Minh-Duy Phan

Background

About Minh-Duy Phan

I did my PhD on Molecular Biology at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and The University of Cambridge, UK. During my PhD, I developed a method called transposon-directed insertion-site sequencing (TraDIS, Genome research, 699 cites). I joined Prof. Schembri’s group at The University of Queensland, Australia in 2010 and have established an international profile on uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) virulence, antibiotic resistance and the application of TraDIS to comprehend the genetic basis of complex UPEC phenotypes (12 publications). I was the first to perform TraDIS in Australia, and my landmark study that described the serum resistome of the antibiotic resistant UPEC ST131 clone (PLoS Genetics, 200 cites) pioneered the development of new bioinformatic methods to analyse TraDIS data. My broad skill sets also include expertise in transcriptomics (mBio, Sci Transl Med, Nat Comms), microbiome analyses (IUJ), PacBio (mBio) and Oxford Nanopore (BMC Genom) sequencing. Since 2006, my 107 manuscripts (55 in the past 5 years) have generated 6,652 citations (H-Index=40; Google Scholar, 11/05/2024). I joined Gene Solutions in 2017 as a senior scientific advisor and co-lead of Data department. I have worked on the development of multiple screening tests based on next-generation sequencing such as the triSure test for non-invasive prenatal testing (J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med, Prenatal Diagnosis), and the SPOT-MAS test for early cancer detection (Elife). I also led the construction of computing infrastructure vital for data analysis and commercial operations. Driven by the common goal of using state-of-the-art technologies to treat and improve the quality of life for cancer patients, I co-founded NexCalibur in 2022 with a special focus on using neoantigens for precision therapies. Since then, we developed the best-performing model for predicting the binding of neoantigen candidates and T-cell receptors (Bioinformatics, 15 cites), a key step in identifying neoantigens in a cancer patient. We also developed protocols to collect cancer mutation data (Frontiers in Immunology) and validate neoantigen candidates (Elife). Together, we are ready to test the feasibility of producing neoantigen vaccines using our platform, aiming for phase I clinical trials by late 2024 or early 2025.