Kim Nguyen, ScD, MPH

Dr. Nguyen is an epidemiologist and health services research scientist with 12+ years of experience in academic and healthcare settings, with expertise in health equity, population health/chronic disease prevention, and digital health/informatics. Her research focuses on the influence of social, structural, and geographic determinants on chronic disease and other health outcomes among vulnerable populations and their contribution to health inequities. She is particularly interested in leveraging electronic health records for health equity and place-based research. In collaboration with academic researchers and clinical leaders, Kim uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to better understand and address inequities in critical public health issues such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, Hepatitis B, and more recently, COVID-19.

Dr. Nguyen completed an MPH and received her doctoral degree in Social Epidemiology from Harvard. She subsequently joined UCSF as a post-doc fellow with Dr. Rena Pasick conducting cancer disparities research using mixed-methods and geospatial analysis, and also led numerous studies on cancer disparities among underserved Asian and immigrant communities. Kim was a Susan G. Komen Scholar; PI of NIH-funded cancer disparities studies; and led implementation courses in the UCSF CTSI program. Her research publications have appeared in British Medical Journal, Cancer, AJPH, Tobacco Control, Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, and Journal of American Medical Informatics Association. Her work with multinational companies, sugary beverages, and children’s health has been featured in the New York Times.