Bon Trinh

Bon Trinh, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. His research program at the intersection of molecular biology, cancer research, and chromatin regulation focuses on understanding how proteins and RNAs act at the chromatin level to control activities of key genes involved in normal myeloid cell maturation, leukemia development, myeloid cell-cancer cell communication in the tumor microenvironment, as well as drug response.

Dr. Trinh's educational background includes:

• B.S. Biotechnology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam (2002)
• Ph.D. Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX (2011)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Systems Biology, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (2011-2016)
• Research Fellow in Medicine, Hematology Oncology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School (2016-2020)
• Instructor in Medicine, Hematology Oncology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School (2020-2022)

At the Trinh Laboratory, experimental and computational approaches are employed to investigate protein-ncRNA coordination in four main research areas: 1) Protein-ncRNA coordination in myeloid cell development and AML, where they study how ncRNAs coordinate with proteins in governing expression of important myeloid genes via chromatin looping; 2) Protein-ncRNA coordination in cancer drug response, focusing on identifying protein-ncRNA candidates responsive to cancer drugs; 3) Protein-ncRNA coordination in the tumor microenvironment, investigating the role of protein-ncRNA hubs in myeloid cell-cancer cell communication; and 4) Therapeutic strategies for "renormalizing" chromatin structure, developing approaches based on protein-ncRNA hubs that regulate gene-activating chromatin loops.

Dr. Trinh's publication record demonstrates a clear research trajectory from his early work on ovarian cancer and the DLX4 homeobox gene (2009-2015) to his current focus on myeloid cell biology and leukemia (2021). His work consistently explores the interplay between transcription factors, chromatin regulation, and cellular differentiation, with recent publications emphasizing non-coding RNA regulation in acute myeloid leukemia and myeloid cell differentiation. This progression reflects his laboratory's strategic focus on understanding how biomolecules coordinate in controlling gene expression to identify novel RNA regulators of cancer-associated genes for therapeutic development.

The Trinh laboratory employs a combination of experimental and computational approaches to investigate the role of proteins and RNAs via modulation of chromatin architecture in normal and abnormal myelopoiesis, and myeloid cell-tumor cell communication in the tumor microenvironment as well as cancer drug resistance. Their work aims to identify actionable molecular targets and diagnostic biomarkers, and to develop innovative therapeutic strategies for diseases such as cancer.