Education

University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (2021-2026)

Step 1: Pass

Step 2: 262

Chancellor’s Full Tuition Scholarship

University of California, Santa Cruz (2017 - 2021)

Bachelor of Science, Molecular Biology, Summa cum laude

Research

Research Year: Revisiting the Role of Structural Connectivity in Thalamic Nuclei Segmentation from HCP DTI and T1 Datasets

(April 2024 – Present)  

Department of Radiology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

PI: Dr. Manoj Saranathan, PhD

·       Conducted thalamic parcellation using high-resolution DTI and T1 data from 63 HCP subjects, applying probabilistic tractography and winner-take-all segmentation techniques. Developed and executed a pipeline using MRtrix software to filter 10M streamline tractograms for thalamo-cortical connections across 8 and 23 cortical regions. Applied a machine learning-inspired winner-take-all (WTA) classification approach to derive dominant thalamocortical connectivity profiles and generate subject-specific segmentations. Contributed to advancing methodologies for connectivity-informed brain parcellation with implications for deep brain stimulation and targeted neurotherapies.

 

Enhancing Survival Prediction in Early-Stage Lung Cancer: Integrating PET-CT Metrics with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy

(April 2022 – Present)  

Department of Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine

PI: Dr. Adin Mehmet, M.D.

·       Conducted a detailed research study evaluating the correlation between SUVmax, Deauville score, and various other metrics with survival rates in T1N0 NSCLC patients undergoing SBRT treatment. Developed and executed robust data analysis techniques to ensure accurate and reliable research outcomes.

  

Prevalence of Hypermetabolic Lymph Nodes Detected by 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT after COVID-19 Booster Vaccination: A Meta-Analysis

(October 2023 – Present)

Department of Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine

PI: Dr. Adin Mehmet, M.D.

·       Spearheaded a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of hypermetabolic axillary lymph nodes (HALNs) detected by 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT post-COVID-19 vaccination. Executed a detailed computer literature search across PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases, identifying key articles to establish a foundation for the study

 

Evaluation of ChatGPT and Google Bard using Prompt Engineering in Cancer Screening Algorithms

(July 2023 – November 2023)

Department of Radiology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

PI: Dr. Young Kim, M.D, Ph.D.

·      Led an innovative study to evaluate the accuracy of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Bard in clinical decision-making, focusing on the American College of Radiology's Appropriateness Criteria for various cancers.

 

Use of an Artificial Intelligence Chatbot to Interpret Dermatopathology Reports in Simple Language

(March 2023 – July 2023)

Department of Dermatology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

PI: Nikki Levin, MD, PhD

·       Utilized ChatGPT to simplify complex dermatopathology reports for patient understanding. Coordinated with dermatology and dermatopathology faculty and residents to evaluate translations based on accuracy, completeness, potential to cause harm, and reliability.

 

The Chatbots are Coming: Risks and Benefits of Consumer-Facing Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Dermatology

(February 2023 – March 2023)

Department of Dermatology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

PI: Nikki Levin, MD, PhD

·       Investigated the potential application of AI chatbots in dermatology for translating medical information and providing differential diagnoses. Recognized limitations in chatbot training data and accuracy, emphasizing the need for further research and validation.

 

Thalamic nuclei segmentation from T1-weighted MRI: unifying and benchmarking state-of-the-art methods with young and old cohorts

(August 2022 – December 2023)                       

Department of Radiology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

PI: Dr. Manoj Saranathan, Ph.D.

·       Conducted research focused on thalamic segmentation methods in the characterization of Alzheimer's disease, leading to deeper understanding of disease progression.

 

Implementation of Text Messaging for Lung Cancer Screening at Primary Care Clinic Settings          

(May 2022 – August 2022)                   

Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

PI: Dr. Mayuko Ito Fukunaga, M.D

·       Project funded by UMass Chan Research, Community, and Curriculum Exploration Summer Program (RCCE). Assisted with a project investigating the efficacy of text messaging as a decision-making aid to encourage low-dose CT screening. Analyzed patient engagement and outcomes, providing evidence-based recommendations for further implementation.

 

Endovascular Repair of a Recurrent CSF-Venous Fistula with drainage to a Basivertebral Vein         

(June 2022 – July 2023)

Department of Radiology, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine

PI: Dr. Amanda Baker, M.D

·       Authored a comprehensive case report detailing the endovascular repair of a recurrent CSF-venous fistula, emphasizing innovative techniques and clinical implications.

