Professor Tuan V Nguyen | UNSW Research

My Expertise

Professor Nguyen is available for media commentary on osteoporosis, fracture prevention, healthy ageing, bone health, risk prediction and personalised medicine. He can also comment on the use of artificial intelligence, digital health and data science in healthcare, as well as the interpretation and communication of health risks.

His expertise includes:

osteoporosis and fragility fractures;
fracture risk assessment and prevention;
bone health and healthy ageing;
epidemiology and population health;
genetics and genomics of osteoporosis;
artificial intelligence and digital health in bone health;
health risk communication and clinical decision-making.

Biography

Professor Tuan V Nguyen AM is an NHMRC Leadership Fellow (L3) and Adjunct Professor in the School of Population Health, UNSW Medicine & Health. He is also Distinguished Professor of Predictive Medicine at the University of Technology Sydney.

His research focuses on the epidemiology, genetics, prediction and prevention of osteoporosis and fragility fractures. He integrates epidemiology, biostatistics, genomics, predictive modelling, artificial intelligence and digital health to understand why individuals differ in their risk of fracture and to translate that knowledge into approaches that improve clinical decision-making and prevention.

A major focus of Professor Nguyen's work has been the development of individualised fracture-risk assessment. He led the development of the Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator, which has been incorporated into clinical guidelines and practice, and subsequently developed BONEcheck™, a digital platform for personalised osteoporosis risk assessment. His other translational research includes the Osteogenomic Profile, which incorporates genomic information into fracture-risk prediction, and Skeletal Age, an approach to communicating skeletal fragility and fracture-related mortality in a clinically meaningful way.

Much of his research draws on long-running population studies, particularly the Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study in Australia and the Vietnam Osteoporosis Study, which he established to investigate the genetic, environmental and lifestyle determinants of osteoporosis and chronic disease in an Asian population. His current research extends from individual risk prediction to AI-enabled healthcare, risk communication and population-level approaches to fracture prevention.

Professor Nguyen has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers (H index 100, Scopus), including work in The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, Nature, Nature Genetics, and eLife. He has been recognised by ScholarGPS as a Highly Ranked Scholar (Lifetime), placing him among the top 0.05% of scholars worldwide for lifetime scholarly contributions. He is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, the Royal Society of New South Wales, and the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

He has served on the editorial boards of several leading journals in osteoporosis and bone and mineral research, including as an Associate Editor.

Professor Nguyen has also made a sustained contribution to research training and capacity building. He has supervised PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in Australia and internationally and has contributed extensively to postgraduate training in epidemiology, biostatistics, research methodology and scientific communication, particularly in Vietnam.

My Grants

Professor Nguyen's research has been supported predominantly by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) through competitive fellowships and project grants. He has held two major NHMRC research fellowships supporting his work in osteoporosis genetics, fracture-risk prediction and precision medicine.

Major Fellowships

NHMRC Investigator Fellowship (Leadership Level 3), APP1195305 (2021–2026)
Prediction of fracture by clinico-genetic profiling
Funding: $2,339,215
Chief Investigator: Nguyen
NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (2008–2014)
Genetics of osteoporosis
Funding: approximately $700,000
Chief Investigator: Nguyen

Selected Competitive Research Grants

Amgen Global Competitive Grant (2020–2022)
Development of a clinico-genetic model for predicting fracture and post-fracture mortality
Funding: $280,000
Chief Investigator: Nguyen
NHMRC APP1176600 (2020–2022)
Translation of best practice in osteoporosis refracture prevention: stopping fragility fractures to keep Australians out of hospital
Funding: $855,000
Chief Investigators: Perry, Center, Harris, Clifton-Bligh, Hassett, Nguyen, McInnes, White, Frost
NHMRC APP1141361 (2018–2020)
Deregulation of DNA hydroxymethylases Tet1 and Tet2 compromises skeletal integrity during ageing and osteoporosis
Chief Investigators: Gronthos, Nguyen, Davis
NHMRC APP1102286 (2015–2017)
Non-invasive detection of hypoglycaemia in people with diabetes using brain-wave activity
Funding: $310,000
Chief Investigators: Nguyen H, Jones T, Nguyen T
NHMRC APP1070187 (2014–2016)
Fracture-associated premature mortality: an international consortium
Funding: $560,558
Chief Investigators: Center, Nguyen, Eisman
NHMRC APP1007539 (2012–2014)
Prediction of osteoporosis outcomes
Funding: $700,854
Chief Investigators: Nguyen, Center, Eisman
NHMRC APP1039085 (2011–2013)
Patient-specific electronic decision support for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and prevention of fracture
Funding: $309,262
Chief Investigators: Eisman, Center, Nguyen, Peiris, Selecki
NHMRC APP1003612 (2011–2013)
Vitamin D, bone loss, fracture and mortality outcomes
Funding: $624,310
Chief Investigators: Eisman, Nguyen, Center, Seibel, Sambrook, Elder
NHMRC Project Grant (2005–2007)
Genetic prediction of fractures in a risk-stratified population
Funding: $358,125
Chief Investigators: Nguyen, Eisman, Center, Esteban
NHMRC Project Grant (2004–2006)
Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study
Funding: $665,025
Chief Investigators: Nguyen, Center, Eisman, Cumming
NHMRC Project Grant (2001–2003)
MERIT Study: Effectiveness of the Medical Emergency System
Funding: $621,000
Chief Investigators: Hillman, Nguyen, Fifer, Doyles

