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Principle Investigator

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Jianqin Lu

John A. and Frances P. Ware Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences

Director, Pharmaceutics & Pharmacokinetics Track

Associate Professor, BIO5 Institute

Member, NCI-designated UA Comprehensive Cancer Center 

Member, Southwest Environmental Health Science Center (SWEHSC)

Chartered Member, NIH Drug and Biologic Therapeutic Delivery (DBTD) Study Section

Editorial Board, Journal of Drug Targeting

Dr. Lu obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in 2014 and then performed postdoctoral training on nanomedicine and tumor immunology at the University of Chicago and UCLA. He joined the University of Arizona as an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2019 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2024. He was recently awarded the John A. and Frances P. Ware Endowed Professorship, and currently serves as the Director for the Pharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics Track at The University of Arizona RKCCOP. 

His research has been published in Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, Biomaterials, etc, and yielded an NIH/NIGMS MIRA (R35) and an NIH/NCI R01, PhRMA Foundation Research Starter Grant in Drug Delivery, and several pilot/seed grants from the UArizona Comprehensive Cancer Center, the State of Arizona's Technology and Research Initiative Fund (TRIF)/BIO5 Institute and the NIH-sponsored Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC). Recipient of the Norman R. and Priscilla A. Farnsworth Award at the University of Pittsburgh, the NIH/NCI Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award (T32) in Tumor Immunology at UCLA, A. Jay Gandolfi New Investigator Award at UArizona, and the 2022 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Pharmaceutics Research Award, Dr. Lu is a chartered member in NIH Drug and Biologic Therapeutic Delivery (DBTD) Study Section and serves on the editorial board in the Journal of Drug Targeting and was the Secretary of Knowledge Management in AACP Pharmaceutics Section. Dr. Lu has been recognized as the 2022 Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigator. 

Dr. Lu teaches Drug Delivery Systems, Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics and other courses for undergraduate, graduate, as well as professional PharmD students. The overarching goal of Lu lab is to develop innovative, safe, and efficacious nanotherapeutics at the interface of drug delivery, synthetic chemistry, pharmaceutics, nanoparticle engineering, and tumor immunology to address the pressing unmet needs in cancer and other diseases therapy and prevention.

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Dr. Zhiren Wang

PhD, Medicinal Chemistry

Sun Yat-sen University, China 

Research Scientist III

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Dr. WenPan Li

PhD, Pharmaceutics

Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, China

Postdoc

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Dr. Kui Zeng

PhD, Organic Chemistry

University of Göttingen, Germany

Postdoc

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Dr. Zhi Li

PhD, Biochemical Engineering

Fuzhou University, China

Postdoc

Research Scientist III & Postdoctoral Research Associate

Graduate & PharmD Researchers

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Yanhao Jiang

(3rd year, PhD candidate)

MS, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus

BA, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder

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Mengwen Li

(2nd year,PhD student)

MS, University of Mississippi

BS, Tianjin Medical University

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Shuang Wu

(2nd year, PhD student)

MS, Sichuan University

BS, Shihezi University

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Guangyuan Xu

(Spring 25, PhD student)

MS, University of Washington 

Seattle

 

BS, Tsinghua University

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Jinha Chung

(P2, PharmD student)

BS, The University of Arizona

Undergraduate Researchers

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Leyla Cordova
 

Sophomore

(Native American Cancer Prevention)

Pharmaceutical Sciences

R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy

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MinHyeok Kim

Senior

Pharmaceutical Sciences

R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy

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Stephanie Virginia Hunt

Junior

Pharmaceutical Sciences

R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy

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Riley Piao Ran Haveman

Sophomore

Pharmaceutical Sciences

R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy

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Dulce Nalleli Cardenas

Sophomore (Honors College)

Pharmaceutical Sciences

R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy

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Ethan Lin

Senior

Biomedical Engineering

College of Engineering

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Karlie Flader |

Senior

Pharmaceutical Sciences

R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy

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Kylie Jenna Leialoha Castro

Sophomore

Pharmaceutical Sciences

R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy

Alumni 

 Name                                                  Lu Lab Position                             Last known Location

Daniel Aranda                                  Undergraduate Researcher             University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy                                     

Teng Ma                                           Postdoc                                            University of Utah College of Pharmacy.             

Harry Tran                                        PharmD student                               University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy.

Nicolas Little                                PharmD Researcher                      Pharmacy Resident, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Joseph Stanley Adams                Rotation Graduate Student           Abhijit Date's lab, UArizona Pharmaceutics & Pharmacokinetics

Karina Marie Gonzalez                Undergraduate Researcher          MS student of Nursing, The University of Arizona College of Nursing 
Jonghan Park                              Undergraduate Researcher          Graduate student, Cancer Biology, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, South Korea

Cole Alexander Foster                Undergraduate Researcher           Chemical Engineering, The University of Arizona College of Engineering

Kimberly Thi Le                           Undergraduate Researcher           PharmD student, The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy

Jiawei Chen (Honors College)    Undergraduate Researcher           PharmD student, University of Michigan College of Pharmacy   

Emily Q Tran (Honors College)   Undergraduate Researcher           Pharmaceutical Sciences program, The University of Arizona 

Jiayu Zhu (Honors College)        Undergraduate Researcher           Pharmaceutical Sciences program, The University of Arizona 

Kevin Tyler Lambesis                  Undergraduate Researcher           Aero Mist Company

Tyler Jason Predovich                 Undergraduate Researcher           PharmD student, The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy 

Andy Valencia                             PharmD Researcher                       PharmD student, The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy

Jeremy Andrew Snell                  Rotation Graduate Student             Georg Wondrak's lab, UArizona Drug Discovery & Development

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