Duxin Sun Named J.G. Searle Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Duxin Sun, PhD, has been named the College's first John G. Searle Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The family of John G. Searle has graciously agreed to the establishment of an additional endowed professorship at the College of Pharmacy.
Dr. Sun is a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He serves as the Director of the Pharmacokinetics (PK) Core. He also holds a joint appointment in the Chemical Biology program, the Interdisciplinary Medicinal Chemistry program, and University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Four professorships are supported through Mr. Searle's original $1 million gift, which was the largest endowed professorship in the history of the University at the time it was established. Dr. Sun’s appointment to this prestigious honor recognizes his many accomplishments as a leading scholar in the area of drug discovery and nanomedicine for cancer therapeutics.
Dr. Sun’s research interests focus on drug discovery and nanomedicine for cancer therapeutics. He is particularly interested in developing nanomedicine and other new drugs to eliminate cancer stem cells, which are responsible for cancer initiation, metastasis, and drug resistance. These new treatment regimens to eliminate cancer stem cells could improve patient survival. Specifically, his lab is currently working on: drug discovery targeting epigenetics and cancer stem cell targets; nanomedicine for targeted drug delivery and vaccines for cancer therapy; ADME and pharmacokinetics for lead compound optimization; and drug release in GI tract for modified release drug products.
Dr. Sun has published more than 170 papers, 98 meeting abstracts, 10 book chapters, and holds 12 U.S. patents. He has supervised 29 PhD students and 40 postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists. Dr. Sun is a Fellow of American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) and has served as chair of the Physical Pharmacy and Biopharmaceutics section in AAPS. Dr. Sun serves on FDA Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacology Advisory Committee. He is the Vice president of the American Chinese Pharmaceutical Association. Dr. Sun has served on study sections for NIH, FDA, Cancer Research UK, French National Research Agency, and Italian Ministry of Health.
