Pharmacology and Toxicology

Kenry, PhD

Assistant Professor
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-2823

Work Summary

Kenry is an Assistant Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Arizona. His current research focuses on the bioinspired and data-driven design and development of micro/nanoscale platform tools to harness immune system to enable more personalized, targeted, and safer detection and treatment of cancer. To date, Kenry has authored/co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and his research has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, notably from the American Association for Cancer Research, American Chemical Society, Biomedical Engineering Society, European Materials Research Society, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organization.

Research Interest

Kenry is currently an Assistant Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Arizona. Prior to this, he carried out his postdoctoral work at Harvard University and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Kenry received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the National University of Singapore and BEng (First Class Honors) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The Kenry Lab at the University of Arizona seeks to improve patient outcome and health by addressing various unmet needs in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Leveraging its expertise in nanomaterials, microfluidics, bioimaging, immunotherapy, and machine learning, the Kenry Lab adopts bioinspired and data-driven approaches to build novel micro/nanoscale platform tools and models to enable more personalized, targeted, and safer detection and treatment of cancer. Lab website: http://www.drkenry.com.

Haining Zhu

Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry-Sci
Professor, Neuroscience - GIDP
Endowed Chair, R Ken and Donna Coit - Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Contact
(520) 626-2823

Work Summary

Dr. Zhu is an expert on molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases, particularly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). His recent focus is on RNA binding proteins and RNA metabolism in these diseases. With thorough understanding of pathways regulating protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions, protein degradation and aggregation, RNA metabolism and stress granules, he is also interested in developing novel therapeutics.

Research Interest

The Zhu laboratory studies RNA binding proteins and RNA metabolism including protein translation and stress granules under physiological and pathological conditions. We are also interested in protein phase separation and aggregation in vitro and in vivo and their relevance in human diseases. We strive to better understand the molecular mechanisms for neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and other diseases such as cancer. In addition, we are interested in therapeutic development targeting the molecules identified in the mechanistic studies.

Hongmin Li

Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Endowed Chair, R Ken and Donna Coit - Drug Discovery
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Contact
(520) 626-2823

Work Summary

My laboratory focuses on both basic and translational sciences. In basic science part, we investigate the structures, functions and mechanisms of essential macromolecules involved in various cellular actions and disease processes. The knowledge gained from these basic science studies leads to the second category, the drug discovery part where we develop novel biochemical and cellular assays for different drug targets, carry out high throughput screening (HTS) assays to identify novel target-based inhibitors, perform cellular antiviral/antifungal/anti-cancer assays, and conduct ADMET profiling and mouse model efficacy studies for lead compounds.

Research Interest

My laboratory has developed a research platform that integrates virology, mycology, bacteriology, RNA, biochemistry, structural biology, cellular biology, and in vivo animal model in the same lab. We also work closely with collaborators and colleagues in the aspects of medicinal chemistry, computational biology, immunology, cancer biology, and in vivo pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD). Currently, the main research focuses on development of therapeutics against cancers and human pathogens such as dengue virus, Zika virus, SARS-CoV-2, Cryptococcal fungi and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Bo Sun

Assistant Research Professor
Primary Department
Contact
(520) 626-2823

Work Summary

Dr. Sun received his PhD degree from Industrial and Physical Pharmacy at Purdue University in 2016. He joined the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona in 2020 after completion of his postdoctoral training in nanomedicine and immunotherapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He published 9 papers in pharmaceutical journals, 1 book chapter and 1 licensed patent.

Research Interest

Dr. Sun’s research aims to exploit the techniques in synthetic chemistry, immunology, medicine and nanotechnology to develop safe and effective therapies for patients with cancer or other life-threatening diseases. He developed nanocrystal formulations for intraperitoneal and systemic chemotherapy during his graduate study. Dr. Sun pursued his interests in immunotherapy in the department of Radiation Oncology at UNC-Chapel Hill. His postdoctoral research was developing nano-formulations of adjuvants and immune checkpoint modulators. His work at U of Arizona focuses on the development of delivery platform of cancer vaccines for immunotherapy.

James Galligan

Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Assistant Professor, Genetics - GIDP
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Assistant Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Contact
(520) 621-6015

Research Interest

Cell metabolism is a tightly controlled process that uses numerous feedback and feed-forward mechanisms to provide the necessary requirements to sustain growth. Many of these regulatory mechanisms are mediated through the post-translational modification of enzymes that serve to modulate activity and function. My laboratory studies the link between cell metabolism, protein post-translational modifications, and gene expression. We utilize mass spectrometry to investigate both novel and established metabolic feedback mechanisms and how these go awry in disease. Current work centers on histone modifications derived from cell metabolism and how these modifications are disrupted in diabetes and cancer.

