Appointment(s)
Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS)
Assistant Dean (Research), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
Deputy Head, Department of Physiology, NUS
Chair, NUSMedSci Alliance, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
Head, NUHS Research and Innovations Office, National University Health System (NUHS).
Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme (ID TRP), primary member; NCID seminar coordinator
Degree(s)
PhD, University of Melbourne, Australia
BSc (Hons), University of Melbourne, Australia
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Manitoba, Canada
Biography
Associate Professor Thai Tran is a faculty member in the Department of Physiology at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where she serves as Deputy Head of Department and Assistant Dean (Research). She earned her PhD from the University of Melbourne and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Manitoba before joining NUS as an Assistant Professor and being promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2019.
She leads the Lung Diseases Research Laboratory, which investigates the role of extracellular matrix proteins and cell-matrix interactions in lung disease, with a particular focus on asthma, respiratory infections, and lung cancer, and on finding novel therapies for these diseases.
A/Prof Tran has received recognition for excellence in research, teaching, and graduate mentoring, including the NUSMed Young Researcher of the Year Award (2019), the NUSMed Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (2016, 2020), and the NUSMed Graduate Mentor of the Year Award (2018). She contributes actively to several committees, including the Associate Professor Faculty Promotion and Tenure Committee, the NUSMed Faculty Academic Advisory Committee, the Pharmacological Society of Singapore, where she serves as Vice-President, and the Scientific Committee of The Academic Respiratory Initiative for Pulmonary Health (TARIPH). She recently completed coaching training and now offers coaching support to medical and graduate students, as well as team coaching to support team development. She is the incoming president-elect for the Asian-Pacific Federation of Pharmacologists (APFP), which unites 10 member societies across Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore for regional collaborations and scientific leadership to advance pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, toxicology and related fields across the Asia-Pacific region.
Research Areas/Research Interest
A/Prof Tran’s research focuses on understanding the role of extracellular matrix proteins in lung diseases, particularly asthma, respiratory infections and lung cancer, with the aim of identifying new therapeutic targets. Her laboratory was the first to highlight the importance of the tetraspanin molecule, CD151, in asthma and influenza infections, earning numerous national and international awards. Recently, she secured European funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to validate CD151 as a novel drug target for influenza. She is also a recipient of the MOH’S NCID-PREPARE grant, leading Singapore’s first 3D lung slice (precision-cut lung slice, PCS) tissue bank platform from species such as mice, chickens, ferrets, bats, porcine, non-human primates, and humans. The PCS recapitulates the complexity of the lung’s native environment, including immune cells, distinct from air-liquid interface cultures and organoid cultures. The “toolbox” will be essential in strengthening Singapore’s research capabilities in pandemic preparedness by providing a one-stop integrative platform for fast-track screening of species and tissue tropism of unknown respiratory disease threats (Disease X), and for emerging respiratory pathogen surveillance. She is also the co-theme PI for the recently awarded $10 million NMRC-LCG grant, which aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms behind steroid resistance in asthma, specifically within an Asian context.
CD151, a novel host factor of nuclear export signaling in influenza virus infection. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 141(5), 1799–1817.
Qiao, Y., Yan, Y., Tan, K.S., Tan, S.S.L., Seet, J.E., Arumugam, T.V., … Tran, T. (2018).
Human nasal epithelial cells derived from multiple subjects exhibit differential responses to H3N2 influenza virus infection in vitro. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 138(1), 276–281.e15.
Yan, Y., Tan, K.S., Li, C., Tran, T., Chao, S.S., Sugrue, R.J., … Wang, D.-Y. (2016).
Combinations of favipiravir with doxycycline, azithromycin, or ivermectin exert synergistic effects against influenza A H3N2 virus replication. Pathogens, 15, 169. thogens, 15, 169.
Tan, K.C., Neo, J.H.Y., Tran, T., & Chow, V.T.K. (2026).
MicroRNAs in chronic airway diseases: Clinical correlation and translational applications. Pharmacological Research, 160.
Tan, B.W.Q., Sim, W.L., Cheong, J.K., Kuan, W.S., Tran, T., & Lim, H.F. (2020).
Anti-malarial drug, artemisinin and its derivatives for the treatment of respiratory diseases. Pharmacological Research, 158.
Cheong, D.H.J., Tan, D.W.S., Wong, F.W.S., & Tran, T. (2020).
Plk1 in asthma: Ready for primetime? American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, 66(2), 124–125.
Chung Tam, J.K., & Tran, T. (2022).
Influence of glycan structure on the colonization of Streptococcus pneumoniae on human respiratory epithelial cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(13).
Chun, Y.Y., Tan, K.S., Yu, L., Pang, M., Wong, M.H.M., Nakamoto, R., Tran, T., … Sham, L.T. (2023).
CD151, a laminin receptor showing increased expression in asthmatic patients, contributes to airway hyperresponsiveness through calcium signaling. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 139(1), 82–92.e5.
Qiao, Y., Tam, J.K.C., Tan, S.S.L., Tai, Y.K., Chin, C.Y., Stewart, A.G., & Tran, T. (2017).
Impact of CD151 overexpression on prognosis and therapy in non-small cell lung cancer patients lacking EGFR mutations. Cell Proliferation, 57(9).
Wong, A.H.P., Nga, M.E., Chin, C.Y., Tai, Y.K., Wong, H.C., Soo, R., … Tran, T. (2024).
Tetraspanins: Host factors in viral infections. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(21).
New, C., Lee, Z.Y., Tan, K.S., Wong, A.H.P., Wang, D.Y., & Tran, T. (2021).
Corticosteroid use in respiratory viral infections—friend or foe? Current Opinion in Physiology, 22.
Lee, Z.Y., Tam, J.K.C., & Tran, T. (2021).
Mechanopharmacology of cellular microenvironment stiffness: Therapeutic strategies for age-related diseases. British Journal of Pharmacology, 1–12.
Wang, H.Y., Cheong, H.J.D., Lee, Z.Y., & Tran, T. (2025).
