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FACULTY

Fern Tsien, PhD

Professor & Co-Chair
Assistant Dean for Medical Student Research

Microbiology, Genetics & Immunology

Office:

LSUHSC School of Medicine 
533 Bolivar St., Room 657
New Orleans, LA 70112
Phone: (504) 568-2080
Fax: (504) 568-8500

 

Bio

Dr. Tsien obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Bachelor of Arts specializing in Studio Art from Tulane University in New Orleans. She received her PhD degree from the Hayward Genetics Center, Human Genetics Program at the Tulane University School of Medicine (TUSOM), where she also served as the Supervisor of the Molecular Cytogenetics Laboratory. She was the recipient of a fellowship grant from the Fascioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) Society for her epigenetics research. Dr. Tsien is board certified by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners and by the National Certification Agency for Laboratory Personnel as a specialist in Cytogenetics. Dr. Tsien accepted a faculty position in the Department of Genetics at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in January of 2003. She is currently the Interim Chair for the Department of Genetics and the Assistant Dean of Medical Student Research in the School of Medicine. 

Her current research consists of:

  • a neurogenomics translational research focus on epigenetics and chromatin instability studying the effects of cancer therapy on neuroinflammation gene expression in collaboration with the Manning Family Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • studying the genetics of familial sensorineural hearing loss in the Louisiana Acadian (Cajun) and Mexican Mayan populations in collaboration with the Human Development Center at LSUHSC, Manning Family Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, and the Genetics Division at the Universidad Juarez Autonoma de Tabasco in Villahermosa, Mexico.
  • an educational research focus evaluating learning outcomes of various academic levels, including junior faculty, residents, post-doctoral fellows, medical students, graduate students, undergraduates, elementary, middle, and high school (K-12) students, and teachers.

Dr. Tsien is also the Associate Director of the Cancer Research Education and Training Center (CRTEC) for the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center. She directs locally and federally funded (i.e., NSF, NIH) educational and research programs in partnership with local and international institutions. Some of the programs she directs include the Summer Research Internship Program for high school, undergraduates and medical students, the NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program on Genomics and Neurosciences, the Research Elective Courses and the Honors Research Program for medical students, and the NSF-funded Genetics and Biology Research Experiences for Teachers (GeneBIORETS) teacher training program.

Dr. Tsien has served as a reviewer for genetics scientific and clinical journals and in study sections for the NIH and NSF. She for won the 2011 LSU School of Medicine Faculty Assembly Award for Outstanding Service to the Community, the 2012 LSU School of Medicine Excellence award for Teaching and Service, the 2013 Jack Hines III Memorial Award for Outstanding Service, was named in 2018 one of New Orleans' Women Achievers, and received the 2024 Chancellor’s LSU Health Excellence Award.

She is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics, DNA Methylation/Epigenetics Society, Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, Association of Women in Science, Greater New Orleans Society of Neuroscience, the Society for Neuroscience, and the American Association of Cancer Research.

Education

BS Biology
Newcomb College at Tulane University

BA Studio Art
Newcomb College at Tulane University

PhD
Tulane University School of Medicine

Teaching

Course Director, GENET 234 Epigenetics, Department of Genetics, LSUHSC School of Graduate Studies

Course Director, GENET 292 Human Cytogenetics, Department of Genetics, LSUHSC School of Graduate Studies

Course Director, SPTHAUD 7225 Genetics, Department of Communication Disorders, LSUHSC School of Allied Health Professions

Course director, MCLIN198, MCLIN 298, MCLIN 398, and MCLIN 498 Research Electives for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year medical students, LSUHSC School of Medicine

Lecturer, Medical Genetics, LSUHSC School of Medicine

Lecturer, SPTHAUD 6220, Craniofacial anomalies, “Cytogenetics and dysmorphology”, Department of Communication Disorders, LSUHSC School of Allied Health Professions

Lecturer, MTEC 5119, Introduction to Molecular Diagnostics, “Diagnostics and Genetics”, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, LSUHSC School of Allied Health Professions

Publications

A COMPLETE LIST OF DR. TSIEN'S PEER-REVIEWED PUBLISHED WORK IN THE NIH NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE 

Selected journal and book publications:

  1. Clay S, Evans AK, Zambrano R, Courtois L, Al-Dujaili L, Mantle B, Tsien F.Diagnosing Harboyan syndrome in a patient with multiple variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Journal of Rare Diseases. 2025 July; 4(42).
  2. Cousin L, Peoples Z, Suppiah V, Li J, Quinn GP, Martinez U, Zea AH, Meade CD, Gwede CK, Tsien F, Zabaleta J, Reich R, Simmons VN. Evaluation of a Multi-Site Cancer Health Disparities Research Training Program for Underrepresented Undergraduate and Medical Students. Journal of Cancer Education. 2025 Apr;40(2):171-176. doi: 10.1007/s13187-024-02488-9. Epub 2024 Aug 21. PubMed PMID: 39167358.
  3. Hunter T, Nieves C, Clay S, Sheets G, Doss J, Norman M, Kinchen JW, Fang Z, Prasad P and Tsien F, “Neighborhood Deprivation Negatively Affects Survival Odds in Pediatric Oncology Patients” Journal of the Louisiana Public Health Association. November 2024. Vol. 4, p 44-56. DOI: 10.59020/00543
  4. Clay S, Evans A, Zambrano R, Otohinoyi D, Hicks C, Tsien F. Bioinformatics characterization of variants of uncertain significance in pediatric sensorineural hearing loss. Frontiers in Pediatrics.2024;12:1299341. doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1299341. eCollection 2024. PubMed PMID: 38450295; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10915201
  5. Moore B, Sheets G, Doss J, Umrigar A, Norman M, Fang Z, Prasad P, Musso A, Clay S, Tsien F. Is Methotrexate Ototoxic? Investigating the Ototoxic Late Effects of Pediatric Cancer Treatment. American Journal of Audiology. 2023 Sep 6;32(3):657-664. doi: 10.1044/2023_AJA-22-00157. 
  6. Hess RA, er. al., Tsien F,Dolan EL. Virtually the Same? Evaluating the Effectiveness of Remote Undergraduate Research Experiences. CBE Life Sci Education. 2023 Jun;22(2):ar25. doi: 10.1187/cbe.22-01-0001. PubMed PMID: 37058442; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10228262.
  7. Erickson OA, et. al., Tsien F, Dolan EL. "How Do We Do This at a Distance?!" A Descriptive Study of Remote Undergraduate Research Programs during COVID-19. CBE Life Science Education2022 Mar;21(1):ar1. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.21-05-0125
  8. Gleditsch K, Peñas J, Mercer D, Umrigar A, Briscoe J, Stark M, Tsien F, Hollenbach A., Intratumoral Translocation Positive Heterogeneity in Pediatric Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma Tumors Correlates to Patient Survival Prognosis, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, (8) September 2020, p987 https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fcell.2020.564136, DOI=10.3389/fcell.2020.564136   
  9. Tsien F, Chapter 1, “Cytogenetics in precision medicine”, Editor(s): Judy S. Crabtree, Clinical Precision Medicine, Academic Press, 2020, Pages 1-10, ISBN 9780128198346, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819834-6.00001-X
  10. Nicklow E, Mamidi TKK, Wu J, Tsien F, Hicks C. Transcriptome Analysis of Molecular Signatures and Pathways Modulating White Blood Cell Count in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Biomedical Journal of Scientific and Technical Research, 2019 July, 20(1)- 2019. BJSTR. MS.ID.003380. 
  11. Elnaggar J, Tsien F,Yates C, Davis M, Miele L, Hicks C. An Integrative Genomics Approach for Associating Genetic Susceptibility with the Tumor Immune Microenvironment in Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Biomedical Journal of Scientific and Technical Research 2019 Feb, 15(1)-2019.
  12. Umrigar A, Musso A, Mercer D, Hurley A, Glausier C, Bakeer M, Marble M, Hicks C, Tsien F.Delayed diagnosis of a patient with Usher syndrome 1C in a Louisiana Acadian family highlights the necessity of timely genetic testing for the diagnosis and management of congenital hearing loss. SAGE Open Medical Case Reports. 2017 Dec 11;5:2050313X17745904.
  13. Mercer D, Hurley A, Tsien F. Detailed Audiological Evaluation of a Patient with Xeroderma Pigmentosum with Neural Degeneration. J American Academy of Audiology. 2017 Jan;28(1):80-90. doi: 10.3766/jaaa.15112. PubMed PMID: 28054914.
  14. Loupe JM, Miller PJ, Bonner BP, Maggi EC, Vijayaraghavan J, Zabaleta J, Taylor CM, Tsien F,Crabtree JS, Hollenbach AD. Acquisition of an oncogenic fusion protein serves as an initial driving mutation by inducing aneuploidy and overriding proliferative defects. Oncotarget. 2016 Sep 27;7(39):62814-62835. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.11716. PubMed PMID: 27588498; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5325330.
  15. Bonvillain RW, Scarritt ME, Pashos NC, Sullivan DE, Bentacourt AM, Tsien F, Umrigar A. Characterization of Rhesus Macaque Lung Multipotent Stromal Cells: Potential Cell Source for Pulmonary Tissue Engineering. Cell and Gene Therapy Insights. 2016 March; 2(1):49-72. doi: 10.18609.cgti.2016.002.
  16. Howe B, Umrigar A, Tsien F. Chromosome preparation from cultured cells. Journal of Visualized Experiments.2014 Jan 28;(83):e50203. doi: 10.3791/50203. PubMed PMID: 24513647; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4091199.

Research

Interests include:

  • Epigenetic mechanisms
  • Cancer genetics
  • Chromatin instability
  • Genetics of auditory and communication disorders
  • Biomedical education and learning outcomes

Clinical Interests

  • Neurocognitive and audiological epigenetic changes due to pediatric chemotherapy
  • Chromosome abnormalities
  • Epigenetic disorders
  • Cancer genetics
  • Genetics of the Louisiana Acadian (Cajun) and the Mexican Mayan populations
  • Genetics of Hearing Disorders