Today, my wife Natalie and our new born son Elijah live in Hillsboro. But, my story dates back to 1980 when I came to the U.S. with my family as a one-year-old refugee from Vietnam.

My parents, pregnant with me, escaped on a boat into the open ocean, not knowing if they were going to survive the journey. While at sea the boat was robbed by pirates on several different occasions. Eventually we were rescued by a commercial vessel and taken to a refugee camp in Malaysia, where I was born in the modest grass hut pictured here.  My family was determined to get to the United States, and we were eventually sponsored by a church and emigrated to Corvallis, Oregon.

We didn’t have much growing up so I focused on studying hard in school, and made my way through Oregon State University, and was then accepted into Dental School at Oregon Health & Science University before completing my specialty training in Pediatric Dentistry at OHSU and Doernbecher in 2009.

I got diagnosed with Leukemia in 2007 right before I was about to start my residency at OHSU & Doernbecher. This experience furthered my passion for health system reforms, as I struggled to pay medical bills and survive.

My life experience has helped shape me as a person and a healthcare provider. In 2010 I started Hi 5 Dental Dentistry for Kids, to provide care for the underserved children of Washington County. Since then, I have expanded the practice and now serve children from all around the state.

America has been great to my family, and I love this country and the opportunities available through hard work. I will bring my experience as a business owner, healthcare provider, and my volunteer work serving on the Governor’s Children Cabinet, Oregon Board of Dentistry, Charitable Foundation Boards, the Pediatric Dentistry Chairman at Randall Children’s Hospital and being a humanitarian to serve the people of House District 30.