Andrew Nguyen, Professor

My research focuses mainly on macrophages and their functions in innate immunity and tumorigenesis.  My graduate work at Albert Einstein College of Medicine utilized osteopetrotic mice (op/op) mice which have a mutation in the csf-1 gene.  Since CSF-1 is an important cytokine for macrophage development, the lack of CSF-1 in op/op mice presented to us an ideal model to study the function of macrophages (or the lack of them) in development and tumorigenesis.  Along with Jeffrey Dr. Pollard, we published a seminal study on the local expression of CSF-1 rescuing the branching defect of the op/op mammary glands.  Following this study, we developed a system to regulate macrophage migration in the mammary glands of transgenic mice that are prone to develop mammary tumors.  We hypothesized that macrophage recruitment to tumor sites is more detrimental than beneficial to the organism. The results from our transgenic mice with polyoma middle T oncogene and the tetracycline binary system regulating the expression of CSF-1 recruiting macrophages to the tumor site were 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.   As of March 2026, there are over 2100 citations.  Subsequent research shows macrophages are actively involved in angiogenesis which helps tumor growth.   During my post-doctoral work, we published several papers on the functions of Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) in macrophages and inflammation driving tumorigenesis such as those seen in colorectal cancer.  More recently, we showed that STAT3 regulates osteoclast and osteoblast functions in bone development.

I have four on-going projects. 1) One project we are going on is to dissect the mechanism by which the transcriptional factor, STAT3, regulates macrophage functions during trained immunity.   2) 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.  We are in the process of examining the functions of small microRNA's in the S1P pathway. 3) Since my sabbatical leave in Sri Lanka working at the 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.  4) During my recent fellowship work at Mater Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, I studied the function of glucogenic hormone asprosin, which is produced mainly by white adipose tissue during fasting.  We are currently examining the relationship between macrophages and adipocytes and the regulation of asprosin during fasting.

• Presenter: Jacqulyn Persaud Mentors: Professor Sasan Karimi, Professor Sarbani Ghoshal, Professor Andrew Van Nguyen. Queensborough Community College.  Poster Title: Macrophage Stimulated with LPS and LTA.  Best Poster at the 2025 CUNY Research Scholars Program (CRSP) / CUNY Immersive Research Experience (CIRE) Symposium was held at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, Queens, NY, on July 8–9, 2025. 
• Ashar Malik, Sharon Whinston and Andrew Nguyen.  1^st Place Poster Winner. Examining the anti-inflammatory effect of green tea extracts in wildtype and stat3^-/- RAW264.7 cells stimulated with LPS and LTA.  CUNY Undergraduate Research Celebration Day 2024.  May 24^th, 2024.  Ashar’s work was selected for oral presentation.
• Sara Khan and Andrew Nguyen.  The study of relationship between Stat3 gene and estrogen hormone in osteoclast function.  Undergraduate Research DAY.   December 4, 2020.  QCC
• Jeanne Romin and Andrew Nguyen.  Examining the presence of Enterococci in water using LAMP and fluorescent dye.  Undergraduate Research DAY.   December 4, 2020.  QCC
• Sumaiya Nasrin and Andrew Nguyen.  Affordable and specific detection of Enterococcus spp. in water around NYC by Loop-mediated isothermal amplification.  Undergraduate Research DAY.   December 4, 2020.  QCC
• Stephanie Landazuri and Andrew Nguyen.  Examining the relationship between Stat3 and estrogen receptor in osteoclast function and development.  CUNY Research Scholar Program Symposium.  July 27^th, 2020.  John Jay College.  New York.  NY. 
• Two of the two posters won award. First poster. Kaylynn Pubill and Andrew Van Nguyen – 1^st Place Poster Winner in Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology.    Second poster.  Malcolm Fox and Andrew Van Nguyen – 1^rd Place Poster Winner in Microbiology and Immunology.  The 52^nd MACUB conference.  Monmouth University.  New Jersey.  October 26^th. 
• Woochul Kim and Andrew Van Nguyen- Deciphering the Involvement of Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3in Estrogen Mediated Osteoclast Apoptosis.  Poster Winner.  CUNY Research Scholar Program Symposium.  July 24^th, 2019.  John Jay College.  New York.  NY. 
• One of the two posters won award. First poster. Gaozhen Li, Oscar Bermudes, Diana Mata, Miguel Fernandez and Andrew Van Nguyen.  Second poster.  Miguel Fernandez, Stephanie Lochan and Andrew Van Nguyen – 3^rd Place Poster Winner.  The 51^st MACUB conference.  The City University of New York, Queensborough Community College.  October 27^th.  2018
• One of the two posters won award. First poster.  Miguel Fernandez, Stephanie Lochan and Andrew Van Nguyen.  Second poster.  Gaozhen Li, Diana Mata, Oscar Bermudes, Miguel Fernandez and Andrew Van Nguyen- Poster Winner.  CUNY Research Scholar Program Symposium.  July 24^th, 2018.  John Jay College.  New York.   
• Oscar Bermudes and Andrew Nguyen. 1^st Place Winner.  26^th Annual Statewide CSTEP Student Conference.  The Sagamore Hotel on Lake George Bolton Landing.  New York.  April 13 – 15^th, 2018. 
• Stephanie Lochan and Andrew Van Nguyen – 1^st Place Winner. The 50th Annual Metropolitan Association of College and University Biologists (MACUB).  New Jersey City University, New Jersey.  October 28th, 201
• Si Bong and Andrew Van Nguyen – CUNY Research Scholar Program Symposium. July 27, 2016. 
• Si Bong and Andrew Van Nguyen –The 44^th American Chemical Society Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting. College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale, NY.  June 9-12, 2016.
• Irene Sun and Andrew Van Nguyen –2nd Place Winner. The 48^th 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.
• Three posters.  First poster.  Irene Sun (CUNY Research Scholar) and Andrew Nguyen.  Second poster.  Jean Carlos and Andrew Nguyen.  Third poster.  Shovaine Singh 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.  The 47^th MACUB Conference, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York.  November 1, 2014.
• Tamara Avezbadalov and Andrew Nguyen. The 47^th MACUB Conference, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York.  November 1, 201
• Rik Loh, Monica Trujillo and Andrew Nguyen. Benjamin Cummings/MACUB Student Research Award winner.  The 45^th 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.  The 44^th 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 Sanchez and Andrew Nguyen. “ CUNY Pipeline Honors Conference, The Graduate School and University Center, NY February 19, 2010.

