Luan Truong, MD

Professor of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Academic Institute
Full Member, Research Institute
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College


Biography

After completing his training in renal pathology in 1984, Dr. Truong joined the Department of Pathology at Baylor College of Medicine. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1990, and Professor in 1996. He currently holds full-time faculty appointment in the Department of Pathology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University and in the Houston Methodist Research Institute. He also hold adjunct faculty appointment in the Departments of Pathology and Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine. He has been the attending pathologist for the Harris County Hospital District and Houston Methodist since 1984, and has served as Chief of Nephropathology since 1989. Dr. Truong also serves as the Director of the Pathology Core for the interdepartmental NIH-funded O’Brien Research Center on Renal Inflammation. Well recognized in the area of nephropathology, Dr. Truong actively participates in scholarly activities in this field as section editor and peer-reviewer for many scientific journals, as leader in professional societies, and as lecturer in national and international scientific meetings. 

Description of Research

Dr. Truong´s research interests involve surgical pathology and nephropathology. In the area of surgical pathology, he is interested in using morphology to define new diseases and to improve the diagnostic accuracy of known diseases. He combines traditional clinicopathologic observation with novel immunohistochemical techniques to study case materials drawn from more than 30,000 surgical pathology specimens submitted to the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine annually. In the area of clinical nephropathology, Dr. Truong is interested in assessing the pathogenesis and natural behavior of several specific renal diseases using a clinico-pathologic approach, and has access to more than 10,000 renal biopsies accumulated in the renal pathology laboratory suitable for this purpose. In the area of experimental nephropathology, Dr. Truong’s research focuses on the pathogenesis of primary chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis. He has established a model of chronic obstructive uropathy by unilateral ligation of the ureter and has focused on cell cycle abnormality, including apoptosis and cell proliferation of tubular cells and interstitial cells as a crucial element in chronic tubulointerstitial injury. He is currently investigating preconditioning as a mechanism to attenuate acute tubular cell injury. He recently made the novel observation that activation of cell survival mechanisms, including the PI3 kinase pathway and survivin, may serve as important protective mechanisms. He also collaborates extensively with other investigators in the Texas Medical Center and elsewhere in terms of morphologic support and structure-function correlation studies on various renal diseases.

Areas Of Expertise

Kidney diseases Acute tubular cell injury chronic tubulointerstitial injury Renal transplantation Renal neoplasms
Education & Training

Residency, Baylor College of Medicine
MD, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Publications

Renal oncocytoma with vacuolated cells and giant mitochondria: Report of a rare tumor and review of the literature
Patel, A, Aland, J, Salah, H, Truong, L, Goldfarb, DW & El-Zaatari, ZM 2023, , Human Pathology Reports, vol. 33, 300719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpr.2023.300719

Proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal IgG deposits: a unique case with a clinical course of over 46 years
James, T, Afrouzian, M, Truong, L, Aleter, O, Badalamenti, J & Kassem, H 2023, , BMC Nephrology, vol. 24, no. 1, 109, pp. 109. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-023-03178-2

Notch Blockade Specifically in Bone Marrow-Derived FSP-1-Positive Cells Ameliorates Renal Fibrosis
Wu, Y, Liang, M, Huang, F, Cheng, OH, Xiao, X, Lee, TH, Truong, L & Cheng, J 2023, , Cells, vol. 12, no. 2, 214. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12020214

Graft Microthrombus Formation in Postreperfusion Biopsies: Comprehensive Morphologic Characterization and Impact on Graft Outcome
Nachiappa Ganesh, R, Graviss, EA, Nguyen, DT, El-Zaatari, Z, Gaber, L, Barrios, R & Truong, L 2023, , Kidney International Reports, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. 1439-1444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2023.04.008

Temporal regulation of notch activation improves arteriovenous fistula maturation
Guo, Q, Chen, G, Cheng, H, Qing, Y, Truong, L, Ma, Q, Wang, Y & Cheng, J 2022, , Journal of Translational Medicine, vol. 20, no. 1, 543. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-022-03727-7

Papillary renal cell carcinoma with malakoplakia: A unique case
Roth, AA, Patel, A, Salah, H, Truong, LD & El-Zaatari, ZM 2022, , Human Pathology Reports, vol. 30, 300681. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpr.2022.300681

Amyloid deposition with a granulomatous reaction in a resection specimen: A clue for a pre-existing Merkel cell carcinoma
Rothrock, AT, Truong, LD, Shehabeldin, A, Wong, MKK, Cho, WC, Nagarajan, P, Vanderbeck, K, Curry, JL, Torres-Cabala, CA, Prieto, VG & Aung, PP 2022, , Journal of Cutaneous Pathology, vol. 49, no. 9, pp. 787-790. https://doi.org/10.1111/cup.14282

