Kim-Lien Nguyen

Associate Professor-in-Residence, Medicine, University of California Los Angeles

Associate Professor-in-Residence, Radiological Sciences, University of California Los Angeles

UC Profile
CV Imaging Research Lab @ UCLA

Dr. Nguyen is a cardiovascular imaging scientist and cardiologist with appointments in Radiology, Biomedical Physics, and Bioengineering. She earned a medical degree from UCLA, trained in the Osler internal medicine program at Johns Hopkins Hospital, completed a general cardiology fellowship at UCLA, and served as a research fellow in the advanced cardiovascular imaging section at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Nguyen's research focuses on the development and translation of cardiovascular imaging techniques. Her lab conducts pre-clinical and clinical development of iron oxide enhanced MRI techniques for ischemic, vascular, and congenital heart disease. She co-directs a cardiovascular imaging research lab and co-founded the FeraSafe Multicenter MRI Registry, which consists of over fifteen institutions worldwide. Through the FeraSafe consortium, she and colleagues develop and standardize methods to enable safe and effective use of iron-based, contrast-enhanced MRI for patients with kidney impairment and cardiorenal complications. She collaborates with data scientists on the use of radiomics for advancement of precision medicine. Her work also explores methods to integrate wireless technology with traditional models of healthcare delivery. Her scientific work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Veterans Health Administration. A Vietnam War refugee, Dr. Nguyen is passionate about helping our nation’s veterans who have sacrificed so much in service to our country. Dr. Nguyen founded the cardiac MRI program at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, which has served as a model for university/VA partnerships at other institutions. She collaborates with VA stakeholders and industry partners to facilitate veterans' access to advanced cardiac imaging technology and cardiovascular clinical trials. As the founder and former director of the telecardiology clinic at VA Greater Los Angeles, Dr. Nguyen continues to promote the integration of telemedicine with traditional models of healthcare delivery to improve veterans' access to cardiovascular care. Dr. Nguyen has worked on public policy issues from the time she was a medical student; she obtained grant funding from The California Endowment and brought together several organizations to launch the first initiative to address minority health disparities in the School of Medicine at UCLA. She continues to engage the public on issues relating to healthcare delivery and medical education. Her writing has been published in the general media including Forbes, USA Today, Medical Economics, STAT News, and The Hill. She also serves the broader community through involvement on several advisory boards and mentorship of women in STEM-related disciplines.

Publications

  1. Goldfarb JW, Mossa-Basha M, Nguyen KL, Hecht EM, Finn JP. Trends in magnetic resonance and computed tomography angiography utilization among Medicare beneficiaries between 2013 and 2020.. Clinical imaging, 2024.
  2. Ming Z, Pogosyan A, Gao C, Colbert CM, Wu HH, Finn JP, Ruan D, Hu P, Christodoulou AG, Nguyen KL. ECG-free cine MRI with data-driven clustering of cardiac motion for quantification of ventricular function.. NMR in biomedicine, 2024.
  3. Desmond A, Nguyen KL, Watterson CT, Sklansky M, Satou GM, Prosper AE, Garg M, Van Arsdell GS, Finn JP, Afshar Y. Integration of Prenatal Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Congenital Heart Disease.. Journal of the American Heart Association, 2023.
  4. Gandhi MM, Nguyen KL, Lake JE, Liao D, Khodabakhshian A, Guerrero M, Shufelt CL, Bairey Merz CN, Jordan WC, Daar ES, Bhattacharya D, Chew KW. Proprotein convertase subtisilin/kexin 9 levels decline with hepatitis C virus therapy in people with HIV/hepatitis C virus and correlate with inflammation.. AIDS (London, England), 2023.
  5. Yoo SJ, Perens G, Nguyen KL, Yoshida T, Saprungruang A, Van Arsdell GS, Finn JP. Contemporary sequential segmental approach to congenital heart disease using four-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging with ferumoxytol: an illustrated editorial.. Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine, 2023.
