Danh Truong, PhD
Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
About Danh Truong
I study bone and soft tissue sarcoma at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Given over 100 different sarcoma subtypes, my range of scope is narrowed to desmoplastic small round cell tumors, Ewing sarcoma, and liposarcoma. To that end, my approach has been to comprehensively characterize these disease entities through a multi-modal omics approach using single-cell/nucleus RNA- and/or ATAC-sequencing, spatial transcriptomics/proteomics. Second, we aim to dissect biology and tumor microenvironment and determine signatures or drivers of tumorigenesis that could enable therapeutic targeted therapies. Third, instead of systemic cytotoxic therapies, we aim to propose methods to repair cancer cells. I am developing a mesenchymal stem cell differentiation model to determine the regulators that promote differentiation toward osteoblasts, myoblasts, and adipocytes. My hypothesis is that studying the regulators of differentiation can help us infer and target the error in differentiation amongst different sarcomas with possible mesenchymal origins.
My long-term career goal is to be a leader and principal investigator in sarcoma research with an independent research program at an academic medical center. Given the rarity of sarcomas, there is a need for more scientists to study and collaborate to translate basic science into therapies. My expertise is in bioengineering of platforms or tools and cancer biology. The marriage between these two areas of expertise puts me uniquely positioned to develop innovative tumor models to validate and generate new biological insights.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Instructor, Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2018 | Arizona State University, US, Biomedical Engineering, PhD |
| 2014 | University of Texas at Arlington/University of Texas at Southwestern, US, Biomedical Engineering, MS |
| 2014 | University of Texas at Arlington, US, Biology, BS |
Postgraduate Training
| 2019-2023 | Postgraduate Fellow, Sarcoma Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
Experience & Service
Institutional Committee Activities
Contributor, Open Single-cell Pediatric Cancer (OpenScPCA) Atlas project, 2024 - Present
Member, CURE-OS, 2024 - Present
Member, Ultra rare sarcoma working group, 2023 - Present
Member, Leiomyosarcoma Working Group, 2023 - Present
Co-leader, SASS-y, 2023 - Present
Member, SARC Discovery Translational Committee, 2023 - Present
Member, Liposarcoma Working Group, 2019 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2024 | Young Investigator Travel Award for Strategic Advances in Sarcoma Science, SASS |
| 2023 | Young Investigator Travel Award for Strategic Advances in Sarcoma Science, SASS |
| 2023 | Trainee Grant Incentive Prize, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2023 | Daniel Benedict Gazan Fellowship in Sarcoma Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2023 | SARC Career Development Award, SARC |
| 2023 | SFA Research Grant, SFA |
| 2023 | AACR Scholar-in-Training, AACR |
| 2023 | AACR Early Career Hill Day, AACR |
| 2021 | Daniel Benedict Gazan Award in Sarcoma Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2018 | ASU Convocation Speaker, ASU |
| 2018 | Graduate College Completion Fellowship, ASU |
| 2018 | Graduate & Professional Student Association Research Grant, ASU |
| 2018 | Graduate College Fellowship, ASU |
| 2017 | Outstanding SBHSE Graduate Research Assistant, ASU |
| 2017 | Phoenix Chapter of ARCS Foundation Burton Scholar, ARCS |
| 2016 | International Foundation for Ethical Research Graduate Fellowship, IFER |
| 2016 | Graduate & Professional Student Association Jumpstart Research Grant, ASU |
| 2016 | Molecular, Cellular, & Tissue Bioengineering Symposium Poster Presentation Award, ASU |
| 2016 | Graduate & Professional Student Association Travel Award, ASU |
| 2015 | School of BIological and Health Systems Engineering Block Funding Award, ASU |
| 2014 | Dean's Fellowship, ASU |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Truong DD, Weistuch C, Murgas KA, Admane P, King BL, Chauviere Lee J, Lamhamedi-Cherradi SE, Swaminathan J, Daw NC, Gordon N, Gopalakrishnan V, Gorlick RG, Somaiah N, Deasy JO, Mikos AG, Tannenbaum A, Ludwig J. Mapping the Single-cell Differentiation Landscape of Osteosarcoma. Clin Cancer Res, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38775859.
