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Office: 312 Salk Pavilion, 335 Sutherland drive, Pittsburgh PA 15261
Phone: 412-383-4826
Email: huryn@pitt.edu
Donna M. Huryn, PhDProfessor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Donna M. Huryn is Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and a PI of the University of Pittsburgh Chemical Diversity Center (UP-CDC). She also holds an Adjunct Professor appointment at the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Chemistry. She received her B.A. from Cornell University, and Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from Penn.
After graduate school, she joined the Chemistry Research Department at Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc, and contributed to drug discovery efforts in inflammation, HIV, and cancer. In 1997 she joined Wyeth Research, in the Chemical Sciences department. She held a number of positions there, including Director of CNS Medicinal Chemistry and Director of the Chemical Sciences Interface Department. Under her leadership, compounds entered clinical trials for asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and depression. In 2004, she left the pharmaceutical industry to join academia, where her research interests include the identification of small molecule probes of biological systems, particularly those targetting cancer, infectious disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
Professor Huryn has served as a permanent member of several NIH Medical Chemistry A Study Section, and was a member of the NSF Committee of Visitors. She has held a number of elected positions within the American Chemical Society at both the local and national levels, and is an Associate Editor to ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, and a Fellow of the American Chemical Society
My research interests involve the design, synthesis and optimization of small molecule probes of biological systems, with a particular focus on targets involved in cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and infectious diseases.
Structure-Activity Relationship of Bioisosteric Trifluoromethyl and Pentafluorosulfanyl Indole Inhibitors of the AAA ATPase p97, C. Alverez, M.R. Arkin, S.L. Bulfer, R. Colombo, M. Kovaliov, M.G. LaPorte, C. Lim, M. Liang, W.J. Moore, R. J. Neitz, Y. Yan, Z. Yue, D.M. Huryn, P. Wipf ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2015, 6, 1225-1230.
Delayed Treatment with PTBA Analogs Reduces Post Injury Renal Fibrosis after Kidney Injury, N. Skrypnyk, S. Subramanian, L. Brilli-Skvarca, T. Novitskaya, C. Woods, T.K. Chiba, T. Patel, N. Goldberg. L. McDermott, P.N. Vinson, M.W. Calcutt, D.M. Huryn, L.A. Vernetti, A. Vogt, N. Hukriede, M. deCaestecker, AJP Renal Physiol. 2016, 310, F705-F716.
Allosteric Indole Amide Inhibiors of p97: Identification of a Novel Probe of the Ubiquitin Pathway, C. Alverez, S. Bulfer, R. Chakrasali, M. Chimenti, R.J. Deshaies, N. Green, M. Kelly, M.G. LaPorte, T. Lewis, M. Liang, W.J. Moore, R.J. Neitz, V. Peshkov, M. Walters, F. Zhang, M. Arkin, P. Wipf, D.M. Huryn, ACS Med. Chem Lett. 2016, 7, 182-187.
2.3Å Resolution Cryo-EM Structure of Human p97 and Mechanism of Allosteric Inhibition, S. Banerjee, A. Bartesachi, A. Merk, P. Rao, S.L. Bulfer, Y. Yan, N. Green, B. Mroczkowski, P. Wipf, V. Falconieri, R.J. Deshaies, J.L.S. Milne, D.M. Huryn, M. Arkin, S. Subramanian, Science 2016, 351, 871-875.
Structure Property Relationships of Carboxylic Acid Isosteres, P. Lassalas, B. Gay, C. Lasfargeas, M.J. James, Van. Tran, K.J. Vijayendran, K.R. Brunden, M.C. Kozlowski, C.J. Thomas, A.B. Smith, III, D.M. Huryn, C. Ballatore, J. Med. Chem. 2016, 59, 3183-3203.
Development and Implementation of a High-Throughput High-Content Screening Assay to Identify Inhibitors of Androgen Receptor Nuclear Localization in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Cells, P.A. Johnston, M.M. Nguyen, J.A. Dar, J. Ai, Y. Wang, K.Z. Masoodi, T. Shun, S. Shinde, D.P. Camarco, Y. Hua, D.M. Huryn, G.M. Wilson, J.S. Lazo, J.B. Nelson, P. Wipf, Z. Wang, Assay Drug Dev. Technol. 2016, 14, 226-239.
Optimization of pyrazole-containing 1,2,4-triazolo-[3,4-b]thiadiazines, a new class of STAT3 pathway inhibitors, M.G. LaPorte, Z. Wang, R. Colombo, A. Garzan, V.A. Peshkov, M.Liang, P.A. Johnston, M.E. Schurdak, M. Sen, D.P. Camarco, Y. Hua, N.I. Pollock, J.S. Lazo, J.R. Grandis, P. Wipf, D. M. Huryn, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2016, 26, 3581-3585.
Toxicity, pharmacokinetics and metabolism of a novel inhibitor of IL-6-induced STAT3 activation, B. Kiesel, R. Parise, J. Guo, D. Huryn, P. Johnston, R. Colombo, M. Sen, J. Grandis, J. Beumer, J, Eiseman, Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 2016, 78, 1225-1235.