  6. Sharma S, Patel NR, Hanudel MR, Ix JH, Salusky IB, Nguyen KL. Plasma FGF23 is associated with left atrial remodeling in children on hemodialysis.. Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany), 2022.
  7. Renella P, Li J, Prosper AE, Finn JP, Nguyen KL. Ferumoxytol-Enhanced Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Angiography and 4D Flow: Safety and Utility in Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Disease.. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2022.
  8. Colbert CM, Hollowed JJ, Nguyen DN, Duarte-Vogel S, Dahlbom M, Hu P, Nguyen KL. Fractional myocardial blood volume by ferumoxytol-enhanced MRI: Estimation of ischemic burden.. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2022.
  9. Berg CJ, Patel B, Reynolds M, Tuzovic M, Chew KW, Sico JJ, Bhattacharya D, Butt AA, Lim JK, Bedimo RJ, Brown ST, Gottdiener JS, Warner AL, Freiberg MS, So-Armah KA, Nguyen KL. Left Atrial Mechanics and Diastolic Function Among People Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study).. The American journal of cardiology, 2022.
  10. Colbert CM, Ming Z, Pogosyan A, Finn JP, Nguyen KL. Comparison of Three Ultrasmall, Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for MRI at 3.0 T.. Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 2022.
  11. Hazany S, Nguyen KL, Lee M, Zhang A, Mokhtar P, Crossley A, Luthra S, Butani P, Dergalust S, Ellingson B, Hinman JD. Regional Cerebral Small Vessel Disease (rCSVD) Score: A clinical MRI grading system validated in a stroke cohort.. Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia, 2022.
  12. Yoshida T, Chen JJ, Zhou B, Finn JP, Hu P, Nguyen KL. Ferumoxytol-enhanced 4D multiphase, steady-state imaging with magnetic resonance in congenital heart disease: ventricular volume and function across 2D and 3D software platforms.. Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery, 2022.
  13. Cao T, Wang N, Kwan AC, Lee HL, Mao X, Xie Y, Nguyen KL, Colbert CM, Han F, Han P, Han H, Christodoulou AG, Li D. Free-breathing, non-ECG, simultaneous myocardial T1 , T2 , T2 *, and fat-fraction mapping with motion-resolved cardiovascular MR multitasking.. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2022.
  14. Ashammakhi N, GhavamiNejad A, Tutar R, Fricker A, Roy I, Chatzistavrou X, Hoque Apu E, Nguyen KL, Ahsan T, Pountos I, Caterson EJ. Highlights on Advancing Frontiers in Tissue Engineering.. Tissue engineering. Part B, Reviews, 2021.
  15. Ghodrati V, Rivenson Y, Prosper A, de Haan K, Ali F, Yoshida T, Bedayat A, Nguyen KL, Finn JP, Hu P. Automatic segmentation of peripheral arteries and veins in ferumoxytol-enhanced MR angiography.. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2021.
  16. Shahrouki P, Nguyen KL, Moriarty JM, Plotnik AN, Yoshida T, Finn JP. Minimizing table time in patients with claustrophobia using focused ferumoxytol-enhanced MR angiography (f-FEMRA): a feasibility study.. The British journal of radiology, 2021.
  17. Ghodrati V, Bydder M, Bedayat A, Prosper A, Yoshida T, Nguyen KL, Finn JP, Hu P. Temporally aware volumetric generative adversarial network-based MR image reconstruction with simultaneous respiratory motion compensation: Initial feasibility in 3D dynamic cine cardiac MRI.. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2021.
  18. Ali F, Bydder M, Han H, Wang D, Ghodrati V, Gao C, Prosper A, Nguyen KL, Finn JP, Hu P. Slice encoding for the reduction of outflow signal artifacts in cine balanced SSFP imaging.. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2021.
