Biography

Title

• Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist, Leukemia Program, CHU Sainte-Justine (2018)
• Clinical Adjunct Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Université de Montréal (2018)
• Clinician-Scientist, Immune Diseases and Cancer - Research Axis, CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center

Laboratory

Tran Lab

• Postdoctoral fellowship on Philadelphia chromosome-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Dr. Mignon Loh Laboratory, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), 2013-2016
• Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Residency, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, 2011-2013
• Pediatric Residency, Children's Hospital of Western Ontario, University of Western Ontario, 2008-2011
• Doctorate of Medicine, McGill University, 2003-2008

• Acute lymphoblastic leukemia Phi-like
• Pediatric leukemia
• Targeted therapy
• Next Generation Sequencing
• Translational medicine

Career Summary

I am a clinician-scientist who focuses on translating genomic discoveries into improved novel therapies for pediatric leukemias. My ten years of medical training, which includes a 2-year pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, has fostered a comprehensive clinical experience in the diagnosis, management and treatment of pediatric cancers. Furthermore, from July 2013 to July 2016, I joined Dr. Mignon Loh’s laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) for a three-year research training, focusing on the diagnosis, management and mechanims of resistance of Ph-like ALL. Ph-like ALL is a recently discovered high-risk subtype of B-lineage ALL (B-ALL) characterized by a gene expression profile (GEP) similar to that of Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-positive ALL (Ph+ALL) but lacks the canonical BCR-ABL1 gene fusion. It comprises approximately 15% of childhood and 25% of adult B-ALL. Importantly, patients with Ph-like ALL have high rates of treatment failure and death compared to those without Ph-like ALL despite modern chemotherapy regimens. It has also been shown that Ph-like ALL harbors a diverse spectrum of kinase-activating alterations responding to different tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Therefore, the incorporation of the relevant TKI into conventional chemotherapy backbone in Ph-like ALL will greatly improve outcomes, similar to the successful combination of imatinib and chemotherapy in Ph+ALL.  In summary, the overarching goal is of my research program is to provide access to Ph-like ALL testing,  improve diagnosis, refine risk stratification, identify novel therapies and implement these into clinical trials for Ph-like ALL.

Awards and Distinctions

• Garron Family Cancer Center Research Support, 2014/07 
• American Society of Hematology Abstract Achievement Award, 2013/11 
• Thoi Bao's Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Community Involvement - Vietnamese Association of Montreal, 2005/9 
• McGill's McConnell Entrance Scholarship, McGill University, 2003/9 
• Canada Millenium Excellence Scholarship (provincial level), Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, 2003/8 - 2007/6 

Major funding

• Clinical Research Scholars - Junior 1, FRQS, 2019-2023
• Operating Grants, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada, 2019-2021
• Transition Grant, Cole Foundation, 2018-2021
• Innovation Grant, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, 2014-2016
• Training Scholarship, CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation et Fondation Charles-Bruneau, 2014-2016

Presentations

• “Ph-like ALL: from bench to the bedside”, Cole Foundation Research Day, Montreal, May 11th, 2018.
• Prognostic impact of IKZF1 alterations in Ph+ and Ph-like ALL, COG Spring Annual Meeting, St-Louis, MO, April 11, 2018
• La leucémie lymphoblastique aigue en 2017: vers une médecine de précision, Divisional Rounds, CHUL, Québec, October 17th, 2017
• Ph-like ALL: From Bench To Bedside, Research Seminar, CHU Ste-Justine, Université de Montréal, October 16th, 2015.
• Pediatric cancers, Annual Health Fair, Vietnamese Physicians’s Association of North California, San Jose, October 4th, 2015

