A Short Biography:

    Dr. Nguyen is a practicing non-invasive cardiologist and an Associate Professor of Medicine with secondary appointments in Radiology and Biomedical Physics. She received her MD from UCLA, did her internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins, and completed a general cardiology fellowship at UCLA.  She served as a research fellow in the advanced cardiovascular imaging section at the National Institutes of Health and returned to UCLA as faculty.

    As an early career investigator, Dr. Nguyen's research focuses on the development, translation, and application of cardiovascular imaging techniques. She co-directs a cardiovascular imaging research lab. Her grant-funded work focuses on development of iron oxide enhanced MRI techniques in ischemic, vascular, and congenital heart disease. She collaborates with data scientists on the use of imaging data for advancement of precision medicine. Her work also explores methods to integrate wireless technology with traditional models of healthcare delivery. Her scientific work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Veterans Health Administration.

    As a Vietnam War refugee, Dr. Nguyen has a passion for helping our nation’s veterans who have sacrificed so much in service to our country.  Dr. Nguyen founded the cardiac MRI program at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, which has served as a model for university/VA partnerships at other institutions. She collaborates with VA stakeholders and industry partners to facilitate veterans' access to state-of-the art cardiac imaging technology and cardiovascular clinical trials. As the founder and former director of the telecardiology clinic at VA Greater Los Angeles, Dr. Nguyen continues to promote the integration of telemedicine with traditional models of healthcare delivery to improve veterans' access to cardiovascular care.

     Dr. Nguyen has worked on public policy issues from the time she was a medical student when she obtained state grant funding to launch the first initiative to address minority health disparities in the School of Medicine at UCLA.  She continues to engage the public on issues relating to healthcare delivery and medical education. Her writing has been published in the general media including Forbes, USA Today, Medical Economics, STAT News, and The Hill. She also serves the broader community through involvement on several advisory boards and mentorship of women in STEM-related disciplines.