  19. Sung K, Patel NR, Ashammakhi N, Nguyen KL. 3-Dimensional Bioprinting of Cardiovascular Tissues: Emerging Technology.. JACC. Basic to translational science, 2021.
  20. Nguyen KL, Ghosh RM, Griffin LM, Yoshida T, Bedayat A, Rigsby CK, Fogel MA, Whitehead KK, Hu P, Finn JP. Four-dimensional Multiphase Steady-State MRI with Ferumoxytol Enhancement: Early Multicenter Feasibility in Pediatric Congenital Heart Disease.. Radiology, 2021.
  21. Colbert CM, Le AH, Shao J, Currier JW, Ajijola OA, Hu P, Nguyen KL. Ferumoxytol-enhanced magnetic resonance T1 reactivity for depiction of myocardial hypoperfusion.. NMR in biomedicine, 2021.
  22. Nguyen KK, Al Othman BA, Kini AT, Lee AG. Perineural Optic Nerve Enhancement in Giant Cell Arteritis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.. Journal of neuro-ophthalmology : the official journal of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society, 2021.
  23. Lu Y, Huang J, Neverova NV, Nguyen KL. USPIOs as targeted contrast agents in cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.. Current cardiovascular imaging reports, 2021.
  24. Colbert CM, Thomas MA, Yan R, Radjenovic A, Finn JP, Hu P, Nguyen KL. Estimation of fractional myocardial blood volume and water exchange using ferumoxytol-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.. Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 2020.
  25. Ghodrati V, Bydder M, Ali F, Gao C, Prosper A, Nguyen KL, Hu P. Retrospective respiratory motion correction in cardiac cine MRI reconstruction using adversarial autoencoder and unsupervised learning.. NMR in biomedicine, 2020.
  26. Abiri P, Yousefi A, Abiri A, Gudapati V, Ding Y, Nguyen KL, Abiri A, Markovic D, Tai YC, Hsiai TK. A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of a Novel Approach for Wireless Stimulation.. IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering, 2020.
  27. Nguyen KL, Hu P, Finn JP. Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Quantification of Structure-Function Relationships in Heart Failure.. Heart failure clinics, 2020.
  28. Kathuria-Prakash N, Honda H, Nguyen KL. Improving preclinical medical student teaching skills through patient education.. Postgraduate medical journal, 2020.
  29. Thomas MA, Hazany S, Ellingson BM, Hu P, Nguyen KL. Pathophysiology, classification, and MRI parallels in microvascular disease of the heart and brain.. Microcirculation (New York, N.Y. : 1994), 2020.
  30. Hayrapetian A, Berenji GR, Nguyen KL, Li Y. 18F-Sodium fluoride uptake is associated with severity of atherosclerotic stenosis in stable ischemic heart disease.. Journal of nuclear cardiology : official publication of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, 2020.
  31. Neilan TG, Nguyen KL, Zaha VG, Chew KW, Morrison L, Ntusi NAB, Toribio M, Awadalla M, Drobni ZD, Nelson MD, Burdo TH, Van Schalkwyk M, Sax PE, Skiest DJ, Tashima K, Landovitz RJ, Daar E, Wurcel AG, Robbins GK, Bolan RK, Fitch KV, Currier JS, Bloomfield GS, Desvigne-Nickens P, Douglas PS, Hoffmann U, Grinspoon SK, Ribaudo H, Dawson R, Goetz MB, Jain MK, Warner A, Szczepaniak LS, Zanni MV. Myocardial Steatosis Among Antiretroviral Therapy-Treated People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Participating in the REPRIEVE Trial.. The Journal of infectious diseases, 2020.
  32. Ho DR, Luery SE, Ghosh RM, Maehara CK, Silvestro E, Whitehead KK, Sze RW, Hsu W, Nguyen KL. Cardiovascular 3-D Printing: Value-Added Assessment Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing.. Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR, 2020.
