Research Interests:
My research has been focused on the roles of inflammatory cells in tumorigenesis particularly on stromal cells such as macrophages. In my graduate work on the functions of macrophages in breast cancer, we hypothesized that macrophage recruitment to tumor site is more detrimental than beneficial to the organism. The result from our transgenic mouse with polyoma middle T oncogene and the tetracycline binary system regulating the expression of CSF-1 only in the mammary gland and hence, the recruitment of macrophages to the tumor site was astonishing confirmation of our hypothesis. Our data was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine and was one of the most cited publications in this area of research. More macrophage recruitment to the tumor site showed faster lung metastasis with the subsequently publications showing that macrophages are actively involved in angiogenesis. We are in the process of developing an in-vitro system to example the roles in macrophages and their interaction with stromal cells including fibroblasts and immune cells, and their effect on tumor growth.
We have four on-going projects. 1) One project that we are currently working is to determine whether patients own autoimmune antibodies (antiphospholipid antibody (aPL)) can alter tumor growth. In this project, we explore the potential mechanism by which aPL antibody regulates of micro RNAs (miR) expression and how these miR's in turn regulate tissue factor which stimulates tumor cell growth. 2) Another project that my laboratory is working on is to dissect the mechanism by which a transcriptional factor, STAT3, regulate macrophage functions. Our previous work on stat3 conditionally deleted in macrophages has shown that STAT3 in macrophages control local inflammatory response. When stat3 is deleted from macrophages, severe inflammation ensues which transforms colonic epithelial cells to become cancerous. We are currently examining the role of STAT3 in colonic epithelial cells regulating sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) kinase 1 and 2 which are the main enzymes responsible for converting sphingosine to S1P, which has been shown to recruit immune cells. We are in the process of examining the functions of small microRNA's in the S1P pathway. 3) Interestingly, our mice with conditional stat3 knock out in macrophages also developed a bone defect. We are exploring the interaction between osteoclast and osteoblast via the RANKL-RANK pathway and S1P. 4) Since my sabbatical leave in Sri Lanka working at Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IBMBB), University of Colombo, we have developed an inexpensive method to detect Dengue virus in mosquitoes using the isothermal loop amplification technique (LAMP). We have extended this project to examine methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp using LAMP.
I have trained a number of students over the years and many of my students who have gone on to get graduate degree in pharmacology, anesthesia assistant program, nursing, physician assistant program, occupational therapy and medicine.
Student Scholarly Presentations:
Miguel Fernandez, Stephanie Lochan and Andrew Van Nguyen – 3rd Place Poster Presentation. Gaozhen Li, Oscar Bermudes, Diana Mata, Miguel Fernandez and Andrew Van Nguyen. The 51st MACUB conference. The City University of New York, Queensborough Community College. October 27th. 2018
Gaozhen Li, Diana Mata (RIMS student), Oscar Bermudes (CUNY Research Scholar), Miguel Fernandez and Andrew Van Nguyen – Winner Poster Presentation. Miguel Fernandez (CUNY Research Scholar), Stephanie Lochan and Andrew Van Nguyen. CUNY Research Scholar Program Symposium. July 24th, 2018. John Jay College. New York. NY.
Stephanie Lochan (CUNY Research Scholar and MSEIP student) and Andrew Van Nguyen – 1st Place Poster Presentation. The 50th Annual Metropolitan Association of College and University Biologists (MACUB). New Jersey City University, New Jersey. October 28th, 2017.
Irene Sun and Andrew Van Nguyen –2nd Place Poster Presentation. The Metropolitan Association of College and University Biologists (MACUB). Montclair State University, New Jersey. Nov 7th, 2015.
Irene Sun and Andrew Van Nguyen. October 28-30, 2015. SACNAS National Conference in Washington, DC. Student received Travel Award.
Irene Sun (CUNY Research Scholar) and Andrew Nguyen, Jean Carlos (MSEIP student) and Andrew Nguyen and Shovaine Singh (MSEIP student) and Andrew Nguyen. Sigma Xi 2015 Northeastern Regional Research Conference. Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT. April 18, 2015.
Monique Willoughby and Andrew Nguyen. Benjamin Cummings/MACUB Student Research Award winner. MACUB Conference, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York. November 1, 2014.
Tamara Avezbadalov and Andrew Nguyen. MACUB Conference, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York. November 1, 2014.
Rik Loh, Monica Trujillo and Andrew Nguyen. Benjamin Cummings/MACUB Student Research Award winner. MACUB Conference, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York. October 27, 2012.
Rik Loh, Yuan Yuan Wu, Elaine Lin and Andrew Nguyen First prize – poster presentation. MACUB Conference, Seton Hall University, New Jersey. October 29, 2011.
Yuanyuan Wu, Andrew Nguyen, Qiang Liu, Joseph Albanese, Leonard Augenlicht and Elaine Lin (Third prize). Young Research Investigators Symposium, Montefiore Hospital, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. February 4, 2011.
