Amy Wong

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Dr. Amy Wong completed her undergraduate degree in the Life Sciences at the University of Toronto in 2001 and went on to achieve graduate degrees at the University of Toronto: a Master of Science (MSc) in Cardiovascular sciences (with Dr. Bradley Strauss, 2001-2003) and a Doctoral degree (PhD) in lung regeneration (with Dr. Thomas Waddell, 2004-2008). She then joined the SickKids Research Institute in early 2009 as a post-doctoral fellow in the labs of Dr. Janet Rossant and Dr. James Ellis.

Merging developmental biology concepts and stem cell engineering, Dr. Wong was the first to develop a method to generate airway epithelia that model Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lung disease in-vitro (Nature Biotechnology 2012; Nature Protocol 2015).

Airway cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are now being used to identify targeted and personalized therapies to correct the CF defect. This work was pivotal in the development of the world’s most unique bioresource CF patient iPSC, primary airway cells and whole genome sequencing data (CF Individualized Therapy program’s 100-cell project) to support on-going and future CF research across the globe.

Dr. Amy Wong is internationally recognized as a pioneer in using human stem cells to model lung development and disease. 

Dr. Wong has additional roles:

• Member, CIHR Stem Cell Oversight Committee (SCOC) since 2024
• Executive Committee Member, CF Program since (2023)
• Vice Chair & Scientific Officer, SickKids Foundation/CIHR-IHDCYH New investigator Award Grant Review Committee since (2023)
• Chair, Early Career Researcher (ECR) Committee, Stem Cell Network since (2023-2025)
• Editor, ISSCR Stem Cell Reports
• Editor, NPJ Systems Biology& Applications
• Scientific Advisory Board Member, Specific Biologics Inc. since (2021)

Research Synopsis

Our lab has three main research interests

Leveraging our pre-clinical human lung models, our research program aims to:

1. Understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating human lung development
2. Utilize this new knowledge to identify molecular/cellular basis of pulmonary diseases
3. Design and test new therapies to treat congenital (CF) and acquired (COVID-19) lung diseases

Our powerful collaborations with clinicians and basic scientists alike, as well as our access to over 100 primary and iPSC lines and primary tissues will enable us to focus on precision modeling and precision medicine.

Selected Publications

Modeling CF Patient-Specific Responses to CFTR Modulators Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.
Kanagarajah KR, Wu MJM, Lam T, Quach H, Salih R, Antonio K, Moraes TJ, Ratjen F, Bear CE, Wong AP. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2025 Jun 23. doi: 10.1164/rccm.202502-0467RL. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40548910 

Il-6 knockout reduces doxorubicin-induced toxicity in the developing mouse brain. Yeung J, Quach H, Wong AP, Wheeler AL, Weksberg R, Guger SL, Schachar RJ, Ito S, Hitzler J, Nieman BJ. Brain Behav Immun. 2025 Jun 28;129:609-619. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2025.06.034. Online ahead of print. PMID: 40588079

Early human fetal lung atlas reveals the temporal dynamics of epithelial cell plasticity. Quach H, Farrell S, Wu MJM, Kanagarajah KR, Leung JWH, Xu X, Kallurkar P, Turinsky AL, Bear CE, Ratjen F, Kalish B, Goyal S, Moraes, TJ, Wong AP. Nat Commun. 2024 Jul 13;15(1):5898.

Collagen Tubular Airway-on-Chip for Extended Epithelial Culture and Investigation of Ventilation Dynamics. Gao W, Kanagarajah KR, Graham E, Soon K, Veres T, Moraes TJ, Bear CE, Veldhuizen RA, Wong AP, Günther A. Small. 2024 Mar 3:e2309270.

Tunable In Situ Synthesis of Ultra-Thin Extracellular Matrix-Derived Membranes. Newton J, Song Y, Park S, Kanagarajah K, Wong AP, Young EWK. (2024). Advanced Health Materials. 2024 Apr 8:e2401158.

Targeting Protein Homeostasis with Small Molecules as a Strategy for the Development of Pan-Coronavirus Antiviral Therapies. Mao YQ, Jahanshahi S, Malty R, Van Ommen DAJ, Wan Y, Chuang S, Pavlova V, Ahmed C, Dahal S, Lin F, Mangos M, Nurtanto J, Song Y, Been T, Christie-Holmes N, Gray-Owen SD, Babu M, Wong AP, Batey RA, Attisano L, Cochrane A, and Houry WA. (2024). NPJ Communications Biology. 7(1): 1460.

Stage-Specific Generation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Lung Models to Measure CFTR Function. Ngan SY, Quach HT, Laselva O, Huang EN, Mangos M, Xia S, Bear CE, Wong AP (2022). Current Protocols, 2(1), e341

Gene therapy for cystic fibrosis: New tools for precision medicine. Lee J, Cho A*, Huang EN*, Xu Y, Quach HT, Hu J, Wong AP. Journal of Translational Medicine. (2021). Oct 30;19(1):452.

Efficient generation of functional CFTR-expressing airway epithelial cells from human pluripotent stem cells. Wong AP, Stephanie Chin, Sunny Xia, Jodi Garner, Christine Bear, Janet Rossant. Nature Protocols. 2015 Mar;10(3):363-81.

Directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into functional airway epithelial cells expressing CFTR protein. Wong AP, Bear C, Chin S, Pasceri P, Thompson T, Huan LJ, Ratjen F, Ellis J, Rossant J. Nature Biotechnology, 2012 Sep;30(9):876-82.

Teaching

LMP320H1: Pathobiology of Stem Cells 

Appointments

Senior Scientist, Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto

Assistant Professor, University of Toronto

Honours and Awards (selected)

• 2025 King Charles III Coronation Medal Award
• 2023 Marsha Morton Early Career Investigator Award, CF Canada
• 2022 Jumpstart Award, Stem Cell Network
• 2020 Early Career Investigator Innovation Award, Stem Cell Network
• 2017 Vertex CF Research Innovation Award
• 2012 Young Investigators Forum Best Research Award, CIHR Institute for Circulatory and Respiratory Health
• 2012 Lap-Chee Tsui Publication Award, CIHR – Institute of Genetics
• 2009 Joseph Milic-Emili Best Basic Science Award, Canadian Respiratory Research Competition