  33. Shao J, Ghodrati V, Nguyen KL, Hu P. Fast and accurate calculation of myocardial T1 and T2 values using deep learning Bloch equation simulations (DeepBLESS).. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2020.
  34. Colbert CM, Shao J, Hollowed JJ, Currier JW, Ajijola OA, Fishbein GA, Duarte-Vogel SM, Dharmakumar R, Hu P, Nguyen KL. 3D-Printed Coronary Implants Are Effective for Percutaneous Creation of Swine Models with Focal Coronary Stenosis.. Journal of cardiovascular translational research, 2020.
  35. Sharma S, Hanudel MR, Ix JH, Salusky IB, Ganz T, Nguyen KL. The Authors Reply.. Kidney international reports, 2020.
  36. Hollowed JJ, Colbert CM, Currier JW, Nguyen KL. Novel Percutaneous Approach for Deployment of 3D Printed Coronary Stenosis Implants in Swine Models of Ischemic Heart Disease.. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2020.
  37. So-Armah KA, Lim JK, Lo Re V, Tate JP, Chang CH, Butt AA, Gibert CL, Rimland D, Marconi VC, Goetz MB, Ramachandran V, Brittain E, Long M, Nguyen KL, Rodriguez-Barradas MC, Budoff MJ, Tindle HA, Samet JH, Justice AC, Freiberg MS, VACS Project Team. FIB-4 stage of liver fibrosis is associated with incident heart failure with preserved, but not reduced, ejection fraction among people with and without HIV or hepatitis C.. Progress in cardiovascular diseases, 2020.
  38. Yoshida T, Nguyen KL, Shahrouki P, Quinones-Baldrich WJ, Lawrence PF, Finn JP. Intermodality feature fusion combining unenhanced computed tomography and ferumoxytol-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography for patient-specific vascular mapping in renal impairment.. Journal of vascular surgery, 2019.
  39. Nguyen KL, Yoshida T, Kathuria-Prakash N, Zaki IH, Varallyay CG, Semple SI, Saouaf R, Rigsby CK, Stoumpos S, Whitehead KK, Griffin LM, Saloner D, Hope MD, Prince MR, Fogel MA, Schiebler ML, Roditi GH, Radjenovic A, Newby DE, Neuwelt EA, Bashir MR, Hu P, Finn JP. Multicenter Safety and Practice for Off-Label Diagnostic Use of Ferumoxytol in MRI.. Radiology, 2019.
  40. Ghodrati V, Shao J, Bydder M, Zhou Z, Yin W, Nguyen KL, Yang Y, Hu P. MR image reconstruction using deep learning: evaluation of network structure and loss functions.. Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery, 2019.
  41. Shao J, Zhou Z, Nguyen KL, Finn JP, Hu P. Accurate, precise, simultaneous myocardial T1 and T2 mapping using a radial sequence with inversion recovery and T2 preparation.. NMR in biomedicine, 2019.
  42. Sharma S, Hanudel MR, Ix JH, Salusky IB, Ganz T, Nguyen KL. Elevated Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 Levels Are Associated With Greater Diastolic Dysfunction in ESRD.. Kidney international reports, 2019.
  43. Nguyen KL, Shao J, Ghodrati VK, Ajijola OA, Dharmakumar R, Finn JP, Hu P. Ferumoxytol-Enhanced CMR for Vasodilator Stress Testing: A Feasibility Study.. JACC. Cardiovascular imaging, 2019.
  44. Shahrouki P, Moriarty JM, Khan SN, Bista B, Kee ST, DeRubertis BG, Yoshida T, Nguyen KL, Finn JP. High resolution, 3-dimensional Ferumoxytol-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance venography in central venous occlusion.. Journal of cardiovascular magnetic resonance : official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 2019.
  45. Bauer BS, Nguyen-Phan AL, Ong MK, Ziaeian B, Nguyen KL. Cardiology electronic consultations: Efficient and safe, but consultant satisfaction is equivocal.. Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 2019.
