Dr Diu T. T. Nguyen
Group Leader
Overview
The overarching goal of our laboratory is to understand the control of stem cells in normal development and human diseases. Our research program focuses on uncovering the role of post-transcriptional and translational regulation in normal and malignant stem cells using haematopoiesis as a model system. While somatic alterations in genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in tumorigenesis have been intensively studied, the impact of post-transcriptional control of gene expression in cancer development has recently emerged. We aim (1) to identify novel post-transcriptional and RNA regulators required for normal blood development and leukaemogenesis, and (2) to understand the molecular mechanisms for how altered activities of RNA-Binding Proteins contribute to malignant transformation, with the ultimate goal of developing innovative targeted therapies for cancer.
Team
Dr Aiman Ahmad
Clinical Research Fellow
Bertina Dragunaite
PhD Student
Lauren Harrison Oakes
PhD Student
Tolu Ogunlana
PhD Student
Dr Kim-Phuong To
Postdoctoral Researcher
Research
Gene expression defines the fate and function of each cell. Our recent work and others have demonstrated that post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) plays a critical role in cancer including leukaemia and lymphoma (Vu,…, Nguyen et al. 2017; Nguyen et al. Nat. Comms 2020; Cheng,…, Nguyen et al. Cancer Cells 2021; Prieto and Nguyen et al. Nat Cancer 2021; Mlynarczyk,…Nguyen et al. Science. 2023).
Importantly, the identification of dysregulated RBPs in cancer has led to the rapid development of therapeutic strategies to specifically target several RBPs. Despite their importance and therapeutic potential, only a small fraction of RNA regulators (more than 1,700 known RBPs) has been investigated, highlighting the potential for further exploration of novel vulnerabilities.
Current projects:
- Post-transcriptional regulation of normal haematopoietic and acute myeloid leukaemic stem cells
- Post-transcriptional regulation of B-cell lymphoma
- Intrinsic and extrinsic translational control in tumorigenesis
- Understanding ribosome biogenesis activity and dependency in cancer
Key Publications
Investigating ribosome biogenesis in AML identifies MYB-binding protein 1A (MYBBP1A) as an essential regulator of leukemia cells. Blood (2025)146(Suppl 1):990. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2025-990
Uncovering the HOXA9 translational regulatory complex that promotes AML leukemic stem cells. Blood (2024)144(Suppl 1):4106. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2024-211477
BTG1 mutation yields supercompetitive B cells primed for malignant transformation. Science (2023)379:eabj7412. PMID: 36656933
Transcriptional control of CBX5 by the RNA binding proteins RBMX and RBMXL1 maintains chromatin state in myeloid leukemia. Nat Cancer (2021)2:741–757. PMID: 34458856
HyperTRIBE uncovers increased MUSASHI-2 RNA binding activity and differential regulation in leukemic stem cells. Nat Commun (2020)11:2026. PMID: 32332729
See recent publicationsMajor Funding
- 2022 – 2028 Cancer Research UK Career Development Fellowship (PI).
- 2024 – 2025 Barts Charity Seed Fund (PI).
- 2024 – 2027 Cancer Research UK City of London Clinical Research Training Fellowship (PI).
- 2022 – 2028 Start-up fund from Barts Cancer Institute (PI).
- 2023 – 2027 Barts Charity Large Project Grant (PI).
Other Activities
- 2025 – Member of the ISEH Junior Faculty Committee
- 2022 – Member and organiser of the London RNA Club BCI annual mini-symposium
- 2019 – Member of American Society of Hematology
Biography
Diu obtained her MSc in Biomolecular Sciences from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, MIT. She completed her PhD (DPhil) in chromatin remodeling and epigenetic regulation of gene expression from the University of Oxford, under the support of a Marie Curie ITN fellowship in 2015. Diu then moved to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA for her postdoc training, investigating the role of post-transcriptional regulation in normal and malignant cancer stem cells.
She pioneered the use of RNA-editing based approaches to identify RNA targets of RNA-Binding Proteins (RBPs) in mammalian stem cells, which has provided new insights into RBP function in rare cells and opened a new avenue for stem cell research. She also discovered the oncogenic role of a number of RBPs in blood cancer. Diu is a recipient of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Scholar Fellowship that supports her transition to independence. In 2022, Diu started her own group at the Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, with the support of a Career Development Fellowship from Cancer Research UK.
Related News
Introducing Dr Diu Nguyen
We would like to wish a very warm welcome to Dr Diu Nguyen who has recently joined the Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London as a Lecturer and Group Leader. Dr Nguyen joins us from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA, where she completed her postdoctoral training investigating the role of post-transcriptional regulation in normal and malignant cancer stem cells.
General News 29 April 2022