Ally Nguyen

Ally Nguyen, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus School of Medicine in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of genome integrity, particularly how cells organize and segregate genetic material and how these processes are altered in disease, development, and across evolutionary contexts.

• Research Themes:
  • Cohesin complex functional diversity
  • Context-specific cell division rewiring
  • Cross-species gene requirement differences
• Methodologies:
  • High-resolution microscopy
  • CRISPR-Cas9 screens
  • Molecular genetics

Recent work highlights her discovery of PRR12 as a cohesin regulator (2025, Developmental Cell) and studies on the CENP-O complex in cancer-specific cell division (2021, Molecular Biology of the Cell). Her lab emphasizes leveraging differential gene requirements to uncover core biological principles.

Ally was named a Boettcher Investigator (2025) and features in the Leading Edge Fellowship Program. Her team includes postdoctoral researcher Molly Zych and lab member Michael.

Key collaborations span institutions like Rutgers University (Ph.D. alma mater) and partnerships with experts on CRISPR screening, chromosome biology, and developmental disorders. Current projects explore PRR12's role in DNA repair, CENP-O's disease links, and interspecies functional genetic divergence.