Minh Phuong Dong of LLU School of Dentistry earns NIH Award for oral cancer prediction study

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded funding to Minh Phuong Dong, MD, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, to study why patients with similar oral cancers respond differently to treatment and how those differences can be predicted earlier to allow for more personalized care. 

The award will support her research on predicting oral cancer outcomes as she works toward becoming an independent investigator. 

Using AI and molecular data to predict oral cancer outcomes 

Oral cancers that look alike and receive similar treatment can behave very differently. While some patients recover, others experience cancer recurrence. Dong’s project will combine artificial intelligence (AI) with molecular analysis 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. 

Building a foundation in cancer research 

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 Chi T. Viet, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Loma Linda University School of Dentistry where she shifted her focus to oral cancer. 

As Dong’s primary mentor, Viet has helped her develop research that connects laboratory discoveries with questions that matter to patients and clinicians. 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 Viet:  

• Bradley E. Aouizerat, PhD, New York University 

• Alexander T. Pearson, MD, PhD, University of Chicago 

• Gary T. Yu, MD, PhD, Loma Linda University 

Together, they bring expertise in cancer biology, AI, and data analysis. 

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, 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.