Internationally Recognized Pharmaceutical Expert Joins University of Kansas Cancer Center

Oct 3, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- With over 24 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, Sitta Sittampalam, PhD, joins the University of Kansas Cancer Center's (KUCC) Office of Therapeutics, Discovery and Development (OTDD) as its new deputy director, bringing the university closer to its goal of being the number one academic generator of anti-cancer drugs.

"We are excited to have someone with Dr. Sittampalam's stature and depth of experience to join our team," said KUCC Director Roy Jensen, MD. "He brings a national and international reputation in drug discovery and development. This experience will allow him to play a key leadership role in pushing drug development projects through our pipeline, better positioning us to meet our goal in developing oncology pharmaceutical drugs."

Sittampalam plays an important role in KUCC's quest to obtain the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Demonstrating capabilities in translational research is a key component in obtaining this designation, and Sittampalam will play a role in ensuring the designation criteria are met.

"We will rely on Dr. Sittampalam to bring his industry background to help define drug discovery strategies to translate molecular biology into drug discovery projects," said Scott Weir, OTDD director at KUCC. "He will help run drug discovery just like a biotechnology firm, helping our researchers develop and implement project plans, advancing drug candidates through the discovery phase toward development. We are incredibly excited to have someone with the experience and capabilities he brings to the table."

In 1984, Sittampalam joined Eli Lilly & Company, one of the leading innovation-driven pharmaceutical corporations in the world. There he helped build a repertoire of tools for modern drug discovery through the integration of quantitative biology, statistical experimental design and molecular pharmacology principles with leading high throughput screening technologies.

Before coming to KUCC, Sittampalam served as the head of Lilly's Lead Optimization Biology Laboratory and as a Senior Research Advisor of the cell technology group. In 2005, Sittampalam wrote a quantitative biology manual, Assay Guidance Manual Version 4.1, that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) now uses as its primary source.

"I am very excited to join the University of Kansas Cancer Center and have the opportunity to become a part of the vision toward obtaining NCI designation, by collaborating with researchers at KU, Stowers Institute, industry partners, and other academic institutions," said Sittampalam. "The stars are clearly aligned at KU with the number three School of Pharmacy, the Stowers Institute, and the Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology Departments all collaborating together. This was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, and I am eager to work with this high-powered group to further drug discovery and development at KU."

KUCC sees drug discovery and development as one of its key differentiators from other cancer centers across the United States. Leveraging the wealth of contract drug development capabilities and expertise that exists in the Heartland region, along with the expertise in novel drug delivery at KU, the OTDD employs best practices from the pharmaceutical industry to ensure researchers, industry partners, regulatory and technology transfer resources work together in a highly integrated, organized, and collaborative fashion to advance drug projects from bench to bedside.