Wingchi Leung, MBChB, PhD
Department of Hematopoietic Biology & Malignancy, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Instructor, Department of Hematopoietic Biology & Malignancy, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Instructor, Department of Hematopoietic Biology & Malignancy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2023 | University of Auckland, NZ, Molecular Medicine, PhD |
| 2009 | University of Auckland, NZ, Surgery, MBChB |
Postgraduate Training
| 2018-2024 | Postgraduate Fellow, Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas |
| 2016-2017 | Postgraduate Fellow, Pediatrics, Starship Children’s Hospital, Auckland |
| 2014-2016 | Postgraduate Fellow, Hematopathology, Allocations in Auckland Regional Centres - Auckland City Hospital, North Shore Hospital, Middlemore Hospital and New Zealand Blood Service, Auckland |
| 2014-2017 | Paediatric Haematology Fellow, Pediatric Hematology, Starship Children's Hospital, Auckland |
| 2013-2014 | Postgraduate Fellow, Pediatric Hematology, Starship Children’s Hospital, Auckland |
| 2011-2013 | Paediatric Resident, Pediatrics, Whangarei Hospital and Starship Children’s Hospital, Whangarei |
| 2011-2011 | Postgraduate Fellow, Pediatrics, University of Auckland, Auckland |
| 2009-2011 | Postgraduate Fellow, General Medicine, General Surgery, Orthopedics, North Shore Hospital, Auckland |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2018 | Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians |
| 2018 | Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia |
Honors & Awards
| 2023 | Poster Presentation, Texas Children’s Hospital Hemato-oncology Research Symposium |
| 2023 | Top Post-doc Award, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy |
| 2022 | Poster Presentation, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Galveston |
| 2022 | Top Post-Docs, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy |
| 2021 | Oral Presentation Award, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy Symposium, Houston, Texas |
| 2018 | Murray Jackson Clinical Fellowship (NZD $117 000), Cancer Research Trust New Zealand |
| 2018 | New Investigator Scholarship (AUD $60 000), Hematology Society of Australia and New Zealand (HSANZ) |
| 2017 | HSANZ New Investigator Scholarship, Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand |
| 2017 | Murray Jackson Clinical Fellowship, Cancer Research Trust New Zealand |
| 2016 | David Heaton Memorial Registrar’s Presentation, Hematology Society of Australia and New Zealand, New Zealand Branch Annual Meeting |
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2026. Retrospective study on cytomegalovirus infection in allogeneic stem cell transplantation, in Auckland City Hospital. Invited. New Zealand Annual Branch Meeting – Christchurch, NZ.
- 2023. Neoantigen-specific T cells to target acute myeloid leukemia. Poster. Texas Children’s Hospital Hemato-oncology Research Symposium. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2021. Endogenous neoantigen-specific T cells for acute myeloid leukemia. Invited. Center for Cell and Gene Therapy Symposium. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2020. Neoantigen-specific T cells for acute myeloid leukemia. Invited. Center for Cell and Gene Therapy Retreat. Galveston, Texas, US.
- 2019. CCNA1-specific T cells for acute myeloid leukemia. Invited. Center for Cell and Gene Therapy Retreat. Galveston, Texas, US.
- 2018. Neoantigen-specific T cells for acute myeloid leukemia. Poster. Center for Cell and Gene Therapy Retreat. Galveston, Texas, US.
- 2017. Infant Leukemia: Recent experience in Starship Children’s Hospita. Invited. Starship Children’s Hospital Grand Round, NZ.
International Presentations
- 2016. Morphology Session: “MORE-phology. Invited. Hematology Special Interest Group Annual Meeting. Auckland, NZ.
- 2016. Pediatric Morphology Case Presentation - Erdheim Chester Disease. Invited. New Zealand Annual Branch Meeting, NZ.
- 2015. Evaluation of a protocol to reduce donor exposure for red cell transfusions in a neonatal intensive care unit. Poster. Joint Annual Scientific Meeting for the Hematology Society of Australia and New Zealand (HSANZ), the Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion (ANZSBT), and the Australasian Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis (ASTH). Adelaide, NZ.
- 2015. Graft versus host disease. Invited. Joint Conference Education Day for the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia in New Zealand and Australia (SPANZA), with the Australian and New Zealand Association of Pediatric Surgeons (ANZAPS). Auckland, NZ.