- Magrath JW, Goldberg IN, Truong DD, Hartono AB, Sampath SS, Jackson CE, Ghosh A, Cardin DL, Zhang H, Ludwig JA, Lee SB. Enzalutamide induces cytotoxicity in desmoplastic small round cell tumor independent of the androgen receptor. Commun Biol 7(1):411, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38575753.
- Truong, D, Weistuch, C, Murgas, KA, Deasy, JO, Mikos, AG, Tannenbaum, A, Ludwig, JA. Mapping the Single-cell Differentiation Landscape of Osteosarcoma. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37745374.
- Truong, D, Lamhamedi-Cherradi, SE, Porter, RW, Krishnan, S, Swaminathan, J, Gibson, A, Lazar, A, Livingston, JA, Gopalakrishnan, V, Gordon, N, Daw, NC, Navin, N, Gorlick, R, Ludwig, JA. Dissociation protocols used for sarcoma tissues bias the transcriptome observed in single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing. BMC cancer 23(1):488, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37254069.
- Wu, C, Beird, H, Lamhamedi-Cherradi, SE, Soeung, M, Ingram, D, Truong, D, Porter, RW, Krishnan, S, Little, L, Gumbs, C, Zhang, J, Titus, M, Genovese, G, Ludwig, JA, Lazar, A, Hayes-Jordan, A, Futreal, A. Multi-site desmoplastic small round cell tumors are genetically related and immune-cold. npj Precision Oncology 6(1):21, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35379887.
- Lamhamedi-Cherradi, SE, Maitituoheti, M, Menegaz, BA, Krishnan, S, Vetter, AM, Camacho, P, Wu, C, Beird, H, Porter, RW, Ingram, D, Ramamoorthy, V, Mohiuddin, S, McCall, DC, Truong, D, Cuglievan, B, Futreal, A, Velasco, AR, Anvar, NE, Utama, B, Titus, M, Lazar, A, Wang, W, Rodriguez-Aguayo, C, Ratan, R, Livingston, JA, Rai, K, MacLeod, R, Daw, NC, Hayes-Jordan, A, Ludwig, JA. The androgen receptor is a therapeutic target in desmoplastic small round cell sarcoma. Nature communications 13(1):3057, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35650195.
- Truong, D, Lamhamedi-Cherradi, SE, Ludwig, JA. Targeting the IGF/PI3K/mTOR pathway and AXL/YAP1/TAZ pathways in primary bone cancer. Journal of bone oncology 33:100419, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35251924.
- Molina, ER, Chim, LK, Lamhamedi-Cherradi, SE, Mohiuddin, S, McCall, DC, Cuglievan, B, Krishnan, S, Porter, RW, Ingram, D, Wang, W, Lazar, A, Scott, DW, Truong, D, Daw, NC, Ludwig, JA, Mikos, AG. Correlation of nuclear pIGF-1R/IGF-1R and YAP/TAZ in a tissue microarray with outcomes in osteosarcoma patients. Oncotarget 13:521-533, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35284040.
- Lamhamedi-Cherradi, SE, Mohiuddin, S, Mishra, DK, Krishnan, S, Velasco, AR, Vetter, AM, Pence, K, McCall, DC, Truong, D, Cuglievan, B, Menegaz, BA, Utama, B, Daw, NC, Molina, ER, Zielinski, RJ, Livingston, JA, Gorlick, R, Mikos, AG, Kim, M, Ludwig, JA. Transcriptional activators YAP/TAZ and AXL orchestrate dedifferentiation, cell fate, and metastasis in human osteosarcoma. Cancer gene therapy 28(12):1325-1338, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33408328.
- Saini, H, Rahmani Eliato, K, Veldhuizen, J, Zare, A, Allam, M, Silva, C, Kratz, A, Truong, D, Mouneimne, G, Labaer, J, Ros, R, Nikkhah, M. The role of tumor-stroma interactions on desmoplasia and tumorigenicity within a microengineered 3D platform. Biomaterials 247, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32278213.
- Truong, D, Kratz, A, Park, J, Barrientos, ES, Saini, H, Nguyen, T, Pockaj, B, Mouneimne, G, Labaer, J, Nikkhah, M. A human organotypic microfluidic tumor model permits investigation of the interplay between patient-derived fibroblasts and breast cancer cells. Cancer Research 79(12):3139-3151, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30992322.
