Overview

Hung V.-T. Nguyen's research aims to leverage advancements in polymer chemistry and molecular engineering towards developing novel platforms for drug delivery and nanomedicine. Prior to joining Dartmouth, Hung received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an NSF Fellow. Hung then co-founded and served as the Director of Therapeutics Development at Window Therapeutics—a startup that focuses on drug delivery platform technologies.

Research Interests

Drug delivery; nanomedicine; cancer therapy; polymer chemistry

Education

• AS, Science, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale 2011
• BS, Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2013
• PhD, Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2019

Awards

• Mentorship Spotlight Award (MIT), 2021
• IUPAC-Solvay International Award for Young Chemists, 2020
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2014–2019
• Carolina Research Scholar, 2013
• James H. Maguire Memorial Award for Academic Achievement in Chemistry, 2012

Professional Activities

Window Therapeutics, Co-Founder, Director of Therapeutics Development (former)

Selected Publications

• Detappe, A.;* Nguyen, H.V.-T.;* Jiang, Y.; Agius, M.; Wang, W.; Mathieu, C.; Su, N.K.; Kristufek, S.L.; Lundberg, D.; Bhagchandani, S.; Ghobrial, I. M.; Ghoroghchian, P. P.; Johnson, J.A.A Molecular Bottlebrush Prodrugs as Mono and Triplex Combination Therapies for Multiple Myeloma. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2023, 18, 184–192.
• Nguyen, H.V.-T.;* Jiang, Y.;* Mohapatra, S.; Wang, W.; Barnes, J.C.; Oldenhuis, N.J.; Chen, K.K.; Axelrod, S.; Huang, Z.; Chen, Q.; Golder, M.R.; Young, K.; Suvlu, D.; Shen, Y.; Willard, A.P.; Hore, M.J.A.; Gomez-Bombarelli, R.; Johnson, J.A. Bottlebrush Polymers with Discrete Sidechains Display Stereochemistry- and Conformation-Dependent Biological Properties. Nat. Chem. 2022, 14, 85–93.
• Nguyen, H.V.-T.;* Detappe, A.;* Harvey, P.; Gallagher, N.M.; Mathieu, C.; Agius, M.P.; Zavidij, O.; Wang, W.; Jiang, Y.; Rajca, A.; Jasanoff, A.; Ghobrial, I. M.; Ghoroghchian, P.P.; Johnson, 'J.A. Pro-Organic Radical Contrast Agents (“pro-ORCAs”) for Real-Time MRI of Pro-Drug Activation in Biological Systems. Polym. Chem. 2020, 11, 4768–4779.
• Gil Alvaradejo, G.;* Nguyen, H.V.-T.;* Harvey, P.; Gallagher, N.M.; Le, D.; Ottaviani, M. F.; Jasanoff, A.; Delaittre, G.; Johnson, J.A. Polyoxazoline Macromonomers for ROMP: Synthesis, Functionalization, and Application as Nitroxide-Based Organic Radical Contrast Agents. ACS Macro Lett. 2019, 8, 473–478.
• Nguyen, H.V.-T.;* Detappe, A.;* Gallagher, N.M.; Zhang, H.; Harvey, P.; Yan, C.; Mathieu, C.; Golder, M.R.; Jiang, Y.; Ottaviani, M.F.; Jasanoff, A.; Rajca, A.; Ghobrial, I.M.; Ghoroghchian, P.P.; Johnson, J.A. Triply Loaded Nitroxide Brush-Arm Star Polymers Enable Metal-Free Millimetric Tumor Detection by Magnetic Resonance Imaging. ACS Nano. 2018, 12, 11343–11354.
• Nguyen, H.V.-T.; Gallagher, N.M.; Vohidov, F.; Jiang, Y.; Kawamoto, K.; Zhang, H.; Park, J.V.; Huang, Z.; Ottaviani, M.F.; Rajca, A.; Johnson, J.A. Scalable Synthesis of Multivalent Macromonomers for ROMP. ACS Macro Lett. 2018, 7, 472–476.
• Nguyen, H.V.-T.; Chen, Q.; Paletta, J.T.; Harvey, P.; Jiang, Y.; Zhang, H.; Boska, M. D.; Ottaviani, M.F.; Jasanoff, A.; Rajca, A.; Johnson, J.A. Nitroxide-based Macromolecular Contrast Agents with Unprecedented Transverse Relaxivity and Stability for Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Tumors. ACS. Cent. Sci. 2017, 3, 800–811.
• Bhagchandani, S.; Vohidov, F.;* Milling, L.;* Tong, E.Y.;* Brown, C.M.; Liu, B.; Fessenden, T.; Nguyen, H.V.-T.; Kiel, G.R.; Won, L.; Langer, R.S.; Spranger, S.; Shalek, A.K.; Irvine, D.J.; Johnson, J.A. Engineering Kinetics of TLR7/8 Agonist Release from Bottlebrush Prodrugs Enables Tumor-Focused Immune Stimulation. Sci. Adv. 2023, 9.
• Shieh, P.; Nguyen, H.V.-T.; Johnson, J.A. Tailored Silyl Ether Monomers Enable Backbone-Degradable Polynorbornene-Based Linear, Bottlebrush, and Star Copolymers through ROMP. Nat. Chem. 2019, 11, 1124–1132.
• MacLeod, M.; Goodman, A.; Ye, H.-Z.; Nguyen, H.V.-T.; Van Voorhis, Y.; Johnson, J.A. Robust Gold Nanorods Stabilized by Bidentate N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Thiolate Ligands. Nat. Chem. 2019, 11, 57–63.
• Golder, M.R.;* Liu, J.;* Andersen, J.N.; Shipitsin, M.V.; Vohidov, F.; Nguyen, H.V.-T.; Ehrlich, D.C.; Huh, S. J.; Vangamudi, B.; Economides, K.D.; Neenan, A.M.; Ackley, J.C.; Baddour, J.; Paramasivan, S.; Brady, S.W.; Held, E. J.; Reiter, L.A.; Saucier-Sawyer, J.K.; Kopesky, P.W.; Chickering, D.E.; Blume-Jensen, P.; Johnson, J.A. Reduction of Liver Fibrosis by Rationally Designed Macromolecular Telmisartan Prodrugs. Nat. Biomed. Eng. 2018, 2, 822–830.
• Barnes, J.C.;* Bruno, P.M.;* Nguyen, H.V.-T.; Liao, L.; Liu, J.; Hemann, M.T.; Johnson, J.A. Using an RNAi Signature Assay to Guide the Design of Three-Drug-Conjugated Nanoparticles with Validated Mechanisms, In Vivo Efficacy, and Low Toxicity. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 12494–12501.

Courses

• ENGS 25: Introduction to Thermodynamics