Tu-Uyen Nguyen received her undergraduate degrees in Biology and Comparative Literature from UCI and Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Public Health (Community Health Sciences) from UCLA. She has taught as a lecturer at UCI and UCLA and is now an associate professor in the Department of Asian American Studies at Cal State Fullerton. She has taught and conducted research on Asian Pacific American community health issues for many years, particularly focusing on community-based participatory research on breast and cervical cancer disparities. Nguyen's research focuses on reducing health disparities by understanding the socioecological influences of culture and ethnicity on the health-related behaviors of medically underserved communities. Her current work includes research on effective cancer education strategies for diverse Asian and Pacific Islander communities; program evaluation using qualitative and mixed research methods; community-based patient navigation; community and organizational capacity building strategies; and linguistic-cultural competency in health promotion programs and health services delivery. Nguyen was a 2005-2006 Fellow of the Cancer, Culture and Literacy Institute at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. and is currently working on health research grants studying professional interpretation services and curriculum development for patient navigation in Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander communities. She works inspiring leaders and advocates from diverse Asian and Pacific Islander American communities nationwide to develop, implement and evaluate collaborative, community-based participatory programs that produce profound and positive health outcomes.