  46. Patel NR, Chyu CK, Satou GM, Halnon NJ, Nguyen KL. Left atrial function in children and young adult cancer survivors treated with anthracyclines.. Echocardiography (Mount Kisco, N.Y.), 2018.
  47. Zhou Z, Han F, Yoshida T, Nguyen KL, Finn JP, Hu P. Improved 4D cardiac functional assessment for pediatric patients using motion-weighted image reconstruction.. Magma (New York, N.Y.), 2018.
  48. Le DT, Nguyen KL, Chu HD, Vu NT, Pham TTL, Tran LP. Function of the evolutionarily conserved plant methionine-S-sulfoxide reductase without the catalytic residue.. Protoplasma, 2018.
  49. Wu PT, Segovia DE, Lee CC, Nguyen KL. Consistency of Continuous Ambulatory Interstitial Glucose Monitoring Sensors.. Biosensors, 2018.
  50. Tuzovic M, Wu PT, Kianmahd S, Nguyen KL. Natural history of myocardial deformation in children, adolescents, and young adults exposed to anthracyclines: Systematic review and meta-analysis.. Echocardiography (Mount Kisco, N.Y.), 2018.
  51. Nguyen KL, Park EA, Yoshida T, Hu P, Finn JP. Ferumoxytol enhanced black-blood cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.. Journal of cardiovascular magnetic resonance : official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 2017.
  52. Nguyen KL, Moriarty JM, Plotnik AN, Aksoy O, Yoshida T, Shemin RJ, Suh WM, Finn JP. Ferumoxytol-enhanced MR Angiography for Vascular Access Mapping before Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Patients with Renal Impairment: A Step Toward Patient-specific Care.. Radiology, 2017.
  53. Abiri P, Abiri A, Packard RRS, Ding Y, Yousefi A, Ma J, Bersohn M, Nguyen KL, Markovic D, Moloudi S, Hsiai TK. Inductively powered wireless pacing via a miniature pacemaker and remote stimulation control system.. Scientific reports, 2017.
  54. Moazeni S, Cadeiras M, Yang EH, Deng MC, Nguyen KL. Anthracycline induced cardiotoxicity: biomarkers and "Omics" technology in the era of patient specific care.. Clinical and translational medicine, 2017.
  55. Demer LL, Tintut Y, Nguyen KL, Hsiai T, Lee JT. Rigor and Reproducibility in Analysis of Vascular Calcification.. Circulation research, 2017.
  56. Nguyen KL, Han F, Zhou Z, Brunengraber DZ, Ayad I, Levi DS, Satou GM, Reemtsen BL, Hu P, Finn JP. 4D MUSIC CMR: value-based imaging of neonates and infants with congenital heart disease.. Journal of cardiovascular magnetic resonance : official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 2017.
  57. Finn JP, Nguyen KL, Hu P. Ferumoxytol vs. Gadolinium agents for contrast-enhanced MRI: Thoughts on evolving indications, risks, and benefits.. Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 2017.
  58. Chen JJ, Wu PT, Middlekauff HR, Nguyen KL. Aerobic exercise in anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity: a systematic review of current evidence and future directions.. American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 2016.
  59. Shao J, Liu D, Sung K, Nguyen KL, Hu P. Accuracy, precision, and reproducibility of myocardial T1 mapping: A comparison of four T1 estimation algorithms for modified look-locker inversion recovery (MOLLI).. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2016.
  60. Zhou Z, Han F, Rapacchi S, Nguyen KL, Brunengraber DZ, Kim GJ, Finn JP, Hu P. Accelerated ferumoxytol-enhanced 4D multiphase, steady-state imaging with contrast enhancement (MUSIC) cardiovascular MRI: validation in pediatric congenital heart disease.. NMR in biomedicine, 2016.
