Principle Investigator – Duxin Sun

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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, cancer nanomedicine, cancer vaccine, 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 40 PhD students and 75 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.

Research (For 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 (For Scientists): Drug Development, Cancer NanoMedicine, Cancer Vaccine, Pharmacokinetics

1. Why 90% of drug development fails and how to improve it? (PPT Slides, Video Recording)

This project aims to improve drug development success through the integrated STAR system (structure-tissue/cell selectivity-activity-relationship) by addressing the 90% failure rate for immuno-oncology drugs.

2. Why most anticancer nanomedicines do not enhance clinical efficacy and how to improve it?

This project develops a drug/nanocarrier-specific anticancer nanomedicines to enhance their clinical efficacy and improve clinical success for cancer immunotherapy

3. Why most cancer vaccines only achieve short-term efficacy and how to improve it?

This project is focused on developing a cancer vaccine to achieve long-term tumor remission.

4. What are the differences of microbiome, bile salts, and drug release in different regions of human GI tract?

This project investigates the variations in the microbiome, bile salts, and drug release within the human stomach, small intestine, and colon, and studies how these differences influence drug product development and disease states.

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