IRIC - Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer

Published on October 25, 2010

Trang Hoang, Principal Investigator at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) and Full Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Université de Montréal is the recipient of the 2010 Murray Margarit Memorial Award. The honour, granted last October 22 at an awards ceremony in held in Toronto by the Leukemia Lymphoma Society of Canada, recognizes the excellence of her research on acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most frequent childhood cancers and affects lymphocytes, the cells in the body that normally fight infections. While extensive research has been conducted over the years to understand this type of cancer, deciphering the complex process responsible for transforming normal cells into cancerous cells remains a challenge. In a recent study, Trang Hoang and her team defined, for the first time, the mechanism behind three cancer-causing genes in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The findings offer insight on the complex interaction between the genes and their contributions to leukemia, thereby providing the foundation for the design of more effective targeted therapies.

The Murray Margarit Memorial Award is presented annually to one Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada grant recipient in the form of a $120,000 two-year award. It is supported by the Margarit family in honour of Murray Margarit who was UFCW (Food and Commercial Workers) Canada’s head of leukemia research fundraising until 2005, when he died from complications of the blood cancer. Murray Margarit’s widow, Roxanne, and family hold an annual hockey game as a fundraiser to support this research award. Since adopting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada as its charity of choice in 1985, members of UFCW Canada have raised over $21 million for leukemia research.