  61. Han F, Zhou Z, Han E, Gao Y, Nguyen KL, Finn JP, Hu P. Self-gated 4D multiphase, steady-state imaging with contrast enhancement (MUSIC) using rotating cartesian K-space (ROCK): Validation in children with congenital heart disease.. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2016.
  62. Nguyen KL, Yoshida T, Han F, Ayad I, Reemtsen BL, Salusky IB, Satou GM, Hu P, Finn JP. MRI with ferumoxytol: A single center experience of safety across the age spectrum.. Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 2016.
  63. Nguyen KL, Hu P, Ennis DB, Shao J, Pham KA, Chen JJ. Cardiac MRI: a Translational Imaging Tool for Characterizing Anthracycline-Induced Myocardial Remodeling.. Current oncology reports, 2016.
  64. Finn JP, Nguyen KL, Han F, Zhou Z, Salusky I, Ayad I, Hu P. Cardiovascular MRI with ferumoxytol.. Clinical radiology, 2016.
  65. Shao J, Rashid S, Renella P, Nguyen KL, Hu P. Myocardial T1 mapping for patients with implanted cardiac devices using wideband inversion recovery spoiled gradient echo readout.. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2016.
  66. Vasanawala SS, Nguyen KL, Hope MD, Bridges MD, Hope TA, Reeder SB, Bashir MR. Safety and technique of ferumoxytol administration for MRI.. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2016.
  67. Wickramasinghe CD, Nguyen KL, Watson KE, Vorobiof G, Yang EH. Concepts in cardio-oncology: definitions, mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment strategies of cancer therapy-induced cardiotoxicity.. Future oncology (London, England), 2016.
  68. Nguyen KL, Tian X, Alam S, Mehari A, Leung SW, Seamon C, Allen D, Minniti CP, Sachdev V, Arai AE, Kato GJ. Elevated transpulmonary gradient and cardiac magnetic resonance-derived right ventricular remodeling predict poor outcomes in sickle cell disease.. Haematologica, 2015.
  69. Nguyen KL, Alrezk R, Mansourian PG, Naeim A, Rettig MB, Lee CC. The Crossroads of Geriatric Cardiology and Cardio-Oncology.. Current geriatrics reports, 2015.
  70. Han F, Zhou Z, Rapacchi S, Nguyen KL, Finn JP, Hu P. Segmented golden ratio radial reordering with variable temporal resolution for dynamic cardiac MRI.. Magnetic resonance in medicine, 2015.
  71. Shao J, Rapacchi S, Nguyen KL, Hu P. Myocardial T1 mapping at 3.0 tesla using an inversion recovery spoiled gradient echo readout and bloch equation simulation with slice profile correction (BLESSPC) T1 estimation algorithm.. Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 2015.
  72. Nguyen KL, Khan SN, Moriarty JM, Mohajer K, Renella P, Satou G, Ayad I, Patel S, Boechat MI, Finn JP. High-field MR imaging in pediatric congenital heart disease: initial results.. Pediatric radiology, 2014.
  73. Shao J, Nguyen KL, Natsuaki Y, Spottiswoode B, Hu P. Instantaneous signal loss simulation (InSiL): an improved algorithm for myocardial T₁ mapping using the MOLLI sequence.. Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 2014.
  74. Nguyen KL, Bandettini WP, Shanbhag S, Leung SW, Wilson JR, Arai AE. Safety and tolerability of regadenoson CMR.. European heart journal. Cardiovascular Imaging, 2014.
  75. Wagner M, Nguyen KL, Khan S, Mirsadraee S, Satou GM, Aboulhosn J, Finn JP. Contrast-enhanced MR angiography of cavopulmonary connections in adult patients with congenital heart disease.. AJR. American journal of roentgenology, 2012.
  76. Nguyen KL, llano M, Akari H, Miyagi E, Poeschla EM, Strebel K, Bour S. Codon optimization of the HIV-1 vpu and vif genes stabilizes their mRNA and allows for highly efficient Rev-independent expression.. Virology, 2004.