Kristen Delaney-Nguyen

Kristen Delaney-Nguyen serves as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Fayetteville State University and is an active instructor in the HHMI Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program, teaching undergraduate research courses since Fall 2016.

Her research integrates experimental microbiology with computational genomics, specializing in bacteriophage discovery and analysis using Mycobacterium smegmatis as a model host system. This work spans phage isolation (in situ), genomic annotation (in silico), and evolutionary analysis, contributing to national phage genomics databases.

Dr. Delaney-Nguyen has mentored 122 undergraduate students across nine course sections between 2016-2021, with the following teaching record:

• Fall 2016: BIOL 499-02 (In situ), 14 seniors
• Spring 2017: BTCH 425 (In silico), 8 seniors
• Fall 2017: BIOL 499 (In situ), 14 students (1 junior, 13 seniors)
• Spring 2018 (First 8 weeks): BTCH 425 (In silico), 4 students (1 junior, 3 seniors)
• Spring 2018 (Second 8 weeks): BIOL 499 (In silico), 18 seniors
• Fall 2018: BIOL 499-01 (In silico), 23 students (1 junior, 22 seniors)
• Spring 2019: BIOL 499-01 (In silico), 21 seniors
• Spring 2020: BIOL 499 (In silico), 12 seniors
• Spring 2021: BIOL 499-02 (In silico), 8 seniors

Instructional load ranged from 2-4 weekly meetings (3.0-9.0 hours) per section. As part of the SEA-PHAGES consortium, she collaborates with national educators to advance phage-based science education and genomic research infrastructure.