Denise Sachez and Andrew Nguyen. “CUNY Pipeline Honors Conference, The Graduate School and University Center, NY February 19, 2010.
Courses taught
Anatomy and Physiology (Bio301 and Bio302)
Pathophysiology (Bio425)
Biotechnology (Bio453)
Independent Research Internship (Bio554)
Publications
PUBLICATIONS:
Refereed publication:
Andrew V. Nguyen, Yuan-Yuan Wu and Elaine Y. Lin. The regulatory function of sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling axis on regulatory T cells in colorectal cancer. AIMS Molecular Science. 2 (1):34-47. 2015.
G. Tremberger; Sunil Dehipawala; E. Cheung; T. Holden; R. Sullivan; A. Nguyen; D. Lieberman and T. Cheung. The bioinformatics of nucleotide sequence coding for proteins requiring metal coenzymes and proteins embedded with metals Proc. SPIE. 9606, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XVII, 96060E. (September 11, 2015) doi: 10.1117/12.2186563.
Paras Jain, Tsungda Hsu, Masayoshi Arai, Karolin Biermann, David S. Thaler, Andrew Nguyen, Pablo A. González, Joann M. Tufariello, Jordan Kriakov, Bing Chen, Michelle H. Larsen, William R. Jacobs, Jr. Specialized Transduction Designed for Precise High-Throughput Unmarked Deletions in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. MBio. 5(3):e01245-14. 2014. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01245-14 3 June 2014 mBio vol. 5 no. 3 e01245-14
Yuanyuan Wu*, Andrew Nguyen*, Xiao-Xuan Wu, Mingyu Loh, Michelle Vu, Yiyu Zou, Qiang Liu, Peng Guo, Yanhua Wang, Leslie L. Montgomery, Amos Orlofsky, Jacob Rand and Elaine Y. Lin. Antiphospholipid Antibodies Promote Tissue-Factor-Dependent Angiogenic Switch and Tumor Progression. The American Journal of Pathology. 184 (12): 3359-3375. 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2014.07.027 *Contributed Equally.
Andrew V. Nguyen, Yuan Yuan Wu and Elaine Y. Lin. Recent understanding in inflammation induced colorectal cancer: the significance of sphingosine-1-phosphate and future therapies. World Journal of Gastroenterology. 2014 August 14; 20(30): 10279-10287. Published online 2014 August 14. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i30.10279.
Andrew Nguyen and Mangala Tawde. Engaging allied-health students with virtual learning environment using course management system tutorial site. Tips and Tools. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. May 2014. p. 47-48. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v15i1.661
Alessandro DiMarco, France Marquez, Wilson Tsz Hon Kwok, ShuaiXiang Zhang, Sunil Dehipawala, Andrew Nguyen, and Tak Cheung, Analysis of Elongation Factor-Tu (EF-Tu) DNA sequences using free energy & Shannon entropy ASEE 2014 Zone I Conference Proceedings, Paper Number 39, 4 pages. http://asee ne.org/proceedings/2014/Student%20Papers/128.pdf. April 3-5, 2014, University of Bridgeport, Bridgpeort, CT, USA
Yao Agoudavi, Nathan Cyrille, Luis Hernandez, Amber LaGuerre, Zhineng Li, Katherine Vides, Sunil Dehipawala, Andrew Nguyen, Alexei Kisselev and Tak Cheung. Analysis of Synchrotron X-ray Based Absorption Data of Fe & Zn Atoms in Consumer Product Tissue Samples ASEE 2014 Zone I Conference Proceedings, Paper Number 65, 4 pages http://asee-ne.org/proceedings/2014/Student%20Papers/168.pdf. April 3-5, 2014, University of Bridgeport, Bridgpeort, CT, USA
Arthur Rozario, Justin Paruvaparampil, Keis Sultani, ShuaiXiang Zhang, Andres Mora, Catherine Carti, Brendan O'Brien, M.C. Damas, Wenli Guo, Andrew Nguyen, Vazgen Shekoyan, Sunil Dehipawala, Alexei Kisselev, Tak Cheung. Measurement of Photon Diffusion with Mobile Phone Camera with Applications to mHealth Monitoring. ASEE 2014 Zone I Conference Proceedings, Paper Number 103, 4 pages. http://asee-ne.org/proceedings/2014/Student%20Papers/221.pdf. April 3-5, 2014, University of Bridgeport, Bridgpeort, CT, USA
Andrew Nguyen, Yuan Yuan Wu, Qiang Liu, Donghai Wang, Stephanie Nguyen, Ricky Loh, Joey Pang, Kenneth Friedman, Amos Orlofsky, Leonard Augenlicht, Jeffrey W. Pollard and Elaine Y. Lin. Stat3 in epithelial cells regulates inflammation and tumor progression to malignant state in colon. Neoplasia (Cover). 2013 Sep;15(9):998-1008.
