Nhung Nguyen, PhD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Nguyen is a behavioral scientist and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCSF. She founded and leads the HEARTY lab. Her work centers on preventing and reducing the co-use of tobacco and cannabis among diverse populations. Dr. Nguyen has received research funding from the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Currently, she is a Principal Investigator in two projects that harness mobile health technology and machine learning to investigate real-time predictors of tobacco and cannabis vaping behaviors and to develop smartphone-based interventions to reduce the co-use of these substances among young adults.
Christine Tran, BS
Research Coordinator
Christine Tran received her BS degree with a major in Health Science from California State University, East Bay. Her research interest includes exploring how to leverage technology in healthcare to achieve health equity and reduce health disparities. She has worked on a project to increase access to and satisfaction with end-of-life care among minorities and volunteered as a Program Coordinator for the UCSF Orthopedic Trauma Institute Junior Academy Mentorship Program. Her skills include coding qualitative data, conducting user experience interviews, and using Canva to create infographics, message designs, and advertisements. Her ideal day is doing jigsaw puzzles or building Legos, with a cup of iced hojicha latte and her favorite music playing in the background.
Deanna Halliday, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Deanna M. Halliday, PhD, received her doctorate in Psychological Sciences (Health Psychology) from the University of California, Merced. Prior to joining the UCSF, she was awarded a TRDRP pre-doctoral fellowship for her dissertation work on tobacco and cannabis co-use. Her work examines the multi-level factors that contribute to tobacco and cannabis use spanning from internal psychological factors to social and community-level factors. Dr. Halliday hopes to further explore the phenomena of co-use in under-resourced, rural, or otherwise vulnerable communities.
Vuong Do, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Vuong Do received his doctorate in Public Health (Epidemiology) from the School of Public Health, Georgia State University. As a postdoctoral fellow at the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, Vuong examines tobacco and cannabis co-use patterns among young adults, risk perceptions, and contextual factors to inform cessation programs. In addition, he is interested in studying tobacco and cannabis use and health disparities among racial/ethnic minority groups.
Jessica Hernandez Castaneda, BA
Research Coordinator
Jessica received her BA in Public Health from the University of California, Merced. Jessica brings experience in qualitative research and community engagement. Her research interests include community-based participatory research, health education and promotion. She is passionate about destigmatizing sexual and reproductive health and well-being within communities of color.
