Molecular Physiology Graduate Student Receives NIH NRSA F30 Award

Ashley Truong, an M.D./Ph. D. student in the Duke Medical Scientist Training Program, has received the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) F30 award for her work on adipose tissue.  

 The F30 is a competitive fellowship grant intended to enhance pre-doctoral dual-degree students’ integrated research and clinical training at NIH-funded institutions. 

Truong’s research focuses on controlling adipocyte (fat cell) identity and maintenance in the setting of healthy and pathological adipose tissue expansion. She is studying how a specific protein, ZFP423, regulates the thermogenic gene program in adipocytes. By furthering the understanding of this protein and its role in adipocyte biology, researchers could potentially target it or its related molecular mechanism to combat obesity.  

Truong is from Memphis, Tennessee, and attended Rhodes College in Memphis for a B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology. Throughout undergrad and two post-baccalaureate years, she worked at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Stacey Ogden’s lab. She began her M.D./Ph.D. at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2018, and followed her advisor, Rana Gupta, to Duke in 2022, transferring into Duke’s MSTP program.