research & publications

“The joy of discovery is certainly the liveliest that the mind of man can ever feel”

Claude Bernard

Journal Publications

Other Publications

I have authored or coauthored more than 300 publications, including 250 original papers. I have also been invited to write many (more than 50) reviews, commentaries, editorials and debates for many journals. I have published work in JBMR, Am J Epidemiol, JCEM, New England J Med, JAMA, BMJ, Lancet, Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Rev Endocrinology, etc. My work has helped shift the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of osteoporosis into a new and better paradigm. Overall, my publications have received more than 30,000 citations from other authors. My careerwise Scopus H-index is 82, which puts me in the top 0.1% medical researchers worldwide. I am one of the highly cited scientists in the field of osteoporosis and medicine.

The majority of publications have come from research that I have initiated and supervised, with the authorship shared among my PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, whom I have mentored over the years. Apart from osteoporosis which has been my primary research interest, I have also applied my expertise to conduct collaborative research in osteoarthritis, obesity and diabetes, cancer, hypertension, and infectious diseases. A partial list of my publications can be found from my official UNSW Sydney webpage. (Some publications are mixed up with another "T. V. Nguyen", I have informed UNSW about this)

I have a long (more than 25 years) and productive relationship with Tuoi Tre newspaper, where I initially contributed a series of articles on Agent Orange, which were subsequently published in a book. The book has been translated into French. I am also a regular contributor to national newspapers in Vietnam such as Thoi bao kinh te Saigon, Nguoi Lao Dong, Vietnamnet, VNexpress, Dat Viet, Sinh Vien Viet Nam, Hoat Dong Khoa Hoc, Tia Sang (not now). I have sometimes participated in national discussion on higher education policies, scientific research, and even literature. I love fine literature. I also sometimes contribute articles to national papers in Australia.

In addition, I have published a number of books in Vietnamese. My books are in osteoporosis, evidence based medicine, epidemiology, research methodology, biostatistics, scientific research, and higher education. Some of my books are "best sellers" and have received national book awards. A collection of my books can be found at the publisher's site here.

My work

I have spent most of my almost 30-year career at the Garvan Instititute working on the epidemiology and genetics of osteoporosis, a field of research that I have made substantive contributions. The primary focus of my research program is on the discovery and translation of etiological and genetic factors that determine an individual's risk of fracture and adverse outcomes. I pursue both epidemiological and genetic research, often combining the two, to address important issues that lead to better treatment and control of osteoporosis.

I consider that osteoporosis can be treated more effectively by improving the way we identify at-risk people early. Over the past 25 years, I have made cutting-edge contributions to those aspects of osteoporosis. I have extended the knowledge of my core discipline through using innovative methodologies to give new insights into etiology of bone mass, fracture risk assessment, and genetics of osteoporosis. Some of my work may be highlighted as follows:

uncovered and defined the effects of etiological factors, including postural sway, muscle weakness and bone loss, that contribute to fracture susceptibility, its adverse outcomes and mortality;
advanced the concept of individual risk assessment; translated our epidemiologic findings into the Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator (2007) that has been used by doctors and patients worldwide;
identified a set of genetic variants that are associated with bone mineral density and fracture, and from which created an Osteogenomic Profile for predicting fracture risk;
first documented the epidemiology of fragility fractures in men;
defined the pattern of bone loss in men and women, and demonstrated that excessive bone loss was associated with fracture risk;
demonstrated that all major fractures were associated with increased risk of mortality;
developed predictive models for determining the time to repeat bone mineral density.

Some recent publications

Nguyen TV. Individualized Assessment of Fracture Risk: Contribution of “Osteogenomic Profile”. J Clin Densitom 2017;20:353-359.

Nguyen TV. Air pollution: a neglected risk factor for osteoporosis. Lancet Planetary Health 2017;1:311-312.

Nguyen TV, Eisman JA. Assessment of fracture risk: population association vs individual prediction. J Bone Miner Res 2017 Dec 27.

Nguyen TV, Seeman E. Osteoporosis: Treat or Let Die Twice More Likely. J Bone Miner Res. 2015 Sep;30(9):1551-2.