Wei Wang

Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Co-Director, Arizona Center for Drug Discovery
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Endowed Chair, R Ken and Donna Coit - Drug Discovery
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Contact
(520) 626-1764

Research Interest

I am interested in exploring innovative and useful chemical tools and small molecules as probes to study biology and as therapeutics for disease treatment. My laboratory has been particularly interested in exploring chemical tools to address the important biological questions. I am a well-established investigator with over 20 years research experience and more than 240 peer reviewed publications (H-index: 72) in the fields of organic and medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. The small molecule-based fluorescence probes developed from my laboratory have been widely used by biomedical researchers as tools to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms. One of the small molecules discovered by my laboratory has been licensed to the Andaman Therapeutics for clinical trials as a new class of anticancer therapy.

Jianqin Lu

Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Assistant Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Contact
(520) 626-1786

Research Interest

Jianqin Lu, B.Pharm., PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Pharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics, College of Pharmacy. The overarching goal of the Lu lab is to apply synthetic chemistry, nanoparticle engineering, and tumor immunology to develop efficacious nanotherapeutics to address the pressing unmet needs in current cancer therapy. Dr. Lu’s graduate research focused on developing functional nanocarriers for synergistic tumor targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics for improved anticancer efficacy and reduced side effects for treating breast, prostate, and cervical tumors. During his postdoctoral training, Dr. Lu developed a nano-enabled cancer immuno-therapeutics platform via instigating the immunogenic cell death (ICD) and inhibiting the immunosuppressive IDO metabolic immune checkpoint. Dr. Lu was the recipient of the Norman R. and Priscilla A. Farnsworth Award at University of Pittsburgh, and USHHS Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award in Tumor Immunology among others. Dr. Lu has published 26 research articles, 1 book chapter, and 4 patent applications as well as been the invited speaker in the prestigious 41st Controlled Released Society Annual Meeting & Exposition. Dr. Lu received a PhD degree in Pharmaceutics from University of Pittsburgh (2014), and completed Postdoctoral training at Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago (2015), and in Nanomedicine/Tumor Immunology at California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA (2019), respectively. Lu Lab website: https://caoabgail.wixsite.com/jianqinlu

Xinxin Ding

Head, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Professor, Cancer Biology - GIDP
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-9906

Work Summary

Xinxin Ding, PhD, department head, Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy—studies enzyme function, regulation and genetics as applied to translational research for drug safety and efficacy and genetic and environmental risks for chemical toxicity. Author of nearly 200 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and articles, he serves as associate editor for “Drug Metabolism and Disposition” and “Acta Pharmaeutica Sinica B.” Grants from the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institute of Health fund his work, in part. Former chair of the NIH XNDA study section (2016-2018), he currently chairs (2018-19) Drug Metabolism and Disposition Division of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics..

Research Interest

Xinxin Ding, PhD, department head, Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy—studies enzyme function, regulation and genetics as applied to translational research for drug safety and efficacy and genetic and environmental risks for chemical toxicity. Author of nearly 200 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and articles, he serves as associate editor for “Drug Metabolism and Disposition” and “Acta Pharmaeutica Sinica B.” Grants from the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institute of Health fund his work, in part. Former chair of the NIH XNDA study section (2016-2018), he currently chairs (2018-19) Drug Metabolism and Disposition Division of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics..

Gerald M Maggiora

Adjunct Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-5905

Research Interest

Dr. Gerald (‘Gerry’) Maggiora, PhD, received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and a PhD in biophysics from the University of California, Davis. He has more than 20 years experience in academia as a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Kansas, as well as five years as a professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona. He has a comparable amount of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, where he served as the Director of Computer-Aided Drug Discovery for three different companies. His early work spanned numerous fields related to the development of quantum mechanical and molecular mechanics methods and their application to problems of mechanistic organic chemistry, vision, photosynthetic energy conversion, and the structural chemistry of drugs, biomolecules, and proteins. After joining the pharma industry, he directed his efforts towards the development and application of similarity and diversity methods and the analysis of biologically relevant chemical space to drug research. His recent work expands the concept of chemical space to include activity landscapes, which extend chemical spaces by including data on the activity of compounds in these spaces. This led to the notion of activity cliffs, which arise when two similar compounds exhibit significantly different activities, a phenomenon that runs counter to the well-known ‘Similarity-Property Principle’ that similar compounds tend to exhibit similar properties. Although relatively rare, activity cliffs provide significant information on structure-activity relationships that lie at the heart of drug design. He has also developed network-based representations of chemical space that circumvent many of the issues associated with the representation of these very high-dimensional spaces. He is currently continuing his work in this area. In recognition of his work in chemical informatics he received 2008 Herman Skolnik Award in Chemical Informatics presented by the Division of Chemical Information of the American Chemical Society.