BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Annie Huang graduated with a PhD in Molecular Genetics and an MD from the University of Toronto, and obtained specialist training in Paediatric Oncology, with a special interest in Paediatric Neuro-Oncology, at The Hospital for Sick Children. She is a Staff Clinician Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children, with a Laboratory Research Program focused on the Molecular Pathogenesis of rare childhood brain tumours. She is cross appointed to the Graduate Department of Paediatrics, Lab Medicine and Pathobiology and Medical Biophysics at The University of Toronto, where she is a full professor. She is also a Senior Scientist in the Cell Biology Program and a Principal Research Investigator at the Brain Tumour Research Centre, within the Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Huang’s research interest has been on understanding the molecular spectrum of rare childhood brain tumours with the goal of defining disease mechanisms and improving diagnosis and therapeutics for these rare diseases. She initiated and leads an International Consortium for studies of Rare Paediatric Brain Tumours, in which greater than 50 International centres contribute to a central tissue and clinical data repository. The creation of this repository has enabled her group and others to conduct several large scale genomic analysis and discover new entities of brain tumours which has helped towards improving detection and diagnosis, and developing new therapeutic approaches to these often fatal diseases of childhood. In addition to her research activities, Dr Huang has been involved in promoting and advancing translation of molecular knowledge to patient care, and is the Chair of Biology studies for CNS tumours in the Children’s Oncology Group, the largest global childhood cancer trial consortia. Dr. Huang has been involved in research training through direct supervision of trainees from across Canada and around the world at multiple levels including undergraduate science and medical trainees as well as PhD and postgraduate medical trainees. In addition, in her role as a Senior Clinician within the Neuro-Oncology group, she has been actively involved in clinical pediatric neuro-oncology sub-specialty training at SickKids which has trained many of the leads in pediatric neuro-oncology centres worldwide. She has served on multiple committees for research and clinical and scholarly training at SickKids and on multiple International research fellowship grant panels. She serves as a mentor for trainees in the University of Toronto MD/PhD program and as part of the Children’s Oncology Group’s Young Investigator Committee, through which she mentors junior faculty at other institutions including Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Colorado Children’s Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Huang has had a long standing passion in the science of medicine/health care and in the training of individuals with an interest in applying science to the practice of medicine and health care. She is looking forward to her role in helping advance the mission of the CCHCSP.