- 2014. Outcomes of pediatric allogeneic umbilical cord transplant outcomes in New Zealand between 2004 – 2013. Poster. Australasian New Zealand Children’s Hematology and Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) Annual Scientific Meeting. Sydney, AU.
Formal Peers
- 2017. Acute Leukaemias. Auckland, NZ.
- 2016. FRACP Pediatrics Residential Course. Auckland, NZ.
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Leung WK, Torres Chavez AG, French-Kim M, Shafer P, Mamonkin M, Hill LC, Kuvalekar M, Velazquez Y, Watanabe A, Watanabe N, Hoyos V, Lulla P, Leen AM. Targeting IDH2R140Q and other neoantigens in acute myeloid leukemia. Blood 143(17):1726-1737, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38241630.
- Shafer P, Leung WK, Woods M, Choi JM, Rodriguez-Plata CM, Maknojia A, Mosquera A, Somes LK, Joubert J, Manliguez A, Ranjan R, Burt B, Lee HS, Zhang B, Fuqua S, Rooney C, Leen AM, Hoyos V. Incongruity between T cell receptor recognition of breast cancer hotspot mutations ESR1 Y537S and D538G following exogenous peptide loading versus endogenous antigen processing. Cytotherapy 26(3):266-275, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38231165.
- Hoyos V, Vasileiou S, Kuvalekar M, Watanabe A, Tzannou I, Velazquez Y, French-Kim M, Leung W, Lulla S, Robertson C, Foreman C, Wang T, Bulsara S, Lapteva N, Grilley B, Ellis M, Osborne CK, Coscio A, Nangia J, Heslop HE, Rooney CM, Vera JF, Lulla P, Rimawi M, Leen AM. Multi-antigen-targeted T-cell therapy to treat patients with relapsed/refractory breast cancer. Ther Adv Med Oncol 14:17588359221107113, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35860837.
- Sharma S, Leung WK, Heslop HE. Virus-specific T cells for malignancies - then, now and where to?. Curr Stem Cell Rep 6(2):17-29, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33738181.
- Leung WK, Workineh A, Mukhi S, Tzannou I, Brenner D, Watanabe N, Leen AM, Lulla P. Evaluation of cyclin A1-specific T cells as a potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. Blood Adv 4(2):387-397, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31985805.
- Pettit T, Cole N, Leung W, Ballantine K, Macfarlane S. Analysis of common cytogenetic abnormalities in New Zealand pediatric ALL shows ethnically diverse carriage of ETV6-RUNX1, without a corresponding difference in survival. Pediatr Blood Cancer 64(12), 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28598545.
- Dalbeth N, Petrie KJ, House M, Chong J, Leung W, Chegudi R, Horne A, Gamble G, McQueen FM, Taylor WJ. Illness perceptions in patients with gout and the relationship with progression of musculoskeletal disability. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 63(11):1605-12, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 22034122.
Review Articles
- Sergeeva, A, Leung, WK, St John, L, Molldrem, JJ. Anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies in myeloid leukemias. Best Pract Res Clin Haematol 38(1), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40274339.
- Leung WK, Ayanambakkam A, Heslop HE, Hill LC. Beyond CD19 CAR-T cells in lymphoma. Curr Opin Immunol 74:46-52, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34800921.
- Leung W, Heslop HE. Adoptive Immunotherapy with Antigen-Specific T Cells Expressing a Native TCR. Cancer Immunol Res 7(4):528-533, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30936089.
Abstracts
- Shafer P, Choi JM, Leung WK. Discovery of Breast Cancer Specific TCRs covering a Broad Range of Common HLA alleles. ISCT 2023 25(6):S251, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Leung WK, Workineh A, Mukhi S. Identification and generation of tumor antigen-specific T cells directed against AML. ISCT 2022 22(5):S37, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Hamad H, Leung WK, Vasileiou S. T cell immunity toward viral- and tumor-antigens is preserved in MDS patients. ASH 2019 134(Supplement_1):4225, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
Book Chapters
- Leung WK. Unmodified Ex Vivo Expanded T Cells. In: Unmodified Ex Vivo Expanded T Cells. 8th, Chapter 25.
Patents
- Leung WK, Lulla P, Vasileiou S. T cell performance assay as a prognostic factor for clinical outcome, 2023. Patent Number: 17757881.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified March 25, 2026