- Truong, D, Fiorelli, R, Barrientos, ES, Melendez, EL, Sanai, N, Mehta, S, Nikkhah, M. A three-dimensional (3D) organotypic microfluidic model for glioma stem cells – Vascular interactions. Biomaterials 198:63-77, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30098794.
- Nagaraju, S, Truong, D, Mouneimne, G, Nikkhah, M. Microfluidic Tumor–Vascular Model to Study Breast Cancer Cell Invasion and Intravasation. Advanced Healthcare Materials 7(9), 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29334196.
- Xu, C, Kuriakose, AE, Truong, D, Punnakitikashem, P, Nguyen, KT, Hong, Y. Enhancing anti-thrombogenicity of biodegradable polyurethanes through drug molecule incorporation. Journal of Materials Chemistry B 6(44):7288-7297, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30906556.
- Peela, N, Barrientos, ES, Truong, D, Mouneimne, G, Nikkhah, M. Effect of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) on breast cancer cells within a tumor-stroma microfluidic model. Integrative Biology (United Kingdom) 9(12):988-999, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29188843.
- Migrino, RQ, Davies, HA, Truran, S, Karamanova, N, Franco, DA, Beach, TG, Serrano, GE, Truong, D, Nikkhah, M, Madine, J. Amyloidogenic medin induces endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation through the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts. Cardiovascular Research 113(11):1389-1402, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28859297.
- Navaei, A, Moore, N, Sullivan, RT, Truong, D, Migrino, RQ, Nikkhah, M. Electrically conductive hydrogel-based micro-topographies for the development of organized cardiac tissues. RSC Advances 7(6):3302-3312, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Truong, D, Puleo, J, Llave, A, Mouneimne, G, Kamm, RD, Nikkhah, M. Breast cancer cell invasion into a three dimensional tumor-stroma microenvironment. Scientific reports 6, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27678304.
- Peela, N, Sam, FS, Christenson, W, Truong, D, Watson, AW, Mouneimne, G, Ros, R, Nikkhah, M. A three dimensional micropatterned tumor model for breast cancer cell migration studies. Biomaterials 81:72-83, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26724455.
- Navaei, A, Truong, D, Heffernan, J, Cutts, J, Brafman, D, Sirianni, RW, Vernon, B, Nikkhah, M. PNIPAAm-based biohybrid injectable hydrogel for cardiac tissue engineering. Acta Biomaterialia 32:10-23, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26689467.
Manuals, Teaching Aids, Other Teaching Publications
- Danh D Truong. SHORT Talk about PhD Application Mistakes, 2022.
Other Articles
- Cuglievan, B, Kantarjian, HM, Rubnitz, JE, Cooper, T, Zwaan, CM, Pollard, J, DiNardo, C, Kadia, TM, Guest, E, Short, NJ, McCall, DC, Daver, N, Nunez, CA, Haddad, FG, Garcia, MB, Bhalla, K, Maiti, A, Catueno, S, Fiskus, WC, Carter, BZ, Gibson, A, Roth, M, Khazal, SJ, Tewari, P, Abbas, HA, Bourgeois, W, Andreeff, M, Shukla, N, Truong, D, Connors, JS, Ludwig, JA, Stutterheim, J, Salzer, E, Juul-Dam, KL, Sasaki, K, Mahadeo, KM, Tasian, SK, Borthakur, G, Dickson, S, Jain, N, Jabbour, EJ, Meshinchi, S, Garcia-Manero, G, Ravandi, F, Stein, EM, Kolb, EA, Issa, GC Menin inhibitors in pediatric acute leukemia. Leukemia 38(10):2073-2084, 2024. PMID: 39179671.
- Cherradi-Lamhamedi, SE, Truong, D, Ludwig, JA Understanding sarcoma drug resistance one cell at a time. Cancer Drug Resistance 5(1):90-92, 2022. PMID: 35582528.
- Peela, N, Truong, D, Saini, H, Chu, H, Mashaghi, S, Ham, SL, Singh, S, Tavana, H, Mosadegh, B, Nikkhah, M Advanced biomaterials and microengineering technologies to recapitulate the stepwise process of cancer metastasis. Biomaterials 133:176-207, 2017. PMID: 28437628.