Publications

Indexed Publications:

·Adin ME, Isufi E, Wu J, Pang Y, Nguyen D, Simsek Has D, Caner C, Aboueldaha N, Mossa-Basha M, Pucar D. . Reactive axillary lymph nodes after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination: comparison of mRNA vs. attenuated whole-virus vaccines.. Nuclear Medicine Communications. June 2024; 45(6):474-480. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 38465449. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38465449/

Chen R, Fettel KD, Nguyen DH, Nambudiri VE. . Evaluating the performance of ChatGPT on dermatology board-style exams: A meta-analysis of text-based and image-based question accuracy. . Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. April 2025; Epub ahead of print.(Epub ahead of print.):Epub ahead of print.. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 40199380. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40199380/

Chen R, Zhang Y, Choi S, Nguyen D, Levin NA. . The chatbots are coming: Risks and benefits of consumer-facing artificial intelligence in clinical dermatology.. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. October 2023; 89(4):872-874. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 37328001. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37328001/

Nguyen D, MacKenzie A, Kim YH. Encouragement vs. liability: How prompt engineering influences ChatGPT-4's radiology exam performance. Clinical Imaging. September 2024; 115(1):110276. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 39288636. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39288636/

Nguyen D, Rao A, Mazumder A, Succi MD. Exploring the accuracy of embedded ChatGPT-4 and ChatGPT-4o in generating BI-RADS scores: a pilot study in radiologic clinical support.. Clinical Imaging. January 2025; 117(1):110335. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 39549561. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39549561/

Nguyen D, Swanson D, Newbury A, Kim YH. Evaluation of ChatGPT and Google Bard Using Prompt Engineering in Cancer Screening Algorithms.. Academic Radiology. December 2023; 5(1):1799-1804. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 38103973. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38103973/

Williams B, Nguyen D, Vidal JP, Saranathan M. Thalamic nuclei segmentation from T1-weighted MRI: Unifying and benchmarking state-of-the-art methods.. Imaging Neuroscience . May 2024; 2(1):1-16. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 40041300. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40041300/

Yu C, Hu K, Nguyen D, Wang ZA. From genomics to functions: preclinical mouse models for understanding oncogenic pathways in prostate cancer . American Journal of Cancer Research . October 2019; 9(10):2079-2102. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 31720076. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31720076/

Zhang Y, Chen R, Nguyen D, Choi S, Gabel C, Leonard N, Yim K, O'Donnell P, Elaba Z, Deng A, Levin NA. . Assessing the ability of an artificial intelligence chatbot to translate dermatopathology reports into patient-friendly language: A cross-sectional study.. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. February 2024; 90(2):397-399. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 37804932. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37804932/

Zhang Y, Chung J, Chen R, Malhotra S, Nguyen D, Levin NA. . Testing the ability of artificial intelligence chatbots and dermatologic diagnosis mobile applications to diagnose melanoma and seborrheic keratosis. . Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. September 2024; 92(1):161-163. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 39326789. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39326789/

Zhang Y, Chen R, Nguyen D, Choi S, Gabel C, Leonard N, Yim K, O'Donnell P, Elaba Z, Deng A, Levin NA. Response to Lee and Tung "Critical considerations remain for utilizing artificial intelligence chatbot to translate dermatopathology reports". Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. May 2025; Epub ahead of print(Epub ahead of print):Epub ahead of print. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 40324530. Publication Status: Published.
Article URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40324530/

 

Publication in Submission:

Chen R, Fettel K,, Nguyen D, Nambudiri V. . Evaluating the Performance of ChatGPT on Dermatology Diagnostics: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. May 2025.
Publication Status: Submitted.

Chen R, Zhang Y, Nguyen D, Leonard N, Mahmoud B. Disparities in Melanoma Care: An Analysis of Social Determinants. Cancers. June 2025.
Publication Status: Submitted.

Emin MA, Nguyen D, Shin C, Pucar D. COVID-19 Vaccine-Associated Reactive Axillary Lymph Nodes on FDG PET/CT: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nuclear Medicine Communications. April 2025.
Publication Status: Under Review.

