ASCI / Emerging-Generation Awards, 2023
The Emerging Generation Awards (E-Gen Awards) recognize post-MD, pre-faculty appointment physician-scientists who are meaningfully engaged in immersive research.
About the awardee
Alexander Nguyen, MD, PhD is a gastroenterology research fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Tontonoz. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Through the Tri-Institutional Medical Scientist Training Program, he obtained his medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College and doctoral degree from The Rockefeller University. He then completed his internal medicine residency at UCLA. His current training is supported by the UCLA Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) program and an NIH T32 training grant.
During his doctoral research under the mentorship of Dr. Sohail Tavazoie, Dr. Nguyen utilized functional genetic screens in mouse models to identify genes that promote metastatic colonization of the liver by colorectal cancer. This work revealed clinically relevant pathways that could be targeted by small molecule therapies. In the Tontonoz lab, Dr. Nguyen studies novel mechanisms that govern physiologic cholesterol homeostasis in the liver. His goal is to understand lipid regulation in the liver to better diagnose and treat fatty liver disease.