OUR PEOPLE
Nhung Nguyen, PhD, PharmD
Assistant Professor
School of Medicine
490 Illinois Street, #8304
San Francisco, CA 94158
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Education and Training
Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Vietnam, BS - 2008 Pharmacy
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, PhD - 2014 Epidemiology
University of California, Los Angeles, 2021 mHealth Training Institute
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, 2023 Innovations for Substance Use Disorders
Awards and Honors
Predoctoral Fellowship, Vietnam Education Foundation, 2010-2012
International Fellowship, American Association of University Women, 2012
T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Cancer Institute, 2018-2020
Meritorious Abstract Award, Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2021
NIDA Diversity Scholars Network Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2021
Emerging Health Equity Scholar Award, UCSF Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center, 2023
Outstanding Abstract Award, Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2023
Diversity Institute for Emerging Leaders, Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2024
Research in Implementation Science for Equity (RISE) Fellowship, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2024
Hellman Fellowship, Hellman Fellows Program, 2024
DigiStars Scholar, University of Utah Digital Health Initiative, 2025
Overview
Dr. Nguyen is a substance use researcher whose work centers on reducing the co-use of tobacco and cannabis through innovative digital health methods, including ecological momentary assessment (EMA), just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs), and AI-powered chatbots. Her current projects harness mobile health (mHealth) technologies, wearable devices, machine learning, and AI to develop interventions addressing vaping of nicotine and cannabis. Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services, and the Hellman Fellowship Program.
Dr. Nguyen is the founder and director of the HEARTY Lab, where she leads a multidisciplinary team dedicated to advancing technology-enabled solutions that reduce substance use and improve public health.
A committed mentor, Dr. Nguyen has trained and mentored learners at every stage of the research pipeline, including undergraduate students, PhD students, medical students, and postdoctoral fellows, fostering the next generation of scientists and health researchers.
Dr. Nguyen is the founder and director of the HEARTY Lab, where she leads a multidisciplinary team dedicated to advancing technology-enabled solutions that reduce substance use and improve public health.
A committed mentor, Dr. Nguyen has trained and mentored learners at every stage of the research pipeline, including undergraduate students, PhD students, medical students, and postdoctoral fellows, fostering the next generation of scientists and health researchers.