Congratulations to research assistant Mai Vy Dang for presenting at the 2025 UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium! Mai Vy’s project, “Cultural Influences Among Vietnamese-Speaking Patients with Metastatic Cancer: A Mixed-Methods Study,” investigated how family-oriented values, emotional self-sufficiency, and “saving face” connect to feelings of burden and stigma for Vietnamese American cancer survivors.
Mai Vy and the research team described the unique circumstances surrounding many cancer patients’ decisions to not disclose their emotional pain or their cancer-related difficulties to protect their families. These were not fully captured in the quantitative survey responses, demonstrating the importance of qualitative data in understanding each person’s experience with metastatic cancer.