Publications

1. Khan M, Siddiqi R, Tran TH. Philadelphia chromosome-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia: A review of the genetic basis, clinical features, and therapeutic options. Semin Hematol. 2018 Oct;55(4):235-241.
2. Khater F, Vairy S, Langlois S, Dumoucel S, Sontag T, St-Onge P, Bittencourt H, Dal Soglio D, Champagne J, Duval M, Leclerc JM, Laverdiere C, Tran TH, Patey N, Ellezam B, Perreault S, Piché N, Samson Y, Teira P, Jabado N, Michon B, Brossard J, Marzouki M, Cellot S, Sinnett D.  Molecular Profiling of Hard-to-Treat Childhood and Adolescent Cancers.  JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Apr 5;2(4):e192906.
3. Tran TH, Harris MH, Nguyen JV, Blonquist TM, Stevenson KE, Stonerock E, Asselin BL, Athale UH, Clavell LA, Cole PD, Kelly KM, Laverdiere C, Leclerc JM, Michon B, Schorin MA, Welch JJG, Reshmi SC, Neuberg DS, Sallan SE, Loh ML and Silverman LB. Prognostic impact of kinase-activating fusions and IKZF1 gene deletions in pediatric high-risk B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Blood Adv. 2018 Mar 13;2(5):529-533. 
4. Zabriskie MS, Antelope O, Verma AR, Draper LR, Eide CA, Tran TH, Druker BJ, Tyner JW, Miles RR, Graham JM, Hwang JY, Varley KE, Toydemir RM, Deininger MW, Raetz EA and O'Hare T. A Novel AGGF1-PDGFRB Fusion in Pediatric T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Haematologica. 2018 Feb;103(2):e87-e91.
5. Shalini RC, Roberts KG, Harvey RC, Stonerock E, Smith A, Jenkins H, Chen I-M, Valentine M, Liu Y, Li Y, Shao Y, Easton J, Payne-Turner D, Tran TH, Nguyen JV, Devidas M, Dai Y, Heerema NA, Carroll AJ 3rd, Raetz EA, Borowitz MJ, Wood BL, Angiolillo AL, Burke MJ, Salzer WL, Zweidler-McKay PA, Rabin KR, Carroll WL, Zhang J, Loh ML, Mullighan CG, Willman CL, Gastier-Foster JM and Hunger SP. Targetable Kinase Gene Fusions in Children with High Risk B-ALL: A Study from the Children’s Oncology Group, Blood. 2017 Jun 22; 129(25):3352-3361.
6. Tran TH, Shah A, et Loh ML.  Precision medicine in pediatric oncology : translating genomic discoveries into optimized therapies, Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Sep 15;23(18):5329-5338.
7. Tran TH and Loh ML. Ph-like ALL, Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program. 2016 Dec 2;2016(1):561-566.
8. Tran TH, Lee M, Alexander S, Gibson P, Bartels U, Johnston DL, Portwine C, Silva M, Pole JD and Sung L. Lack of treatment-related mortality definitions in clinical trials of children, adolescents and young adults with lymphomas, solid tumors and brain tumors: a systematic review. BMC Cancer. 2014 Aug 26;14:612.
9. Tran TH, Yanofsky R, Johnston D, Dix D, Gillmeister B, Ethier M-C, Portwine, C,Price V, Mitchell D, Cellot S, Lewis V, Zelcer S, Silva M, Michon B, Bowes L, Stobart K, Brossard J, Beyene J and Sung L. Second bacteremia during antibiotic treatment in children with acute myeloid leukemia: A report from the Canadian Infections in AML Research group, J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2014 Sep; 3(3): 228-33.
10. Tran TH, Mitchell D, Dix D, Cellot S, Ethier MC, Gillmeister B, Hitzler J, Lewis V, Yanofsky R, Johnston DL, Portwine C, Price V, Zelcer S, Silva M, Michon B, Bowes L, Stobart K, Brossard J, Beyene J and Sung L. Infections in children with Down syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia: A report from the Canadian Infections in AML Research group. Infect Agent Cancer. 2013 Dec 2;8(1):47.
11. Tran TH, Al-Harfi I, Harle CC, Kahr W, Morrisson G and Kornecki A. Coagulation assessment in children with diabetic ketoacidosis. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2013 Mar;14(3):256-60.