Nam Nguyen

Nam is enrolled in Earl Warren College and was both a student at large and Warren College senator in UC San Diego’s student government. He co-founded the UCSD Undergraduate MD-PhD Society, where he focused on mentoring underrepresented first generation students in pursuing careers in research and academic medicine. He also writes for the UCSD Guardian student newspaper on science and environmental issues, and is a member of the Surf Club, where he helps beginners and works on coastal stewardship. Among Nam’s many honors are being named both a Yale Paths Scholar and a McNair Scholar.

He has had a number of jobs both on and off campus. The latter includes working with Advanced Real Estate Services on issues concerning water and utilities for residents of City Heights. His jobs at UC San Diego mostly relate to his major and his intention to obtain an MD/PhD in order to become a physician-scientist focusing on environmental justice and public health. To that end he has worked at Stanley Lab and as a research assistant in both the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Emergency Medicine.

Nam grew up in an immigrant household, and at a young age he had to take on considerable responsibility translating both the language and the culture. This included managing bills and filling out governmental forms. To compound these childhood challenges, it was discovered that he had been exposed to lead contaminated water. That “planted the seed for everything that followed; my passion for science, my commitment to advocacy, and my determination to become a physician-scientist.” He hopes to lead “community-based research that investigates how environmental stressors like air pollution, water contamination and extreme heat affect chronic disease outcomes.”

His community advocacy began with San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air. He currently serves on both the California Environmental Justice Advisory Council and the San Diego County Office of Sustainability and Environmental Justice. Nam was recently selected for the United Nations Pathways Fellowship, where he will focus on the Tijuana sewage crisis. He would like to establish a center for environmental health equity.