A threonine turnstile defines a dynamic amphiphilic binding motif in the AAA ATPase p97 assosteric binding site, J.C. Burnett, C. Lim, B.D. Peyser, L.P. Samankumara, M. Kovaliov, R. Colombo, S.L. Bulfer, M.G LaPorte, A.R. Hermone, C.F McGrath, M.R Arkin, R. Gussio D.M. Huryn, P. Wipf Org. Biomol. Chem. 2017, 15, 409-4114.
Mechanism of action of selective inhibitors of IL-6 induced STAT3 pathway in head and neck cancer cell lines, M. Sen, P.A. Johnston, N.I. Pollock, K. DeGrave, S.C. Joyce, M.L Freilino, D.M. Huryn, P. Wipf J.R. Grandis, J. Chem. Biol. 2017, 10, 129-141.
Medicinal Chemistry: Where are all the women? D.M. Huryn, M.L. Bolognesi, W.B. Young, ACS Med Chem. Lett. 2017, 8, 900-902.
Medicinal Chemistry, N.K. Dunlap & D.M. Huryn, (2018) New York, Garland Scientific CRC Press.
Optimization of Phenyl Indole Inhibitors of the AAA+ ATPase, p97, M.G. LaPorte, J.C. Burnett, R. Colombo, S.L. Bulfer, C. Alverez, T.-F. Chou, R.J. Neitz, N. Green, W.J. Moore, Z. Yue, S. Li, M.R. Arkin, P. Wipf, D.M. Huryn*, ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2018, 9, 1075-1081. 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.8b00372
Ferroptosis as a Novel Therapeutic Target for Friedreich’s Ataxia, M.G. Cotticelli, S. Xia, D. Lin, T. Lee. L. Terrab, P. Wipf, D.M. Huryn, R.B Wilson, J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2019, 369, 47-54. 10.1124/jpet.118.252759
Do Zebrafish Obey Lipinski Rules? K. Long, S.J. Kostman, C. Fernandez, J.C. Burnett, D.M. Huryn*, ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2019, 10, 1002-1006. 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.9b00063
p97: An Emerging Target for Cancer, Neurogenerative Diseases and Viral Infections, D. M. Huryn*, D.J.P. Kornfilt, P. Wipf, J. Med. Chem. 2020, 63, 1892-1907. 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01318
PTPRT Epigenetic Silencing Defines Lung Cancer with STAT3 Activation and Can Direct STAT3 Targeted Therapies, M. Sen, A. Kindsfather, L Danilova, F. Zhang, R. Colombo, M.G. LaPorte, B. Kurland, D.M. Huryn, P. Wipf, J.G. Herman, Epigenetics, 2020, 15, 604-617. 10.1080/15592294.2019.1676597
High-throughput Identification of Post-Transcriptional Utrophin Up-regulators for Duchenne Muscle Dystrophy (DMD) Therapy, E. Loro, K. Sengupta, S. Bogdanovich, K. Whig, D. Schultz, D.M. Huryn, T. Khurana, Sci. Rep. 2020, 10, 2132. 10.1038/s41598-020-58737-6
A Different Kind of Medicinal Chemistry Toolbox, D.M. Huryn*, M.-L. Bolognesi, ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2020, 3, 245-248. 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.9b00685
Identification of a Novel Oleic Acid Analog with Protective Effects in Multiple Cellular Models of Friedreich Ataxia, M.G. Cotticelli, R. Forestieri, S. Xia, S. Joyasawal, T. Lee, K. Xu, A.B. Smith, D.M. Huryn*, R.B. Wilson ACS Chemical Neurosciences 2020, 11, 2535-3542. 10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00323
YWCA Tribute to Women Awardee 2004
American Chemical Society Fellow (Inducted 2011)
Philadelphia ACS Section Award 2015
Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Advances Studies at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna (July 2017)
Philip S. Portoghese Journal of Medicinal Chemistry – Division of Medicinal Chemistry Joint Lectureship 2020
“Are We Closer to Building a Perfect Screening Library," Society for Laboratory Automation & Screening (SLAS), Orlando, FL, January 2013.
“Medicinal Chemistry Challenges and Opportunities Using Phenotypic Assays,” Pacifichem, Honolulu, HI, December 2015.
“Organic Chemistry: Of the people, by the people and for the people,” 252nd ACS National Meeting, Philadelphia, PA; August 2016.
“Targeting the Cell’s Quality Control System to Treat Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases", Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Bologna, Bologa, Italy, July 2017.
“p97 Allosteric inhibitors: Partnership with the Chemical Biology Consortium", ADDC/ ASPET, Bethesda, MD October 2017.
“Discovery, Optimization and Characterization of Allosteric Inhibitors of the AAA ATPase p97” 256nd ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA; August 2018.
“Carboxylic Acids and Their Isosteres” 257th ACS National Meeting, Orlando, FL, April 2019.
“Academic Drug Discovery: Playing to the Strengths to Address Challenging Targets and Unmet Medical Needs in Cancer and Acute Kidney Injury” Remarkable Women in Organic Chemistry Symposium, 257th ACS National Meeting, San Diego, CA, August 2019.
“Academic Drug Discovery: Playing to the Strengths to Address Challenging Targets & Diseases” 3rd NYU Abu Dhabi Biomedical & Biosystems Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE, January 2020.
“Academic Drug Discovery: Playing to the Strengths to Address Challenging Targets and Unmet Medical Needs” Confluence: Uniting sciences for a better tomorrow, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden, October 2020.