Sara Nizzero joined the Houston Methodist Research Institute in January 2015, as part of her PhD program in Applied Physics at Rice University. She received her Bachelor?s and Master?s degrees in Physics from the University of Padova in Italy, and her Master's in Applied Physics from Rice University. She has attended and presented at more then 10 international conferences in the fields of nanomedicine, optics, applied physics and material science, and has published in the field of plasmonic, material science, spectroscopy and nanomedicine. She has received 10 awards for scientific, entrepreneurial and outreach efforts. Her current research under the mentorship of Dr. Ferrari focuses on a combined computational and in vivo approach to transport oncophysics. Throughout her career she has served in different roles of leadership in academic organizations and is currently VP of outreach for Houston Methodist Academy Postdoctoral and Trainee Association or MAPTA.