Pharmacology and Toxicology

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..

Bernard Futscher's lab is studying the molecular origins of human cancer. Understanding epigenetic dysfunction in human cancer has been Dr. Futscher's primary research focus since establishing his own independent laboratory. This epigenetic research has moved into the area of noncoding RNAs and their potential role in cancer cell immortality.

The Hulme group is focused on small molecule drug design and developing enabling chemical methodologies to expedite the drug discovery process. The development of small molecule inhibitors of kinases is of particular interest.

Laurence Hurley's long-time research interest is in molecular targeting of DNA, first by covalent binders (CC-1065 and psorospermin), then as compounds that target protein–DNA complexes (pluramycins and Et 743), and most recently as four-stranded DNA structures (G-quadruplexes and i-motifs). He was the first to show that targeting G-quadruplexes could inhibit telomerase (Sun et al. [1997] J. Med. Chem., 40, 2113) and that targeting G-quadruplexes in promoter complexes results in inhibition of transcription (Siddiqui-Jain et al. [2002] Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 99, 11593).

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.

Walter Klimecki's research program involves the balance between the particular DNA sequence “versions” of genes that we inherit from our ancestors, and the particular environmental exposures that we experience throughout our lives. The Klimecki lab studies diseases resulting from human exposure to arsenic, contributing to a better understanding of the inherited genetic differences between people that result in altered chemical processing of arsenic after it enters the body.

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.

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.

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.