My research lies at the intersection of two main areas: multi-omics analysis and the investigation of genetic and non-genetic factors (such as diseases, infections, drugs, etc.) that shape individual responses.
I am particularly interested in leveraging existing datasets to address new research questions and in transferring analytical techniques across different research domains.
Drug side effects: Individual responses to drugs can vary widely due to genetic and molecular differences, leading to diverse side effect profiles. Studying these variations through multi-omics analysis helps uncover biological pathways underlying drug sensitivity and toxicity.
Infections: Infectious agents interact dynamically with the host’s genetic and immune landscape, shaping disease outcomes and recovery patterns. Investigating these interactions provides insights into host–pathogen biology and mechanisms of immune regulation.
Enviromental factors & life styles: Environmental exposures and lifestyle choices—such as diet, pollution, and physical activity—can profoundly influence molecular and physiological responses. Understanding these effects helps reveal how external factors modulate biological systems and contribute to health or disease risk.
You can find all my articles on my Google Scholar profile or on publicationslist.org - which is better organized but updated less often. Below are a few highlights from my work.
Omics technologies to understand drug toxicity mechanisms
Drug side effects are an important study subject in pharmacology. Recent omics technologies provide a range of omics data and help to understand the biological mechanisms involved in drug effects. These modern technologies provide significant support to all biological disciplines, including drug toxicology. In this review, we provide an overview the use of omics applications to understand drug side effects at the molecular level. We discuss by available omics technologies, their possible uses, as well as their advantages and limitations.
Citation: Nguyen, N., Jennen, D., & Kleinjans, J. (2022). Omics technologies to understand drug toxicity mechanisms. Drug discovery today, 27(11), 103348.
Epirubicin alters DNA methylation profiles related to cardiotoxicity
Epirubicin is used for cancer treatment but also increases the risk of heart failure. This study pinpointed the change in DNA methylation related to epirubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. This project followed up our previous work on establishing a bioinformatic workflow to analyze the alterations of DNA methylation in tissues after drug treatment.
Citation: Nguyen, N., Lienhard, M., Herwig, R., Kleinjans, J., & Jennen, D. (2022). Epirubicin Alters DNA Methylation Profiles Related to Cardiotoxicity. Frontiers in bioscience (Landmark edition), 27(6), 173.
This project unveiled the roles of long non-coding RNAs with their various biological functions and suggested long non-coding RNAs as a new perspective and a novel promising biomarker type to understand drug side effects.
Citation: Nguyen, N., Souza, T., Kleinjans, J., & Jennen, D. (2022). Transcriptome analysis of long noncoding RNAs reveals their potential roles in anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity. Non-coding RNA research, 7(2), 106–113.
Anthracycline is an important drug family used in cancer chemotherapy but it also increases the risk of heart failure. This project analyzed the proteomics data and detected several proteins as potential targets for further anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity investigation.
Citation: Nguyen, N., Souza, T., Verheijen, M. C. T., Gmuender, H., Selevsek, N., Schlapbach, R., Kleinjans, J., & Jennen, D. (2021). Translational Proteomics Analysis of Anthracycline-Induced Cardiotoxicity From Cardiac Microtissues to Human Heart Biopsies. Frontiers in genetics, 12, 695625.