Welcome to the Yong lab
The laboratory of Dr. V. Wee Yong is located at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Calgary is a cosmopolitan city in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, considered to be one of the most scenic places in the world for outdoor pursuits. Calgary has a world-class neuroscience program where members publish regularly in top journals. The Yong Laboratory is also part of the MS Brain and Mental Health Team of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute; the MS Brain and Mental Health Team is internationally recognized for basic science discoveries in neuroimmunology and neurodegeneration in MS, and for translation of new medications into clinical trials in patients. The research infrastructure and equipment are state-of-the-art and trainees have good access to laboratory, institute, medical school and university-wide facilities. The Yong Laboratory regularly houses 15 – 20 individuals that includes a mix of undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research associates and technicians. The major focus is on the neuroimmunology of multiple sclerosis and a section of the laboratory investigates the neuroimmunology of glioblastomas to control the growth of glioma stem cells. The laboratory is productive, with 320 peer-reviewed publications that receive over 22,000 citations and an h-index of 85 (Web of Science, August 2020). There are over 35,000 citations in Google Scholar.
The Yong Laboratory has written 10 reviews in Nature Reviews series, and primary data manuscripts have been published in top journals including New England J Medicine (impact factor (IF) 79.3), Nature (IF 41.6), Nature Neuroscience (IF 19.9, twice), Nature Communications (IF 12.4, four times), J Clinical Investigation (IF 13.3, twice), Brain (IF 10.8, thirteen times), Annals Neurology (IF 10.2, ten times) and PNAS (IF 9.7, four times).
The trainees through the Yong Laboratory graduate into successful careers, with 31% (28 of 90 ex-trainees) now being appointed as professors at various institutions around the world. We also have many that have gone on to become medical doctors, work in industry and public service (meet the team). We are proud to provide a nurturing, stimulating, research-intensive and translational environment for our staff.
Learn more about our fields of study
Our partners
What began as a training network to enhance the quality of teaching of MS trainees in Alberta rapidly evolved into a network across Alberta that fosters collaboration, research, and educational activities on MS, in addition to training the next generation of MS scientists.
The Alberta MS Network is a collaboration of basic science researchers, clinician-scientist and neurologists across the four tertiary institutions (Universities of Alberta, Calgary, Lethbridge and Mount Royal) in Alberta in order to provide top quality training to the next generation of researchers and clinicians on MS. We also help foster interactions and collaborations so as to provide for cutting-edge research and treatment for MS.
Department of Clinical Neurosciences , Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
