Dr. Vanessa Tran

Areas of Expertise

• molecular microbiology 
• molecular diagnostics
• bloodborne viruses 
• molecular epidemiology 
• serology

Appointments

Assistant Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto

Academic Degrees and Accreditations

• Fellow, Canadian College of Microbiologists (FCCM)
• Doctor of Philosophy (Molecular Genetics), University of Toronto
• Bachelor of Science (Microbiology), University of Guelph

PHO Research Interests

• investigation of molecular diagnostics and point-of-care testing 
• diagnostics to improve testing access and equity 
• molecular epidemiology of HIV and hepatitis viruses
• co-infection of bloodborne pathogens  

PHO Research Activities

• evaluating methods to examine and understand the serological response in COVID-19 
• collaborating on the investigation of seroprevalence of COVID-19 in Ontario
• using testing data to investigate the rate of co-infection of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses in Ontario

Selected Publications

1. Respiratory Virus Infections (ReVI) Working Group. The Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network (CPHLN) statement on point-of-care serology testing in COVID-19. Winnipeg, MB: National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases; 2020.
2. Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (Public Health Ontario). COVID-19 seroprevalence in Ontario: March 27, 2020 to June 30, 2020. Toronto, ON: Queen’s Printer for Ontario; 2020.
3. Walkty A, Adam H, Tran V, Alexander DC, Boyd D, Bharat A, et al. Failure of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay to detect IMP-27 in a clinical isolate of Morganella morganii. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2018;92(3):194-5.
4. Stein M, Tran V, Nichol KA, Lagacé-Wiens P, Pieroni P, Adam HJ, et al. Evaluation of three MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry libraries for the identification of filamentous fungi in three clinical microbiology laboratories in Manitoba, Canada. Mycoses. 2018;61(10):743-53.
5. Mehta N, Perrais B, Martin K, Kumar A, Hobman TC, Cabalfin-Chua MN, Donaldo ME, Siose Painaga MS, Gaite JY, Tran V, Kain KC, Hawkes MT, Yanow SK. A direct from blood/plasma reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for dengue virus detection in point-of-care settings. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2019;100(6):1534-40.

View more publications by Dr. Vanessa Tran on PubMed.gov