Potential Mechanisms Involved in Chronic Kidney Disease of Unclear Etiology
Holliday, MW, Li, Q, Bustamante, EG, Niu, J, Huang, L, Espina, IM, Dominguez, JR, Truong, L, Murray, KO, Fan, L, Anumudu, SJ, Shah, M, Fischer, RSB, Vangala, C, Mandayam, S, Perez, J, Pan, JS, Ali, S, Awan, AA & Sheikh-Hamad, D 2022, , Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, vol. 17, no. 9, pp. 1293-1304. https://doi.org/10.2215/CJN.16831221

Renal Cell Carcinoma in End-Stage Renal Disease: A Review and Update
El-Zaatari, ZM & Truong, LD 2022, , Biomedicines, vol. 10, no. 3, 657. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10030657

Vancomycin Nephrotoxicity Causing Renal Transplant Acute Kidney Injury
Tantranont, N, Hebert, S & Truong, LD 2021, , Transplantation Proceedings, vol. 53, no. 10, pp. 2913-2917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2021.09.033

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 decreased expression during kidney inflammatory diseases: implications to predisposing to COVID-19 kidney complications
Garcia, GE, Truong, LD & Johnson, RJ 2021, , Kidney international, vol. 100, no. 5, pp. 1138-1140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2021.08.016

The banffclassification of kidney transplant rejection
Dhingra, S & Truong, LD 2021, . in Issues in Kidney Disease - Transplantation. Nova Science Publishers, Inc. pp. 117-141.

A novel treatment for glomerular disease: Targeting the activated macrophage folate receptor with a trojan horse therapy in rats
Garcia, GE, Lu, YJ, Truong, LD, Roncal-Jiménez, CA, Miyazaki, M, Miyazaki-Anzai, S, Cara-Fuentes, G, Andres-Hernando, A, Lanaspa, M, Johnson, RJ & Leamon, CP 2021, , Cells, vol. 10, no. 8, 2113. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10082113

Vancomycin-Associated Tubular Casts and Vancomycin Nephrotoxicity
Tantranont, N, Luque, Y, Hsiao, M, Haute, C, Gaber, L, Barrios, R, Adrogue, HE, Niasse, A & Truong, LD 2021, , Kidney International Reports, vol. 6, no. 7, pp. 1912-1922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2021.04.035

PDGFRA in vascular adventitial MSCs promotes neointima formation in arteriovenous fistula in chronic kidney disease
Song, K, Qing, Y, Guo, Q, Peden, EK, Chen, C, Mitch, WE, Truong, L & Cheng, J 2020, , JCI insight, vol. 5, no. 21, e137298. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.137298

Prevalence, Characteristics, and Outcomes of Incidental IgA Glomerular Deposits in Donor Kidneys
Gaber, LW, Khan, FN, Graviss, EA, Nguyen, DT, Moore, LW, Truong, LD, Barrios, RJ & Suki, WN 2020, , Kidney International Reports, vol. 5, no. 11, pp. 1914-1924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2020.08.018

Prevalence, Characteristics, and Outcomes of Incidental IgA Glomerular Deposits in Donor Kidneys
Gaber, LW, Khan, FN, Graviss, EA, Nguyen, DT, Moore, LW, Truong, LD, Barrios, RJ & Suki, WN 2020, , Kidney International Reports, vol. 5, no. 11, pp. 1914-1924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2020.08.018

A global Slc7a7 knockout mouse model demonstrates characteristic phenotypes of human lysinuric protein intolerance
Stroup, BM, Marom, R, Li, X, Hsu, CW, Chang, CY, Truong, LD, Dawson, B, Grafe, I, Chen, Y, Jiang, MM, Lanza, D, Green, JR, Sun, Q, Barrish, JP, Ani, S, Christiansen, AE, Seavitt, JR, Dickinson, ME, Kheradmand, F, Heaney, JD, Lee, B & Burrage, LC 2020, , Human Molecular Genetics, vol. 29, no. 13, pp. 2171-2184. https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddaa107

A Case Report of Recurrent Lupus Nephritis 15 Days After Renal Transplantation
Romero Karam, LA, Patel, AM, Truong, L & Gonzalez, JM 2020, , Transplantation Proceedings, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 614-618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2019.10.034

Outcomes of Kidney Transplantation using Deceased Donors with History of Diabetes
Khan, FN, Truong, LD, Nguyen, DT, Graviss, EA, Bhatti, MI, Frost, AE, Gaber, AO & Suki, WN 2019, , Clinical Transplantation, pp. e13775. https://doi.org/10.1111/ctr.13775