Ito Fukunaga M, Soylemez Wiener R, Toomey S, Wagner J, Shi Q, Balakrishnan K, Nguyen A, Nguyen D, McKee M, Bankier AA, Sadasivam RS, Crawford SL, Han PKJ, Houston TK, Mazor KM.. Pre-Visit Preparation for Shared Decision-Making in Lung Cancer Screening in Primary Care: A Quasi-Experimental Pilot Study of a Paper Decision Aid and an Automated Text Messaging Program . Jo urnal of Medical Internet Research. June 2025.

Publication Status: Pre-Print.
Article URL: https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/69044

Nguyen D & Bronson I, Chen R, Kim Y. A Meta-Analysis of ChatGPT-based Differential Diagnostic Accuracy in Radiological Cases: 2023-2025.. Academic Radiology. April 2025.
Publication Status: Under Review.

Nguyen D, Kim G, Bedayat A. Evaluating ChatGPT's Performance Across Radiology Subspecialties: A Meta-Analysis of Board-Style Examination Accuracy and Variability. Clinical Imaging. February 2025.
Publication Status: Under Review.

Nguyen D, Musch G.. Can Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) be Used for Objective Pain Assessment and Anesthetic Depth Monitoring? . Journal of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine. June 2025.
Publication Status: Submitted.

Nguyen D, Rahsepar A, Chalian H, Hassani C, Kim G, Bedayat A. Revisiting LLMs and Lung Cancer Questions: How AI Responds to Common Lung Cancer Questions Two Years Later.. Academic Radiology. June 2025.
Publication Status: Under Review.

Nguyen D, Shiang T, Ge C, Watts G, Sereni C, Radcliffe D, Kotecha H, Santos Nunez G, Kim YH. Radiation Dose Reduction using deep learning-powered ultra-low dose CT in detection of acute traumatic pelvic and hip fractures. Emergency Radiology. June 2025. Publication Status: Under Review.

Swanson D, Nguyen D, Lee JA, Gerber B, Lee JL. Healthcare Access and Utilization Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults in the All of Us Research Program.. Journal of General Internal Medicine. June 2025.
Publication Status: Under Review.

 

Abstract/Poster Presentations:

Banerjee A, Yang F, Balakrishnan S, Nguyen D, Dutta J, Hornberger M, Saranathan M. Society of Neuroscience. Poster presented: Temporal Dynamics and Specificity of Thalamic Nuclear Atrophy Patterns in Frontotemporal Dementia Subtypes. Chicago, IL, United States of America; 10/05/2024.

Choi S, Chen R, Zhang Y, Nguyen D, Levin NA. Massachusetts Medical Society. Poster presented: Using an Artificial Intelligence Chatbot for Skin-of-Color Patient Inquiries in Dermatology. Worcester, MA, United States of America; 04/01/2024.

Choi S, Chen R, Zhang Y, Nguyen D, Levin NA. Atlantic Dermatology Conference. Poster presented: Using an Artificial Intelligence Chatbot for Skin-of-Color Patient Inquiries in Dermatology. Hershey, PA, United States of America; 04/19/2024.

Nguyen D, Toomey S, Sadasivam R, Houston T, Wiener RS, Mazor KM, Fukunaga MI. UMass Research Symposium . Poster presented: Implementation of text messaging for lung cancer screening at primary care clinic settings. Worcester, MA, United States of America; 08/10/2022.

Swanson DP, Nguyen D, Gerber B, Lee J. All of Us Researchers Convention. Poster presented: Healthcare Access and Utilization Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults: An Analysis Using the All of Us Research Program.. Virtual, UA, United States of America; 03/29/2023.

Swanson DP, Nguyen D, Gerber B, Lee J. University of Massachusetts 2024 Affirming Health Care for our Trans and Gender Diverse Communities Summit. Poster presented: Healthcare Access and Utilization Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults: An Analysis Using the All of Us Research Program. Worcester, MA, United States of America; 05/07/2024.

Swanson DP, Nguyen D, Gerber B, Lee J.. LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference at Indiana University. Poster presented: Healthcare Access and Utilization Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults: An Analysis Using the All of Us Research Program. Bloomington, IN, United States of America; 04/11/2024.

