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| BMD 514 | Molecular Diagnostics |
2026 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BMI 799 | Dissertation |
| BMI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| BMI 484 | Internship |
| BMI 584 | Internship |
| BMI 792 | Research |
| BMI 560 | Teachng Biomedical Informatics |
| BMI 590 | Reading and Conference |
| BMI 465 | Comparative Genomics |
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BMI 799 | Dissertation |
| BMI 792 | Research |
| BMI 560 | Teachng Biomedical Informatics |
| BMD 514 | Molecular Diagnostics |
| BMI 484 | Internship |
| BMI 584 | Internship |
| BMI 590 | Reading and Conference |
| BMI 790 | Reading and Conference |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BMI 799 | Dissertation |
| BMI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| BMI 484 | Internship |
| BMI 584 | Internship |
| BMI 792 | Research |
| BMI 560 | Teachng Biomedical Informatics |
| BMI 590 | Reading and Conference |
| CHS 494 | Special Topics |
| BMI 465 | Comparative Genomics |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BMI 799 | Dissertation |
| BMI 792 | Research |
| BMI 560 | Teachng Biomedical Informatics |
| BMI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| BMI 484 | Internship |
| BMI 483 | Capstone II |
| BMI 584 | Internship |
| BMD 514 | Molecular Diagnostics |
| BMI 482 | Capstone I |
| BMI 590 | Reading and Conference |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BMI 799 | Dissertation |
| BMI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| BMI 484 | Internship |
| BMI 482 | Capstone I |
| BMI 584 | Internship |
| BMI 792 | Research |
| BMI 560 | Teachng Biomedical Informatics |
| BMI 590 | Reading and Conference |
| BMI 483 | Capstone II |
| BMI 465 | Comparative Genomics |
- Microbiology Spectrum (American Society for Microbiology, ASM Journals)
- Infection, Genetics and Evolution (Elsevier)
- American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
- American Society for Virology (ASV)
- Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE)
I believe that learning outside the classroom is as important as learning in the classroom. As part of the CHS Student Research Symposium in Spring 2025, I spearheaded and organized a new initiative for students called “Communication Breakthrough” (C-THRU) to promote public communication where students will talk about their research project or scientific aspiration in 5 minutes without slides. Following its initial success, the Spring 2026 C-THRU event saw a three-fold increase in student participation and welcomed back several returning student presenters. For more details, please read the ASU News article about the CHS Student Research Symposium and C-THRU event in Spring 2025, and watch a short video highlight of the event.
In the summer 2026, I was invited to teach a two-day workshop in genomics for students at Diné College (Tuba City, Arizona), the first tribal college in the USA. My lectures covered basic genetics, virology, genomics and phylogenetics with relevant local examples and interactive learning games. This is an important step for broader impact in education and building trust beyond ASU community. Read more details on my lab website.