She is currently full professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University and by courtesy, of radiology, and also a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator.

[1] Dionne's research develops photonic materials and methods to observe and control chemical and biological processes as they unfold with nanometer scale resolution, emphasizing critical challenges in global health and sustainability.

[citation needed] She attended Washington University in St. Louis, where she received bachelor's degrees in physics and systems science and mathematics in 2003.

[citation needed] She then received her master's and doctoral degrees in Applied Physics from Caltech in 2009, advised by Harry Atwater.

At Caltech, she was named an Everhart Lecturer, and awarded the Francis and Milton Clauser Prize for Best Ph.D. Thesis, recognizing her work developing the first negative refractive index material at visible wavelengths and nanoscale Si-based photonic modulators.

She also made critical contributions to the field of plasmon photocatalysis, including developing combined optical and environmental electron microscopy to image chemical transformations with near-atomic-scale resolution.