Anatomy and Physiology (Bio301 and Bio302)

Pathophysiology (Bio425)

Biotechnology (Bio453)

Independent Research Internship (Bio554)

PUBLICATIONS:

Refereed publication:

Masiel Nunez, Anhad Kataria, Jacqulyn Persaud, Humayra Nasita, Sarbani Ghoshal, and Andrew Nguyen.  Abstract 1555 Proinflammatory cytokines are differently regulated by STAT3 in trained innate immunity.  CUNY Queensborough Community College.  ASBMB. Journal of Biol. Chem.  301. S453.  2025

Rebecca K. Davidson, Kylie, Corry, Amos Orlofsky, Ping Li, Caleb E. Russell, Amy Zhang, Mariana Moraes de Lima Perini, Carlie Priddy, Andrew V. Nguyen^*, and Jiliang Li^*.  The loss of STAT3 in osteoblasts has detrimental and sexually dimorphic effects on skeletal development.  PlosOne.  June 2024.  PONE-D-24-04441R2. Accepted for publication.  *Corresponding author. 

Andrew Van Nguyen*, Amos Orlofsky, Kaylynn Pubill, Mangala Tawde, Gaozhen Li, Diana Mata, Oscar Bermudes, Miguel Fernandez, Jonathan Santana, Woochul Kim, Enzon Chimbay, Yeeun Kim, Trieu Nguyen, Malcolm Fox, Janelly Eralte, Molly Metz, Davida Smyth, Caterina Panzeca, Mazhar I Khan.  Isothermal loop amplification (LAMP) as a rapid, affordable and effective tool to involve students in undergraduate research.  Frontiers in Microbiology, section Systems Microbiology.  *Corresponding author.  December 9^th, 2020.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.603381

Rebecca K. Davidson, Evan Himes, Shinya Takigawa, Andy Chen, M Ryne Horn, Tomas Meijome, Joseph M. Wallace, Melissa A Kacena, Hiroki Yokota, Andrew Nguyen*, and Jiliang Li*.  The loss of STAT3 in mature osteoclasts has detrimental effects on bone structure.  *co communicating authors.  PLoS One.  15(7). E0236891.  2020.  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236891

Irene Sun, E. Lin, R. Sullivan, and Andrew Nguyen. Antiphospholipid antibody and MiR106b mediated expression of tissue factor in breast cancer cell lines.   Abstract of papers of the American Chemical Society 252.  Volume 252.  American Chemical Society.  2016. 

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 102^nd 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, 9^th 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.