T + 514 343.6970
F + 514 343.5839
trang.hoang@umontreal.ca

TRANG HOANG, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator, Hematopoiesis and Leukemia Research Laboratory, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer
Full Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal
Director, Molecular Biology Programs, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal
Accredited Member, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal
Adjunct Member, Department of Experimental Medicine, McGill University

AWARDS & HONOURS

Canada Research Chair in Cell Differentiation and the Genetics of Acute
Leukemias, 2004–
Senior Scholar, Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec, 1994-1997
Exchange Scientist, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, U.S.A., 1992-1993
Scholar, National Cancer Institute of Canada, 1987-1993
Postdoctoral Fellow, Leukemia Research Fund, U.K, 1982
Long-term Fellowship, European Molecular Biology Organization, 1980-1982

TRAINING

Postdoctoral training with E. A. McCulloch, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto,
1983-1985
Postdoctoral training with H. Waldman, University of Cambridge, U.K., 1980-1982
Ph.D. cum laude in experimental medicine, University of Lausanne, 1980
Certificate in biochemistry, University of Lausanne, 1975
Diploma in pharmacy practice, University of Lausanne, 1972

RESEARCH SUPPORT

Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
The Cancer Research Society

Trained in pharmacy and biochemistry at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Trang Hoang is a leader in leukemia research. She is one of the founding members of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) and leads its Hematopoiesis and Leukemia Laboratory. She is also Director of the Molecular Biology Programs of the Université de Montréal Faculty of Graduate Studies, and a full professor with the Department of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine.

Dr. Hoang’s interest in leukemic cells dates back to the mid 80s when she was a postdoctoral investigator at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto. This followed two years of postdoctoral work at the University of Cambridge in Great-Britain.

Her initial work was instrumental in establishing that leukemic cells, despite their apparent homogeneity, are in fact organized in a hierarchy in which the bulk of cells do not sustain the leukemia on their own, while a rare subpopulation of progenitors are responsible for maintaining the disease. This subsequently led to the identification of leukemic stem cells as promising targets for new therapies to eradicate the source of this disease.

Working at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal (IRCM) from 1986 to 2003, Dr. Trang led a research group which profiled the growth factors stimulating leukemic stem cells, using a bank of leukemic cells collected from patients with the disease. Her team contributed to the development of the first model for the transportation of human leukemic cells to immuno-deficient mice, thus reproducing the disease in mice (in collaboration with Dr. John Dick and his team in Toronto). Since then, her team has defined the mechanisms by which oncogenes perturb molecular networks in hematopoietic cells, causing cell differentiation arrest and the onset of a preleukemic state.

In 2004, a few months after joining IRIC, Trang Hoang was awarded the Canada Research Chair in Cell Differentiation and the Genetics of Acute Leukemias. A relentless advocate for cross-disciplinary research, Dr Hoang continues to play a leadership role in cultivating collaborations that enable scientists from different fields, and from research centres around the world, to work together on joint initiatives.