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College of Pharmacy

Faculty Profile

Gregory CunyGregory Cuny

Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
Joseph P. & Shirley Shipman Buckley Endowed Professor of Drug Discovery
Chair, Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Office: 
University of Houston College of Pharmacy
Health 2, Room 7036
4349 Martin Luther King Boulevard
Houston, TX 77204-5039

Contact: gdcuny@uh.edu - 713-743-1274 - Fax: 713-743-1884

Research:

The research interest of our laboratory is in the field of synthetic medicinal chemistry. One goal of our research is to design and optimize in vivo pharmacology probes to elucidate novel therapeutic strategies for treating diseases. We use approaches in organic synthesis, molecular modeling/docking and structure-based design to guide these optimization efforts. A second goal is to incorporate conformational restricted natural products and non-derivative synthesis into our research program.

  • Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
  • B.S. in Chemistry, Grove City College, Grove City, Penn.
  • Singh, A.K.; Bernabucci, M.; Dvorak, N.M.; Haghighijoo, Z.; Di Re, J.; Goode, N.A.; Kadakia, F.K.; Maile, L.A.; Folorunso, O.O.; Wadsworth, P.A.; Tapia, C.M.; Wang, P.; Wang, J.; Chen, H.; Xue, Y.; Singh, J.; Hankerd, K.; Gamez, I.J. Kager, M.; Truong, V.; Walsh,P.; Shiers, S.I.; Kuttanna, N.; Liao, H.; Marchi, M.; Salvi, E.; D’Amato, I.; D'Amico, D.; Arman, P.; Faber, C.G.; Malik, R.A.; de Tommaso, M.; Ziegler, D.; Rajarathnam, K.; Green, T.A.; Grace, P.M.; Sapio, M.R.; Iadarola, M.J.; Cuny, G.D.; Chow, D.S.; Pinter, G.L.; Davidson, S.; Green, D.P.; La, J.-H.; Chung, M.O.; Zhou, J.; Price, T.J.; Salisbury, E.; Yuan, S.; Laezza, F. Sensory neuron–expressed FGF13 controls nociceptive signaling in diabetic neuropathy models. J Clin Invest. 2025, 135, e183749.
  • Waldron-Young, E.; Wijitrmektong, W.; Choi, R.; Whitman, G.R.; Hulverson, M.A.; Charania, R.; Keelaghan, A.; Li, L.; Srinual, S.; Nikhar, S.; McNamara, C.W.; Love, M.S.; Huerta, L.; Bakowski, M.A.; Hu, M.; Van Voorhis, W.C.; Mead, J.R.; Cuny, G.D. Pyridopyrimidinones as a new chemotype of calcium dependent protein kinase 1 (CDPK1) inhibitors for Cryptosporidium. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2024, 260, 111637.
  • Gautam, A.; Boyd, D.F.; Nikhar, S.; Zhang, T.; Siokas, I.; Van de Velde, L.-A.; Gaevert, J.; Meliopoulos, V.; Thapa, B.; Rodriguez, D.A.; Cai, K.Q.; Yin, C.; Schnepf, D.; Beer, J.; DeAntoneo, C.; Williams, R.M.; Shubina, M.; Livingston, L.; Zhang, D.; Andrake, M.D.; Lee, S.; Boda, R.; Duddupudi, A.L.; Crawford, J.C.; Vogel, P.; Loch, C.; Schwemmle, M.; Fritz, L.C.; Schultz-Cherry, S.; Green, D.R.; Cuny, G.D.; Thomas, P.G.; Degterev, A.; Balachandran, S. Necroptosis blockade prevents lung injury in severe influenza. Nature 2024, 628, 835-843.
  • Lee, S.; Love, M.S.; Modukuri, R.; Chatterjeeb, A.K.; Huerta, L.; Lawson, A.P.; McNamara, C.W.; Meade, J.R.; Hedstrom, L.; Cuny, G.D. Structure-activity relationship of BMS906024 derivatives for Cryptosporidium parvum growth inhibition. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2023, 90, 129328.
  • Pepi, M.J.; Chacko, S.; Kopetz, N.; Boshoff, H.I.M.; Cuny, G.D.; Hedstrom, L. Nonhydrolyzable D-phenylalanine-benzoxazole derivatives retain antitubercular activity. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2023, 80, 129116.
  • Boda, R.; Cuny, G.D. Synthesis of the pentacyclic tetrahydroberberine pallimamine and epi-pallimamine. Tetrahedron, 2022, 129, 133146.
  • Ali, G.; Cuny, G.D. Syntheses of gymnothespirolignans B, C, and non-natural isomer 9-epi-gymnothespirolignan B. J. Org. Chem. 2021, 86, 10517 – 10525.
  • Stone, A.E.; Scheuermann, S.E.; Haile, C.N.; Cuny, G.D.; Velasquez, M.L.; Linhuber, J.P.; Duddupudi, A.; Vigliaturo, J.; Pravetoni, M.; Kosten, T.A.; Kosten, T.R.; Norton. E.B. Novel fentanyl conjugate vaccine by injected or mucosal delivery with dmLT or LTA1 adjuvants implicates IgA in protection from drug challenge. NPJ Vaccines 2021, 6, 69.
  • Nikhar, S.; Siokas, I.; Schlicher, L.; Lee, S.; Gyrd-Hansen, M.; Degterev, A.; Cuny, G.D. Design of pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidin-7-one inhibitors of receptor interacting protein kinase-2 (RIPK2) and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD) cell signaling. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2021, 215, 113252.
  • Cuny, G.D.; Degterev, A. RIPK protein kinase family: Atypical lives of typical kinases. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2021, 109, 96 – 105.
  • Lee, S.; Ku, A.F.; Vippila, M.R.; