Darrion Nguyen (born October 20, 1994) is an

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

science communicator Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the public awareness of and interest in sci ...

and science fraudster. He plays Dr. Ion on the

Ryan's World Ryan's World (formerly Ryan ToysReview) is a YouTube channel for children featuring Ryan Kaji along with his mother (Loann Kaji), father (Shion Kaji), and twin sisters (Emma and Kate). The channel usually releases a new video daily. One of t ...

YouTube channel.

Early life and education

Darrion Nguyen was born on October 20, 1994, to Dung and Thi Nguyen and is of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese descent. Nguyen was raised in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas and experienced a tragic event at the age of 11 when his father was murdered during a robbery at the family's convenience store. Following the incident, Nguyen fled to seek help and upon returning, found his father had died. Nguyen graduated from

Klein Forest High School Klein Forest High School is a public senior high school in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, near Houston. It is a part of the Klein Independent School District. It was the second high school built in Klein ISD. Opening in the Fall of 1979, ...

in 2013, and attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where he eventually received his B.S.A in Biochemistry and BA in Theatre & Dance in 2017.

Career

While working as a research technician in 2019, Nguyen began publishing educational science videos to

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

under the pseudonym "Lab Shenanigans". His videos involve the use of popular audios to personify and dramatize specific

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

topics. His popularity expanded during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

when his content shifted to educating the public about

COVID-19 vaccines A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and func ...

. In May 2021, Nguyen was an invited speaker at TEDxSalisbury, where he discussed the significance of educational yet relatable online content and how it can be leveraged to make science easily accessible. In 2022, Nguyen partnered with

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

and Real Chemistry to produce a video series called ''I Heard it on The Internet'' aimed at debunking

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

misinformation and rumors. The series has been named a finalist for the 2023

Shorty Award The Shorty Awards (also known as "The Shortys") are awards for outstanding and innovative work in digital and social media content by brands, advertising agencies, and creators. The awards, which generally focus on short-term content, honor achiev ...

in the category of Best Video Series and Pharma & Healthcare. In February 2023, Nguyen delivered a

TEDx Talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

for UTAustin, “Reaching Objectives through Improv,” where he discussed the significance of integrating key principles of

improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

into daily routines and interactions.

Awards and nominations

Research Misconduct

Based on its own investigation and an investigation by

Baylor College of Medicine The Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private medical school in Houston, Texas, United States. Originally as the Baylor University College of Medicine from 1903 to 1969, the college became independent with the current name and has been se ...

, the

Office of Research Integrity The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) is a U.S. government agency that focuses on research integrity, especially in health. It was created when the Office of Scientific Integrity (OSI) in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Office of ...

determined that Nguyen engaged in research misconduct in research supported by several government grants. The reported misconduct included "intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly falsifying and/or fabricating experimental data and results." Nguyen then entered into a voluntary settlement agreement that did not require him to admit or deny wrongdoing. However, in an interview with

Retraction Watch Retraction Watch is a blog that reports on retractions of scientific papers and on related topics. The blog was launched in August 2010 and is produced by science writers Ivan Oransky (Former Vice President, Editorial ''Medscape'') and Adam Ma ...

, Nguyen acknowledged: "I was in a lab environment where I was mentally struggling, and I took several shortcuts to produce more data. This stemmed from the fear of my rincipal investigator the pressure to meet expectations to keep my job as a technician, and my personal struggles to keep up with the demands of that lab."

References

External links

Darrion Nguyen
on

Lab Shenanigans Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Darrion 1994 births Living people 21st-century American LGBTQ people American TikTokers LGBTQ TikTokers American science communicators University of Texas at Austin alumni American people of Vietnamese descent