Swanson DP, Nguyen D, Gerber B, Lee J.. Society of General Internal Medicine. Poster presented: Healthcare Access and Utilization Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults: An Analysis Using the All of Us Research Program. Hollywood, FL, United States of America; 05/14/2025.

Oral Presentations:

Baker, A, Nguyen, D, Smith, E, Amans, M, Dillon, W, Shah, V . Endovascular Repair of a Recurrent CSF-Venous Fistula with drainage to a Basivertebral Vein. Oral presentation: American Society for Spine Radiology in Medicine; 02/08/2023. Charleston, SC, United States of America.

Chen R, Zhang Y, Nguyen D, Leonard N, Mahmoud, B. . Disparities in Melanoma Care: An Analysis of Social Determinants.. Oral presentation: UMass 2024 Dermatology Research Symposium; 09/11/2024. Worcester, MA, United States of America.

Fettel K, Chen R, Nguyen D, Nambudiri, V.. Evaluating the Performance of ChatGPT on Dermatology Board-Style Exams: A Meta-Analysis of Text-Based and Image-Based Question Accuracy.. Oral presentation: World Congress of Digital Health Dermatology; 03/06/2025. Orlando, FL, United States of America.

Ito Fukunaga M, Nguyen D, Ryan GW, Zaidi M, D’Addario AE, King AM, Bankier A, Han PKJ, Wiener RS, Mazor KM.. “What Is a Lung Nodule?” - Providers’ Answers and Analog Patients’ Preferences in the Communication of Lung Cancer Screening Results. Oral presentation: American Thoracic Society; 05/19/2023. Washington, DC, United States of America.

Nguyen D, Horton C, Wang ZA. Investigating The Role of Klf2 in Basal to Luminal Differentiation. Oral presentation: Cancer in the Crosshairs; 09/21/2019. Santa Cruz, CA, United States of America.

Nguyen D, Kumar VJ, Patterson D, Saranathan M. Revisiting the role of structural connectivity in thalamic nuclei segmentation. Oral presentation: International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine; 05/15/2025. Honolulu, HI, United States of America.

Williams B, Nguyen D, Saranathan M. Thalamic segmentation methods in the characterization of Alzheimer's disease.. Oral presentation: International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine; 06/03/2023. Toronto, ON, Canada.

Work Exp.

Giving a Boost (Worcester MA)

Co-founder and Vice-President of Internal Affairs (April 2023 – Present)

·       Co-founded a free mentorship program led by UMass Chan medical students for premedical students in Massachusetts with the goal of fostering a strong community of mentorship and reducing the burden of the medical school application process for aspiring physicians. Provided guidance and support to medical school applicants, offering valuable insights on primary/secondary essays, and conducting mock interviews in the traditional and multiple mini-interview style.

 

Admission Committee Member

Student Member (August 2022 – May 2023)

·       Participated in the admissions process by reviewing and assessing candidate applications for UMass Chan Medical School. Collaborated with committee members to evaluate prospective students' academic and personal qualifications.

 

Digital Medicine Optional Enrichment Elective

Founder and Student Leader (August 2022 – December 2022)

·       Established the innovative Digital Medicine OEE class, designing a comprehensive curriculum focusing on the application of technology in healthcare, including wearable devices, eICUs, machine learning, AI, and healthcare-oriented language models like ChatGPT. Successfully networked and arranged for esteemed faculty and industry leaders to deliver guest lectures, offering students direct insights into the current digital landscape in the medical field.

 

UMass Chan Opioid Use Disorder and Medication Assisted Treatment Optional Enrichment Elective

Student Leader (September 2022 – April 2023)

·       Organized and facilitated discussion in a series of lectures focused on opioid use disorder and harm reduction. Integrated American Society of Addiction Medicine Drug Abuse Treatment Act waiver training which allowed medical students to prescribe buprenorphine upon graduation.

 

Worcester Public Restroom Initiative

Co-president (January 2022 – Present)

·       Collaborated with the Worcester Business Improvement District to advocate for public restroom infrastructure. Contacted MA House representatives and senators to advocate for Amendment #523 of Bill H.5007 (passed 07/14/2022), which provided $40,000 of funding to study the feasibility of constructing public restrooms and other public amenities in Downtown Worcester. Studied how cities with similar characteristics to Worcester are implementing public restrooms and potential associations with opioid overdose rates.

Skills

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