My Qualifications

Doctor of Science (DSc), Medicine, UNSW Sydney, 2016
Thesis: Contributions to Osteoporosis Research

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Medicine, UNSW Sydney, 1997
Thesis: Contribution of Genetic and Environmental Factors to the Determination of Osteoporotic Fractures
Supervisors: Professor John Eisman, the late Professor Philip Sambrook, and Professor Richard Heller

My Awards

Professor Nguyen's contributions to osteoporosis research, fracture prevention, medical science and higher education have been recognised through a range of national and international awards, honours and elected fellowships.

Lifetime Achievement Award, Osteoporosis Society in Vietnam, 2026.
UTS Medal for Research Impact, University of Technology Sydney, 2025.
Appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to medical research, particularly osteoporosis and fracture prevention, and to tertiary education, 2022.
Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 2022.
Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS), 2019.
Elected Fellow of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), 2018.
UTS Chancellor's Medal for Exceptional Research, University of Technology Sydney, 2018.
Professor Honoris Causa, Hanoi University of Pharmacy and Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam, 2018.
Award from the Foreign Minister of Vietnam for contributions to higher education and science in Vietnam.
Garvan Best Thesis Award, 1998, for PhD research undertaken at UNSW.
American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Award for outstanding research into bone metabolism disorders, Cincinnatti OH 1997.
Sandoz Award for outstanding research and best presentation in bone and mineral research, Auckland, NZ 1995.
Excellence in Research Awards, University of New South Wales and St Vincent's Research Symposium, 1995 and 1997.

In 2022, Professor Nguyen’s life and contributions to medical research, osteoporosis prevention and higher education were acknowledged in the Parliament of New South Wales by the Hon. Tania Mihailuk MP and the Hon. Wendy Lindsay MP.

Professor Nguyen's research students have received numerous national and international awards, including Young Investigator Awards from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, the European Calcified Tissue Society and the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society, as well as UNSW research awards.

My Research Activities

Professor Nguyen's research program is underpinned by two major longitudinal population studies: the Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study (DOES) in Australia and the Vietnam Osteoporosis Study (VOS).

Professor Nguyen is a principal investigator of DOES, which commenced in 1989. He joined the study in 1990 and has contributed to its development for more than three decades. The study has followed approximately 4,000 men and women and has generated important evidence on fracture risk, bone loss, post-fracture mortality, genetics and population approaches to fracture prevention.

Professor Nguyen established VOS as a population-based study of more than 4,200 men and women to investigate the genetic, environmental and lifestyle determinants of osteoporosis, musculoskeletal ageing and chronic disease. Research arising from VOS has generated population-specific reference data for bone health and contributed to more appropriate assessment of osteoporosis in Vietnamese populations.

His current research themes include:

individualised prediction of fracture and post-fracture outcomes;
prediction of age-related bone loss;
genomic and osteogenomic approaches to osteoporosis risk;
artificial intelligence and machine learning in musculoskeletal health;
digital health and digital epidemiology;
risk communication and shared decision-making; and
population-wide strategies for fracture prevention.

Professor Nguyen has also contributed to research capacity building in Vietnam, including establishment of the Tam Anh Research Institute (Tam Anh Hospital), and Bone and Muscle Research Laboratory (Ton Duc Thang University) to support research and training in musculoskeletal health.

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords

body composition

epidemiology (general)

machine learning

Areas of supervision

Osteoporosis and fracture epidemiology; clinical research design and biostatistics; predictive modelling; population and statistical genetics; genomic analysis; artificial intelligence and digital health; risk communication and precision medicine.

My Engagement

Professor Nguyen has maintained extensive engagement with the clinical, scientific and wider community through professional leadership, research translation, international capacity building and public communication.

He has contributed to osteoporosis prevention and clinical practice through the development and translation of fracture-risk assessment tools, including the Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator and BONEcheck™, and through research that has informed approaches to fracture prevention and risk communication.

Professor Nguyen has held editorial roles with leading journals in osteoporosis and bone and mineral research and has served as a reviewer for major medical journals and research funding agencies internationally. He has also contributed to regional professional organisations, including the Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis, and was a founder of the Osteoporosis Society of Ho Chi Minh City.

A major focus of his international engagement has been research capacity building in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Over many years, he has conducted workshops in epidemiology, biostatistics, research methodology, evidence-based medicine and scientific writing for clinicians and researchers, and has contributed to the development of research infrastructure and postgraduate training in musculoskeletal health.

Professor Nguyen also engages with the wider public through media and public communication on osteoporosis, fracture prevention, ageing and health risk. His research and personal journey have been featured in major media, including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Guardian. In 2022, his life and contributions to medical research, osteoporosis prevention and higher education were acknowledged in the Parliament of New South Wales.

As part of his broader public engagement, Professor Nguyen is the author of Kangaroo Dreams, a memoir reflecting on migration, education, scientific research and the opportunities that shaped his career in Australia.

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