Dr. Derek Chan
Dr. Derek Chan (MD, PhD, FRCPC) is a Paediatric Haematology/Oncology Fellow at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University of Toronto. He previously completed dual MD/PhD training in hematopoietic stem cell biology from McMaster University followed by a Paediatrics Residency at British Columbia Children’s Hospital and the University of British Columbia (UBC). His clinical and research interests as a clinician-scientist focus on bone marrow failure and myelodysplasia with translational goals of expanding non-transplant therapies for affected patients. To this end, he is particularly passionate about moving the needle forward translationally while improving health equity for patients with non-malignant blood disorders.
As a current Clinician Investigator Program trainee at the University of Toronto, his postdoctoral research in Dr. Yigal Dror’s laboratory group includes work on establishing a bone marrow organoid model of paediatric acquired aplastic anemia, studying mechanisms of compensatory hematopoiesis in Shwachman-Diamond syndrome and translational work in congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia. His work and contributions have been published in journals including Blood Advances, Blood Cancer Discovery and The Lancet with funding supports from the Canadian government, patient organizations and hospital foundations. He is a past recipient of the inaugural Young Researchers’ Award from the Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario, a Pediatric Research Award and Outstanding Achievement Awards from UBC and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and CanMEDS Scholar and Leader Awards from the Division of Haematology/Oncology at SickKids.