G. Sitta Sittampalam, Professor

Ph.D. (Chemistry), Univ. of Arizona, Tucson 1982

Research Interests

My research interests are in developing innovative tools for quantitative biology and pharmacology and its applications to High Throughput Screening (HTS) and drug discovery. Of special interest is the integration of state-of-the-art cell technologies and 3D imaging of engineered tissues to identify and validate drug targets in cancer, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases.

As the Deputy Director of the Office Therapeutics, Discovery and Development (OTDD), I plan to collaborate with scientists in organizing and implementing target prioritization, HTS and lead optimization functions across multiple components at the KU Medical Center, Molecular Biosciences and Pharmaceutical chemistry at the Lawrence campus, and SIMR.

I have over 23 years of experience in drug discovery and development at Eli Lilly & Company. I held several positions in Bioanalytical Development, Biochemical Pharmacology, HTS and Lead Optimization Biology Departments.  At Lilly, I have contributed to the development of several recombinant protein products that are currently on the market:  Human Insulin, Lys-Pro Human Insulin, Human Growth hormone and Activated Protein C. 

In 1994, I moved to the Discovery Biology component at Lilly and established a quantitative biology laboratory for the development and validation of automation-ready high throughput screens that were implemented in Lilly’s North Carolina facility (Sphinx Pharmaceuticals/Lilly RTP Laboratories). During this period, I lead the development and editing of a Quantitative Biology Manual for use in Discovery Biology and Chemistry departments. This work was eventually adopted and published as the Assay Guidance Manual on the NIH-NCGC website for use in the NIH RoadMap Initiative. This effort involved the collaboration of over 20 scientists in multiple therapeutic areas, statistical sciences and automation engineering. In 1999, I also served as a key member of the management team that envisioned the concept of optimizing lead optimization (post HTS), and the establishment of one of the first Lead Optimization Laboratory in the industry. From 2001 -2007, he served as the head of Lead Optimization Laboratory at Eli Lilly.

I have also served on multiple internal study groups, scientific and management activities at Lilly, including academic and government relations committees. Externally, I was a governing board member of the Society for Biomolecular Sciences from 1997-2000, and then served as President from 2003-2004.

Selected Publications.

1. Auld, Inglese, Jahdev, Austin, Sittampalam, Montrose-Rafizadeh, McGee, “HTS Technologies to Facilitate Chemical Genomics”, Eur. Pharmaceu. Rev., Issue 2, pp: 53-63, 2007.
2. Thiagalingam, Sittampalam, “Impact of the fundamentals of biochemistry on genomic and epigenomic approaches to medicine”, Book Chapter: Recent Research Developments in Analytical Biochemistry: Applications in EnvironmentalToxicology, 2007: ISBN: 978-81-308-0193-3

Editors: Prem Kumarathasan and Renaud Vincent.

1. Iversen, Sittampalam, Eastwood, “Comparison of Assay Performance Parameters in Screening Assays: Signal Window, Z’-Factor, and Assay Variability Ratio.” J. Bimol. Screening, 11(3), 247-252, 2006.
2. Inglese, Austin, Auld, Sittampalam, Kahl, Montrose et al, Guidance for Assay Development and High-Throughput Screening, April 2005, NIH Chemical Genome Center Website, http://www.ncgc.nih.gov/manual/toc.html.
3. Sittampalam, Westmore, “Bioimaging in Drug Discovery”, Anal. Bioanal. Chem., 377(6), 953-54, 2003. (Edited a series of articles on this topic in this issue).
4. Chen, Hentz, Hubbard, Meier, Sittampalam, Zhao, “Development of a Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Assay for Measuring the Activity of Streptococcus pneumoniae DNA Ligase, an Enzyme essential for DNA Replication, Repair and Recombination”, Anal. Biochem. 309, 232, 2002.
5. Smith, Sittampalam, “Conceptual and Statistical Issues in the Validation of Analytical Dilution Assays for Pharmaceutical Applications”. J. Biopharmaceutical Statistics, 8(4), 509, 1998.
6. Kahl, Hubbard, Sittampalam, Zock, “Validation of a High Throughput Scintillation Proximity Assay for 5-hydroxytryptamine 1E Receptor Binding Activity”, J. Bimol. Screening, 2(1), 33-40, 1997.
7. Sittampalam, Iversen, Boadt, Kahl, Bright, Zock and Lister. “Design of Signal Windows in High Throughput Screening Assays for Drug Discovery”. J. Biomol. Screening, 2, 72, 1997.
8. Sittampalam, Kahl, Janzen, “High Throughput Screening: Recent Advances in Assay Technologies”. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 1, 384, 1997.
9. Hentz, Sportsman, Daijo, Sittampalam, “Synthesis and Characterization of Insulin-Fluorescein Analogs for Bioanalytical Applications”.  Anal. Chem. 69, 4994, 1997.

Contact Information

Sitta Sittapalam , Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics
The University of Kansas Medical Center
MS 1018
3901 Rainbow Blvd.
Kansas City, Kansas 66160
Phone: 913-588-7140
Fax: 913- 588-7501
Email:  ssittapalam@kumc.edu

Updated 10/09/2007