Principle Investigator – Duxin Sun

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Dr. Duxin Sun is the Associate Dean for Research, the Charles Walgreen Jr. Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan.  He 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 established the STAR system (Structure-Tissue/Cell Selectivity-Activity-Relationship) to enhance drug development success by addressing the 90% failure rate. He designed albumin based nanomedicines to enhance clinical efficacy of  immuno-oncology drugs by targeting immune cells in the lymphatic systems and tumors. He also developed SARS-CoV-2 B epitope-guided neoantigen peptide or mRNA vaccine to enhance their efficacy by activating CD4/CD8 T cell antitumor immunity through B cell-mediated antigent presentation. 

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 280 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 enhance drug development success and efficiency through the STAR-guided drug design of dual targeting PI3Kγ/Sting, PI3Kγ inhibitors, and STING agonists/antagonists, JAK inhibitors for immunotherapy of cancer or autoimmune disease.

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

This project develops albumin based nanomedicines to enhance clinical efficacy of immuno-oncology drugs (STING agonists and PI3Kγ inhibitors) by targeting immune cells in the lymphatic system and tumors for cancer immunotherapy.

3. How to improve anticancer efficacy of neoantigan mRNA or peptide cancer vaccines?

This project develops SARS-CoV-2 B epitope-guided neoantigen peptide or mRNA cancer vaccine to enhance their anticancer efficacy by activating CD4/CD8 T cell immunity through B cell-mediated antigen presentation.

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

This project investigates the differences of the microbiome, bile salts, and drug release among the human stomach, small intestine, and colon, as well as studies how these differences influence drug product development and disease states.

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