Ly Vu

In 2016, approximately 22,510 Canadians were living with leukemia and an estimated 2,900 Canadians died from leukemia. In Canada, the five-year survival rate for leukemia remains poor at 58 percent for males and 59 percent for females. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the most common types of leukemia in adults. Despite exciting advances in our understanding of AML and the availability of more aggressive treatment regimens, approximately 30 percent of treated patients eventually relapse and suffer from very poor overall survival. Therefore, additional approaches to understanding how these diseases develop and become therapy resistant is badly needed.

My research group studies the control of stem cells under the lens of RNA biology with a focus on novel mechanisms of post-transcriptional regulation during normal and malignant hematopoiesis. Building upon my previous findings uncovering central roles of RNA regulating proteins in pathogenesis of AML, we aim to identify novel therapeutic targets and provide the scientific foundation for future developments of therapy targeting these pathways to improve outcomes in leukemia patients.

For an up-to-date list of my publications, please see my UBC faculty profile.