Nominee: Ly Vu
Assistant Professor, UBC
Brief Biosketch provided for the nominee:
Dr. Vu is the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in RNA biology in Hematological Malignancies. Dr. Vu is the Scientist at the Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Center (BC Cancer) and Assistant Professor at Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of British Columbia (UBC). Dr. Vu completed both her PhD and post-doctoral training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NYC, US, where she uncovered the critical roles of RNA binding proteins and RNA methylation in pathogenesis of myeloid leukemia. At BC Cancer and UBC, her research program focuses on understanding RNA-centric mechanisms underlying control of stem cells and pathogenesis of hematological malignancies. The ultimate goal is to develop innovative therapeutic approaches for treatment of leukemia and other cancers. Dr. Vu is a nationally and internationally recognized experts and the recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Special Fellow award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Scholar Award, the Terry Fox New Investigator Award, the Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar Award and the Scholar Award from the V foundation for Cancer Research.
Justification provided for the nominee:
Dr. Vu is an ECR with a diverse lived and training experience. Being an international trainee and an immigrant throughout my career, Dr. Vu will bring her unique perspectives to support the building of a strong community and network to support career advancement of members of the organization. Dr. Vu has experience in organizing events and activities to support career development of trainees and ECRs. She served as a board member of the international student organization at MSKCC and initiated several activities such as forming support groups and organization of academic panels to support international students. During her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Vu served in the Career Development Committee of the Postdoctoral Association at MSKCC to help organize several panels to support the career development of PhD and postdoctoral trainees at MSKCC and the Tri-Institutes. She was recognized for her research excellence and service activities with the inaugural Scholar Prize from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Society in 2017. Dr. Vu is currently a member of the Stem Cell Network (SCN) Early Career Researcher committee to support ECRs’ professional development and to represent and promote SCN ECRs nationally and internationally.