Selected Presentations & Talks
National Presentations
- 2024. Spatial Analysis of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors Integrated with Single-Cell Multi-omics. Poster. Strategic Advances in Sarcoma Science 2024 Annual Meeting. Bethesda, Maryland, US.
- 2024. Androgen receptor targeting in DSRCT. Invited. SARC Semiannual Meeting Pre-ASCO. Chicago, Illinois, US.
- 2024. Single-cell spatial proteomic analysis to explore the spatial heterogeneity of desmoplastic small round cell tumors. Poster. American Association for Cancer Research 2024 Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2024. Characterization of neogenes in desmoplastic small round cell tumors. Poster. American Association for Cancer Research 2024 Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2024. Multi-omic analysis of desmoplastic small sound cell tumors reveal distinct epithelial and neuroendocrine lineages. Poster. American Association for Cancer Research 2024 Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2024. Understanding the molecular drivers that regulate Ewing sarcoma cell fate. Poster. American Association for Cancer Research 2024 Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2023. Single-Cell Spatial Proteomic Analysis to Explore the Spatial Heterogeneity of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors. Poster. Bethesda, Maryland, US.
- 2023. Defining differentiation States in well-differentiated and de-differentiated liposarcoma. Poster. American Association for Cancer Research 2023 Annual Meeting. Orlando, FL, US.
- 2023. The Epigenetic Impact And Therapeutic Opportunity Of AR-Directed Therapy For DSRCT. Conference. American Association for Cancer Research 2023 Annual Meeting. Orlando, FL, US.
International Presentations
- 2024. Exploring the Heterogeneity of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors Through Multi-Omics Analyses Uncovers Epithelial and Neuroendocrine Lineages. Invited. CTOS 2024 Meeting. San Diego, US.
- 2024. Revealing the tumor heterogeneity of desmoplastic small round cell tumors through spatial analysis. Invited. The Spatial Biology Week. Tolochenaz, CH.
- 2024. Targeting Differentiation Errors in Mesenchymal-Origin of Sarcomas. Invited. A.C. Carmargo Next Frontiers. Sao Paulo, BR.
- 2024. Identifying therapeutic vulnerabilities in desmoplastic small round cell tumor through multi-omics analyses. Poster. Advances in Pediatric Cancer Research. Toronto, CA.
- 2024. Detection of Intratumoral Heterogeneity of Sarcoma by ATAC-Seq. Invited. CTOS Spring webinar, US.
- 2023. Multi-omic Analysis of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors Reveal Distinct Lineages. Poster. CTOS 2023 Annual Meeting. Dublin, IE.
- 2023. Understanding The Molecular Drivers That Regulate Ewing Sarcoma Cell Fate. Poster. CTOS 2023 Annual Meeting. Dublin, IE.
- 2022. The Epigenetic Impact And Therapeutic Opportunity Of AR-Directed Therapy For DSRCT. Conference. CTOS 2022 Annual Meeting. Vancouver, CA.
- 2022. Defining Differentiation States in Well-Differentiated and De-Differentiated Liposarcoma. Conference. CTOS 2022 Annual Meeting. Vancouver, CA.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2024 - 2025 |
| Title: | Investigating the Spatial Heterogeneity and Cellular Taxonomy of DSRCTs |
| Funding Source: | The Rally Foundation |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP00021534 |
| Date: | 2024 - 2025 |
| Title: | Identifying EWS::WT1 Control and The Utility of Neogenes in Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors |
| Funding Source: | SFA |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP00021880 |
| Date: | 2024 - 2028 |
| Title: | The epigenetic impact and therapeutic opportunity of AR directed therapy for DSRCT |
| Funding Source: | CPRIT |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2023 - 2025 |
| Title: | Determining the therapeutic efficacy of targeting the Androgen Receptor in Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors |
| Funding Source: | SARC |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP00018991 |
| Date: | 2023 - 2025 |
| Title: | Neuroendocrine Reprogramming in DSRCT Resistance Mechanisms and Treatment Strategies |
| Funding Source: | DOD |
| Role: | Key |
| ID: | RA220160 |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified April 16, 2025