Duxin Sun, PhD
North Campus Research Complex
2800 Plymouth Rd
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800
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Summary
Dr. Duxin Sun is the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan. He is the Charles Walgreen Jr. Professor of Pharmacy and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and serves as the Director of the Pharmacokinetics (PK) Core. Dr. Sun also has a joint appointment in the Chemical Biology program, the Interdisciplinary Medicinal Chemistry program, and University of Michigan's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Sun’s research interests focus on drug development, nanomedicine, and pharmacokinetics. Dr. Sun developed the STAR system (Structure-Tissue/Cell Selectivity-Activity-Relationship) to enhance drug development success by addressing the 90% failure rate. He also proposed a drug/nanocarrier-specific anticancer nanomedicine design strategy to enhance thier clinical efficacy and improve clinical success. Dr. Sun earned his BS in Pharmacy, MS in Pharmacology, and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and has also received training in Molecular Biology as a visiting scientist. With research experience in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Sun has published over 260 papers, and has mentored 37 PhD students and 70 postdoctoral fellows/visiting scientists.
Dr. Sun is an elected Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS). He has served on the FDA Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacology Advisory Committee and participated in study sections for the NIH and FDA.
Feature Story
How to Rescue ‘Failed’ Clinical Trials and Minimize Risks by Christine Bahls, 4/17/2023 Change must come gradually, says Duxin Sun, PhD, associate dean for research, Charles R. Walgreen Jr. professor of pharmacy and professor of pharmaceutical sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan. "Scientists are very hard to convince,” says Sun. “If the trial is at Phase II, no one wants to listen. It’s their baby … Every expert has their own vision.” In animal studies, he says, if a drug isn’t working then the dose is increased. “Animals can’t tell you they are dizzy,” says Sun.
Responsibilities
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Associate Dean for Research: UM Pharmacy Professor Research Outreach (UM Pharmacy PRO)
Research Interests
Research Introduction to General Public: Drug Development and NanoMedicine
1. 90% of drugs fail clinical trials – here’s one way researchers can select better drug candidates. Conversation, Feburary 23, 2022
2. Nanoparticles are the future of medicine – researchers are experimenting with new ways to design tiny particle treatments for cancer. Conversation, May 4, 2022
Research Introduction to Scientists: Drug Development, NanoMedicine and Pharmacokinetics
1. Why most anticancer nanomedicines do not enhance clinical efficacy and how to improve it ?
2. Why 90% of drug development fails and how to improve it? (PPT Sides, Video Recording)
3. Why most cancer vaccines only achieve short-term efficacy and how to improve it?
4. What are the differences of microbiome, bile salts, and drug release in different regions of human GI tract?
Selected Publications
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CoGT: Ensemble Machine Learning Method and Its Application on JAK Inhibitor Discovery. Yingzi Bu, Ruoxi Gao, Bohan Zhang, Luchen Zhang, and Duxin Sun. ACS Omega, 2023, March 27, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c00160
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Optimization of The Prodrug Moiety of Remdesivir to Improve Lung Exposure/Selectivity and Enhance Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Activity. Hongxiang Hu , Mohamed Dit Mady Traore, Ruiting Li, Hebao Yuan, Miao He, Bo Wen, Wei Gao, Colleen B Jonsson, Elizabeth A Fitzpatrick, Duxin Sun. J Med Chem, 2022, 65, 18, 12044
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Albumin nanoparticle containing a PI3Kγ inhibitor and paclitaxel in combination with α-PD1 induces tumor remission of breast cancer in mice. Yudong Song, Luke Bugada, Ruiting Li, Hongxiang Hu, Luchen Zhang, Chengyi Li, Hebao Yuan, Krishani Rajanayake, Nathan Truchan, Fei Wen, Wei Gao, and Duxin Sun. Science Translational Medicine, 2022, 14 (643): online. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abl3649
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Why 90% of clinical drug development fails and how to improve it? Duxin Sun, Wei Gao, Hongxiang Hu, Sison Zhou, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, 2022, 12, 3049
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Structure-Tissue Exposure/Selectivity Relationship (STR) Correlates with Clinical Efficacy/Safety. Wei Gao, Hongxiang Hu, Lipeng Dai, Miao He, Hebao Yuan, Huixia Zhang, Jinhui Liao, Bo Wen, Yan Li, Maria Palmisano, Mohamed Dit Mady Traore, Simon Zhou, Duxin Sun. Acta Pharmaceutic Sinica B, 2022, 12, 2462
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What went wrong with anticancer nanomedicine design and how to make it right. D Sun, S Zhou, W Gao. ACS nano, 2020, 14 (10), 12281-12290
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Reappraisal of anticancer nanomedicine design criteria in three types of preclinical cancer models for better clinical translation. X Luan, H Yuan, Y Song, H Hu, B Wen, M He, H Zhang, Y Li, F Li, P Shu, ... Biomaterials, 2021, 120910
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Combined p53-and PTEN-deficiency activates expression of mesenchyme homeobox 1 (MEOX1) required for growth of triple-negative breast cancer. M Gasparyan, MC Lo, H Jiang, CC Lin, D Sun. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2020, 295 (34), 12188-12202
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Remdesivir for treatment of COVID-19: combination of pulmonary and IV administration may offer additional benefit. D Sun. 2020, The AAPS journal 22, 1-6
