Cedric Tremblay

Dr Cedric Tremblay completed his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology (Medicine) at Laval University, Quebec City, Canada in 2008. He was awarded a national Health Research Fund of Quebec (FRSQ) postgraduate scholarship (2004-2008) and training award from the Foundation for Research into Children’s Diseases (2007-2008) at the Laval University Hospital Research Centre (2004-2007) which used animal models to study DNA repair in hematopoiesis. Cedric Tremblay was awarded the prestigious Excellence prize in Pediatric Research, which is annually attributed to recognize the unique contribution of scientists working for the improvement of children health, at the 26^th Ball of Stars of the Foundation of Stars in 2008.

He was later awarded a Terry Fox Foundation fellowship from the Canadian Cancer Society for postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr Trang Hoang at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer – University of Montreal, Canada (2008-2011) to study the role of the oncogenes SCL, LMO1 and NOTCH1 in hematopoiesis and T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL). In 2011, Cedric Tremblay relocated to the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD) to complete a research program on the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of malignant stem cells, within the Stem Cell Research Group under the direction of Prof Professor David Curtis. Over the last 10 years, Cedric Tremblay has established superior and complex mouse models to study the 'stem cell-like' properties of relapse-inducing cells in leukemia.

In 2014, Cedric Tremblay was appointed as a research fellow at the ACBD and awarded a research Grant-in Aid from the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia to establish a translational research program based upon the rationale that the eradication of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is essential for achieving long-term remission in patients. His specific areas of expertise include: the regulation of growth factor-induced signalling pathways and endocytosis in hematopoietic cells; the role of transcription factors and cell cycle regulators to control the fate of normal and malignant hematopoietic stem cells; and the molecular mechanisms of treatment-resistance in leukemia. Although investigating the mechanisms by which malignant stem cells develop, clonally evolve and escape high-dose therapy in acute leukemia remains the primary focus of his research program, his future findings will have important translational implications beyond hematological malignancies.