Duy

Nguyen

Associate Professor & Director of PhD Program

Email:

duy.nguyen@yu.edu

Office Phone:

646-592-6674

Office Address:

Belfer 909B

Education:

Ph.D., Columbia University

MSW, Washington University in St. Louis

BA, Washington University in St. Louis

Biography:

Duy Nguyen, MSW, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and Ph.D. Program Director at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work. Over his academic career, he has taught master’s and doctoral level courses in research, statistics, and human behavior. From 2018-2021, he directed the SAMHSA-funded Minority Fellowship Program at the Council on Social Work Education. The initiative increases the number of master’s and doctoral-level social workers to address the mental health and substance use needs of racial/ethnic minority populations.

A gerontological social work researcher, his interdisciplinary, collaborative research spans the use of existing data and community-based research to address the health and mental health needs of older Asian Americans. Currently, he is working on a project to review the archival records of the Jewish Federation and Catholic Charities and community-based organizations in Southern California to investigate how the organizations addressed Vietnamese refugees’ traumatic experiences.

His grant-funded research to date using existing data has revealed how sociocultural factors, especially differences among Asian ethnic groups and the aging process, affect health and mental health service use. This research has identified the need for targeted, ethnic-specific, and culturally-informed intervention studies to reduce health and mental health disparities in this population. With community-partners, he conducts mixed methods, community-based research that focuses on the social, cultural, and contextual contributors to health, mental health, and help-seeking.

A Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Dr. Nguyen earned his BA and MSW degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, and his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of American and the Society for Social Work and Research.

Publications:

Selected

Chen, L. M., Lee, Y., & Nguyen, D. (2026). Exploring Civic Engagement and Well-Being Among Korean American Older Immigrants. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 1-15.

Chen, L. , Lee, Y., Nguyen, D., & Choi, S. (2025) Technology that supports extending dementia-friendly community-based Care: A scoping review. Current Geriatrics Report, 14 (21), DOI: 10.1007/s13670-025-00446-x

Francis, E.A., Jones, J., Nguyen, D. & Cooke, C.D. (2025). MFP Origins: A Leadership Journey with Former Directors. Journal of Social Work Education, DOI:10.1080/10437797.2025.2489343

Cooke, C.D. & Nguyen, D. (2025). Celebrating 50 Years of CSWE’s Minority Fellowship Program: Reflecting on the Program’s Presence and Effect. Journal of Social Work Education, DOI:10.1080/10437797.2025.2489344

Nguyen, D., Liu, R., & Lee, Y. (2024) Immigration, Racialization, and Asian American Older Adults’ Cognitive Difficulties. Journal of Gerontology B: Social Sciences, 79(3), 1-7. doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbad109

Vu, C.M., Nguyen, D., Tanh, D., & Chun, J. (2017) Case Study of an ethnic community based organization in the United States. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. doi:10.1177/0899764016654220

Nguyen, D., & Bornheimer, L. (2014) Mental health severity and mental health service use among Asian Americans. Journal of Behavioral Health Sciences & Research. Doi: 10.1007/s11414-013-9383-6.

Nguyen, D., Choi, S. & Park, S.Y. (2013) The Moderating Effects of Ethnicity and Employment Type on Insurance Coverage: Four Asian Subgroups in California. Journal of Applied Gerontology. doi:10.1177/0733464813481849

Nguyen, D. & Lee, R. (2013) Toward an integrative view of Asian American mental health service use. Journal of Immigrant Health. 15, 1129-1132. DOI: 10.1007/s10903-013-9812-x

Nguyen, D. & Lee, R. (2012). Asian immigrants’ mental health service use: An application of the life course perspective. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 3(1), 53-63 DOI: 10.1037/a0026865.

Nguyen, D., Shibusawa, T.S., & Chen, T.C. (2011). Culturally competent mental health care for Asian Americans. Clinical Social Work Journal. DOI: 10.1007/s10615-011-0356-z.