Dr. Poon’s research has focused on the racial politics of Asian Americans, education access, affirmative action, and admissions systems and practices. She is the author of Asian American Is Not a Color: Conversations on Race, Affirmative Action, and Family (Beacon Press), which explores how Asian Americans are shaping the future of race relations through debates over education policies like affirmative action, using personal narrative and interviews of Asian Americans across the country. In Rethinking College Admissions: Research-Based Practice and Policy (Harvard Education Press), she and her co-editor, Mike Bastedo, and colleagues examine and offer new ideas to transform the unequal structures and systemic norms of college-going in the U.S. Dr. Poon was also a lead co-author of amicus briefs defending diversity and race-conscious admissions, submitted on behalf of over 1,200 social scientists who study Asian Americans and education to federal courts including the US Supreme Court in the SFFA v. Harvard case. As a community-engaged scholar, OiYan has worked closely in partnership with practitioner-leaders to advance race and class equity in college admissions. In 2019–20, with practitioner-leaders from ACCEPT she co-led the Hack the Gates project, which convened researchers and practitioners in college admissions to begin reimagining college admissions systems. According to Dr. Angel Pérez, NACAC CEO, this influential work inspired NACAC to launch the creation of a Center for Reimagining College Access. Her work has been supported by grants from the Gates Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and Spencer Foundation, and has appeared widely in national media outlets including NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker.