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Faculty Profile

Diana ChowDiana S-L Chow

Professor of Pharmaceutics
Paula & John J. Lovoi Sr. Endowed Professor in Drug Discovery and Development
Director, Institute of Drug Education and Research
Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Office: 
University of Houston College of Pharmacy
Health 2, Room 7049
4349 Martin Luther King Boulevard
Houston, TX 77204-5039

Contact: dchow@uh.edu - Office: 832-842-8308 Fax: 713-743-1884

 

Research:

Substantial preclinical/clinical research, administrative, and mentoring experiences for 40 years in the University of Houston, College of Pharmacy (UHCOP). Research have been focused on translational drug development for anti-cancer therapy, and the endeavors have resulted in an FDA product, Busulfex®, and multiple patents of developed formulations, currently in preclinical and clinical development for treatments of lung, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. Expert in pharmaceutical formulation development, pre-IND development, IND-enabling preclinical and clinical PK/PD to enhance or optimize clinical therapies towards new treatments for cancer and infection. Recently, research work has been expanded to URM populations, pediatrics and neurologically injured/disordered patients.

  • B.S. in Pharmacy, National Taiwan University, School of Pharmacy
  • M.S. in Natural Product Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Ohio State University
  • Ph.D. (Pharmaceutics), University of British Columbia, Canada

Google Scholar Profile
  • Westley D. Eure, Robert G. Grossman, Philip J. Horner, Diana S-L. Chow. LC-MS/MS assay of riluzole and etoricoxib in rat plasma and brain tissue with applications for sampling and evaluation in pre-clinical rat model of traumatic brain injury, Talanta, 2021 (in press).
  • Lorita Agua, Jodi L. Skilesb, Andrea R. Mastersb, Jamie L. Renbargerb, Diana S-L. Chow. Simultaneous Quantification of Vincristine and Its Major 1 M1 Metabolite from Dried Blood Spot Samples of Kenyan Pediatric Cancer Patients by UPLC-MS/MS, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 2021 (in press).
  • Ashley Nguyen, Diana S-L. Chow, Lei Wu, Yang (Angela) Teng, Mahua Sarkar, Elizabeth G. Toups, James S. Harrop, Karl M. Schmitt, Michele M. Johnson, James D. Guest, Bizhan Aarabi, Christopher I. Shaffrey, Maxwell Boakye, Ralph F. Frankowski, Michael G. Fehlings, Robert G Grossman, Longitudinal impacts of acute spinal cord injury on clinical pharmacokinetics of riluzole, a potential neuroprotective agent, Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2021, PMID: 33908635, DOI: 10.1002/ jcph.1876.
  • Victor R. Lincha, Jun Zhao, Xiaoxia Wen, Chiyi Xiong, Chun Li, Diana S-L. Chow, A polymeric micellar drug delivery system developed through a Design of Experiment approach improves pancreatic tumor accumulation of calcipotriol and paclitaxel, International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 601:120523-, 2021, PMID: 33775721, PMCID: PMC8122084.
  • Victor R. Lincha, Cheng-Hui Hsiao, Jun Zhao, Chun Li, Diana S-L. Chow, Sensitive and rapid UHPLC-MS/MS assay for simultaneous quantifications of calcipotriol and paclitaxel in rat whole blood and plasma samples, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis,192:113685-113693, 2021, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2020.113685, PMID: 33099115.
  • Pavan Kumar Chityala, Lei Wu, Diana S-L Chow, Romi Ghose, Effects of Inflammation on Irinotecan Pharmacokinetics and Development of a Best-fit PK Model, Chemico- Biological Interactions, 316:108933 (pp7), 2020.
  • Asma El-Zailik, Lily K. Cheung, Yang Wang, Vadim Sherman, Diana S-L Chow. Longitudinal Impacts of Gastric Bypass Surgery on Pharmacodynamics and Pharmacokinetics of Statins, Obesity Surgery, Apr 19. doi: 10.1007/s11695-019-03885-6, 29(8): 2571-2583, 2019. PMID: 31004269, PMCID: PMC6660378
  • Dong Dong#, Cheng-Hui Hsiao#, Beppino C. Giovanella^, Yifei Wang, Diana S-L, Chow*, Zhijie Li (# sharing equally contribution, * Corresponding author). Sustained Delivery of a Camptothecin Prodrug - CZ48 by Nanosuspensions with Improved Pharmacokinetics and Enhanced Anticancer Activity, International Journal of Nanomedicine, 14:3799-3817, 2019. PMID: 31213802; PMCID: PMC6540077
  • Cheng-Hui Hsiao, Jun Zhao, Song Gao, Nashid Farhan, Yang Wang, Chun Li, Diana S-L. Chow. Development and validation of a rapid and sensitive UPLC-MS/MS assay for simultaneous quantification of paclitaxel and cyclopamine in mouse whole blood and tissue samples, Journal of Biomedical Chromatography, 33 (9): e4518, 2019. doi: 10.1002/bmc.4518. Epub 2019 Jul 9. PMID: 30805953.
  • Asma El-Zailik, Lily K. Cheung, Yang Wang, Vadim Sherman, Diana S-L. Chow. Simultaneous LC-MS/MS analysis of simvastatin, atorvastatin, rosuvastatin and their active metabolites for plasma samples of obese patients underwent gastric bypass surgery, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 164: 258-267, 2019, PMID: 30396053, PMCID: PMC6298799.
  • Lili Cui, Chiyi Xiong, Min Zhou, Sixiang Shi, Diana S-L. Chow*, and Chun Li* (*Corresponding authors). Integrin αvβ3-targeted [64Cu]CuS Nanoparticles for PET/CT Imaging and Photothermal Ablation Therapy, Bioconjugate Chemistry, 29:4062-4071, 2018, PMID: 30404438, PMCID: PMC6693325.
  • Zhao, Jun; Xiao, Zhilan; Li, Tingting; Chen, Huiqin; Yuan, Ying; Wang, Alan; Hsiao, Cheng-Hui ; Chow, Diana S-L ; Overwijk, Willem; Li, Chun. Stromal Modulation Reverses Primary Resistance to Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Pancreatic Cancer, ACS Nano, 12 (10): 9881-9893, 2018, PMID: 30231203, PMCID: PMC6245606.
  • Mahua Sarkar, Robert G. Grossman, Elizabeth G. Toups, Diana S-L Chow. Rational Design and Development of a Stable Liquid Formulation of Riluzole and its Pharmacokinetic Evaluation after Oral and IV Administrations in Rats, European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 125:1-10, 2018, PMID: 30201516.
  • Yu Jin Kim, Yifan Tu, and Diana S-L Chow. Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography -Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) Assay for Simultaneous Quantifications of CZ48, Lactone-stabilized Camptothecin, and Camptothecin and Their Pharmacokinetic and Biliary Evaluations in Rats, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 161: 122-128, 2018, PMID: 30149187.
  • Prajakta Gadgil, Jaymin Shah, Diana S-L Chow. Enhanced brain delivery with lower hepatic exposure of lazaroid loaded nanostructured lipid carriers developed using a design of experiment approach, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 544: 265-277, 2018, PMID: 29689367.

Awards & Honors

  • 2023 Meritorious Achievement Award, UH College of Pharmacy
  • 2023 Pharmaceutical Sciences Alumni Agent of Change, University of British Columbia
  • 2022 Jack L. Beal Postbaccalaureate Distinguished Alumni Award, Ohio State University
  • 2022 Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award, Conference of Southern Graduate Schools 
  • 2021 Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award, University of Houston
  • 2020 Paula & John J. Lovoi Endowed Professor in Drug Discovery and Development
  • 2018 Keynote Speaker, RCMI Collaborative Symposium - Synergistic Mentoring In Drug Discovery and Development
  • 2017 Fellow Advisory Committee member, National Academy of Inventors
  • 2016 Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (NAI)
  • 2009 Inventor of the Year Award, Houston Intellectual Property Law Association (HIPLA)
  • 2005 & 2006 Faculty Scholar Award in Cancer Research, American Association for Cancer Research Minority-Serving Institution (AACR-MSI)
  • 2000 Plenary Lecturer, Conference on "The Camptothecins: Unfolding Their Anticancer Potential," Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City, Arlington, Virginia