CV Science

Hang NGUYEN PhD, HDR in Biochemistry and Cellular Microbiology

Course and current status

H. Nguyen obtained her M.Sc degree in 2003 in Molecular biology and Immunology from the International R&D program at Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, Korea, with excellent mention and an award for the top student at graduation. After obtaining the PhD degree in 2006 at University of Aix-Marseille III (Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique Appliquée (LCBA), IMRN/UMR-INRA 1111), Marseille, France, she continued her carrier with a postdoc training at the Department of Medicine, Emory University, USA (2006-2011), where she studied deeply about intestinal physiopathology and the etiopathogenesis of chronic intestinal diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC). In 2011, she joined the research unit M2iSH (Microbes, intestine, inflammation and Susceptibility of the Host), UMR 1071 Inserm, INRAE USC 1382, University of Auvergne in France, as a senior researcher with a Marie Curie International Incomming Fellowship. She obtained a permanent position as senior researcher at Inserm in 2012. Over the last 15 years, she has focused her scientific interests on the molecular mechanisms underlying the etiology of intestinal disorders including IBD and CRC. With her expertise in molecular and cellular biology, animal models of intestinal disorders, she has trained numerous undergraduate and postgraduate students, published numerous SCI journal papers and book chapters, edited/reviewed many academic journals, coordinated/participated in several EU/national projects and served as an evaluation expert for national and international Research Grant committee.

Innovative, translational and longstanding research has ever been a pursuit in her academic career.

Scientific summary

Since H. Nguyen obtained her permanent position at Inserm as a senior researcher, her research has focused on investigation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the infectious etiopathogenesis of chronic intestinal diseases including IBD and CRC. Her accomplished works have shown that autophagy and exosomes have a key role in the regulation of host defense against pathobiont E. coli strains that are implicated in the etiology of Crohn’s disease and CRC, such as adherent-invasive E. coli (AIEC) and colibactin-producing E. coli, respectively.

In line with these, H. Nguyen is developing several projects, with the general aims are (i) to investigate the effect of environmental and microbial factors on autophagy, (ii) to examine the combinatory impact of genetic (Crohn’s disease-associated SNPs in autophagy-related genes) and environmental factors on intestinal homeostasis, gut microbiota, immune responses and host susceptibility to pathogenic bacterial infection, and (iii) to explore the interventions that exert beneficial effects on autophagy and intestinal functions, and help reduce the risk of chronic intestinal diseases, conferring health benefits for organisms.