Katherine Downey, Andrew Nguyen, Yanhua Wang, Elaine Y. Lin, Katherine Sun, Qiang Liu. Mo1607 Assessment of STAT3 and Regulatory T Cells (Treg*) Pathway Associated With Inflammation and Tumorigenesis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Gastrointestinal Endoscopy - May 2013 (Vol. 77, Issue 5, Supplement, Page AB444, DOI: 10.1016/j.gie.2013.03.355)
Kenneth A Friedman, Elaine Lin, Yuanyuan Wu, Andrew Nguyen, Jaya Sunkara, Qiang Liu, Jacob Rand. A Potential Role of Annexin A5 in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Poster Session I Stowell-Orbison/Surgical Pathology/Autopsy Awards Poster Session # 95, Monday Morning. United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology’s 102nd Annual Meeting. Baltimore, Maryland. March 2-8, 2013
T. Holden, A. Nguyen, E. Lin, E. Cheung, S. Dehipawala, J. Ye, G. Tremberger, Jr., D. Lieberman & T. Cheung. Exploratory Study of lncRNAs in Alzheimer’s Disease mRNA Sequences using Fractal Dimension Computation & Correlation with Application to Drug Development. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine. 2013: 579136. 2013.
Deng, L., J. F. Zhou, R. S. Sellers, J. F. Li, Andrew Nguyen, Y. Wang, A. Orlofsky, Q. Liu, D. Hume, J. W. Pollard, L. Augenlicht and E. Y. Lin. A novel mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease links mTOR-dependent hyperproliferation of colonic epithelium to inflammation associated tumorigenesis. The American Journal of Pathology. 176(2):952-67. 2010.
Dadachova, E., Andrew Nguyen, E. Y. Lin, L. Gnatovsky, P. Lu, and J. W. Pollard. Treatment with rhenium-188-perrhenate and iodine-131 of NIS-expressing mammary cancer in a mouse model remarkably inhibited tumor growth. Nuclear Medicine and Biology. 32:695-700. 2005.
Moadel, R. M., Andrew V. Nguyen, E. Y. Lin, P. Lu, J. Mani, M. D. Blaufox, J. W. Pollard and E. Dadachova. Positron emission tomography agent 18F-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG) has a therapeutic potential in breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research. 5(6):R199-205. 2003.
Park, S. David, Hyangkyu Lee, Philippe G. Frank, Babak Razani, Andrew V. Nguyen, Albert F. Parlow, Robert G. Russell, James Hulit, Richard G. Pestell, and Michael P. Lisanti. Caveolin-1-deficient mice show accelerated mammary gland development during pregnancy, premature lactation, and hyperactivation of the Jak-2/STAT5a signaling cascade. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 13:3416-3430. 2002.
Andrew V. Nguyen and Jeffrey W. Pollard. Colony Stimulating Factor-1 is required to recruit macrophages into the mammary gland to facilitate mammary ductal outgrowth. Developmental Biology. 247:11-25. 2002.
Elaine Y. Lin, Valerie Gouon-Evans, Andrew V. Nguyen and Jeffrey W. Pollard. The macrophage growth factor, CSF-1, in mammary gland development and tumor progression. Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia. 7(2): 147-162. 2002.
Elaine Y. Lin, Andrew V. Nguyen, Robert G. Russell and Jeffrey W. Pollard. Colony Stimulating Factor-1 promotes progression of mammary tumors to malignancy. Journal of Experimental Medicine (Cover). 193 (6):727-739. 2001.
Andrew V. Nguyen and Jeffrey W. Pollard. Transforming Growth Factor-3 induces cell death during the first stage of mammary gland involution. Development. 127:3107-3118. 2000.
Amin A. Fadl, Anh V. Nguyen and Mazhar I. Khan. Analysis of Salmonella enteritidis isolates by arbitrarily primed PCR. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 33 (4): 987-989. 1995.
Mazhar I. Khan and Anh V. Nguyen. A Salmonella-specific DNA probe and its use in Southern hybridization for differentiation of Salmonella enteritidis. Avian Diseases. 39:368-374. 1995.
Anh V. Nguyen, Mazhar I. Khan and Zhiqiang Lu. Amplification of Salmonella chromosomal DNA using the polymerase chain reaction.
Avian Diseases. 38 (1): 119-126. 1994.
Unrefereed publication:
Phil Costa, Richard Cotty Edited by Andrew Nguyen. Laboratory Textbook in Anatomy and Physiology, 9th Edition. Blue Door Publishing. 2013.
Nguyen. Faculty in profile from 2011 annual report.
https://www.rfcuny.org/RFWebsite/Researchers/ResearcherProfile.aspx?id=149
Andrew V. Nguyen and Jeffrey W. Pollard. Molecular Biology of the Cell by Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Alexander Johnson, Keith Roberts, Peter Walter and Bruce Alberts. Textbook. Garland Publisher. 2002.