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Albumin nanoparticle of paclitaxel (abraxane) decreases while taxol increases breast cancer stem cells in treatment of triple negative breast cancer. H Yuan, H Guo, X Luan, M He, F Li, J Burnett, N Truchan, D Sun. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 2020, 17 (7), 2275-2286
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Neonatal Fc Receptor (FcRn) Enhances Tissue Distribution and Prevents Excretion of nab-Paclitaxel. F Li, H Yuan, H Zhang, M He, J Liao, N Chen, Y Li, S Zhou, M Palmisano, ... Molecular pharmaceutics, 2019, 16 (6), 2385-2393
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Different Nanoformulations Alter the Tissue Distribution of Paclitaxel, Which Aligns with Reported Distinct Efficacy and Safety Profiles. F Li, H Zhang, M He, J Liao, N Chen, Y Li, S Zhou, M Palmisano, A Yu, .... Molecular pharmaceutics, 2018, 15 (10), 4505-4516
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Spatial and temporal analysis of the stomach and small-intestinal microbiota in fasted healthy humans. AM Seekatz, MK Schnizlein, MJ Koenigsknecht, JR Baker, WL Hasler, .... MSphere, 2019, 4 (2), e00126-19
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Targeting LRP8 inhibits breast cancer stem cells in triple-negative breast cancer. CC Lin, MC Lo, R Moody, H Jiang, R Harouaka, N Stevers, S Tinsley, .... 2018, Cancer letters 438, 165-173
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Mitigating SOX2-potentiated immune escape of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with a STING-inducing nanosatellite vaccine. YS Tan, K Sansanaphongpricha, Y Xie, CR Donnelly, X Luo, BR Heath, .... Clinical Cancer Research, 2018, 24 (17), 4242-4255
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Probing the interaction between the histone methyltransferase/deacetylase subunit RBBP4/7 and the transcription factor BCL11A in epigenetic complexes. RR Moody, MC Lo, JL Meagher, CC Lin, NO Stevers, SL Tinsley, I Jung, .... Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2018, 293 (6), 2125-2136
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In Vivo Dissolution and Systemic Absorption of Immediate Release Ibuprofen in Human Gastrointestinal Tract under Fed and Fasted Conditions. MJ Koenigsknecht, JR Baker, B Wen, A Frances, H Zhang, A Yu, T Zhao, .... Molecular pharmaceutics, 2017, 14 (12), 4295-4304
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Engineering exosomes as refined biological nanoplatforms for drug delivery. X Luan, K Sansanaphongpricha, I Myers, H Chen, H Yuan, D Sun. Acta Pharmacologica Sinica, 2017, 38 (6), 754-763
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Sulforaphane enhances the anticancer activity of taxanes against triple negative breast cancer by killing cancer stem cells. JP Burnett, G Lim, Y Li, RB Shah, R Lim, HJ Paholak, SP McDermott, .... Cancer Letters, 2017, 394, 52-64
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Measurement of in vivo Gastrointestinal Release and Dissolution of Three Locally Acting Mesalamine Formulations in Regions of the Human Gastrointestinal Tract. A Yu, JR Baker, AF Fioritto, Y Wang, R Luo, S Li, B Wen, M Bly, Y Tsume, .... Molecular pharmaceutics, 2017, 14 (2), 345-358
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Multibuilding Block Janus Synthesized by Seed‐Mediated Self‐Assembly for Enhanced Photothermal Effects and Colored Brownian Motion in an Optical Trap. K Sansanaphongpricha, MC DeSantis, H Chen, W Cheng, K Sun, B Wen, .... small, 2017, 13 (6), 1602569
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Elimination of epithelial-like and mesenchymal-like breast cancer stem cells to inhibit metastasis following nanoparticle-mediated photothermal therapy. HJ Paholak, NO Stevers, H Chen, JP Burnett, M He, H Korkaya, .... Biomaterials, 2016, 104, 145-157
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Novel cancer stem cell targets during epithelial to mesenchymal transition in PTEN-deficient trastuzumab-resistant breast cancer. L Sun, J Burnett, M Gasparyan, F Xu, H Jiang, CC Lin, I Myers, H Korkaya, .... Oncotarget, 2016, 7 (32), 51408
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Sulforaphane, a dietary component of broccoli/broccoli sprouts, inhibits breast cancer stem cells. Y Li, T Zhang, H Korkaya, S Liu, HF Lee, B Newman, Y Yu, SG Clouthier, .... Clinical Cancer Research, 2010, 16 (9), 2580-2590
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Characterization of celastrol to inhibit hsp90 and cdc37 interaction. T Zhang, Y Li, Y Yu, P Zou, Y Jiang, D Sun. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2009, 284 (51), 35381-35389
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A novel Hsp90 inhibitor to disrupt Hsp90/Cdc37 complex against pancreatic cancer cells. T Zhang, A Hamza, X Cao, B Wang, S Yu, CG Zhan, D Sun. Molecular cancer therapeutics, 2008, 7 (1), 162-170
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Synergistic antipancreatic tumor effect by simultaneously targeting hypoxic cancer cells with HSP90 inhibitor and glycolysis inhibitor. X Cao, M Bloomston, T Zhang, WL Frankel, G Jia, B Wang, NC Hall, .... Clinical Cancer Research, 2008, 14 (6), 1831-1839
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Why is it challenging to predict intestinal drug absorption and oral bioavailability in human using rat model. X Cao, ST Gibbs, L Fang, HA Miller, CP Landowski, HC Shin, .... Pharmaceutical research 2006, 23 (8), 1675-1686
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Comparison of human duodenum and Caco-2 gene expression profiles for 12,000 gene sequences tags and correlation with permeability of 26 drugs. D Sun, H Lennernas, LS Welage, JL Barnett, CP Landowski, D Foster, .... Pharmaceutical research, 2002, 19 (10), 1400-1416
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