Why do patients with seemingly similar oral cancers respond so differently to treatment? Dr. Minh Phuong Dong, a postdoctoral fellow at Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, is working to answer that question, with the goal of helping clinicians better predict which patients may need closer monitoring and personalized care.
Dr. Dong has received a K99/R00 award from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award will support her research on predicting oral cancer outcomes as she works toward becoming an independent investigator.
Oral cancers that look alike and receive similar treatment can behave very differently. Some patients recover, while others experience a return of their cancer. Dr. Dong’s project will combine artificial intelligence with molecular analysis to better understand these differences. She will use AI to identify patterns in microscopic images of tumor tissue and combine those findings with molecular features of the cancer.
The long-term goal is to develop a tool that helps clinicians identify patients at greater risk of cancer recurrence or death. This information could guide follow-up care and, potentially, future treatment decisions.
Dr. Dong earned her medical degree in Vietnam in 2017 and her doctorate in Japan in 2022, where she studied liver cancer. Later that year, she joined the laboratory of Dr. Chi T. Viet, associate professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, and shifted her focus to oral cancer.
As Dr. Dong’s primary mentor, Dr. Viet has helped her develop research that connects laboratory discoveries with questions that matter to patients and clinicians. Dr. Dong credits this mentorship with strengthening her award application and supporting her growth as a scientist.
Her mentoring team also includes three long-standing collaborators of Dr. Viet: Dr. Bradley E. Aouizerat of New York University, Dr. Alexander T. Pearson of the University of Chicago, and Dr. Gary T. Yu of Loma Linda University. Together, they bring expertise in cancer biology, artificial intelligence, and data analysis.
Dr. Dong also acknowledges the support she received throughout the application process from the School of Dentistry, the Dean’s Office, the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the Center for Dental Research, and the Research Affairs Office.
Through this work, Dr. Dong hopes to give clinicians and patients a clearer picture of how an individual’s cancer may behave and ultimately help improve care for people with oral cancer.
This research is supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K99DE036386. The content is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.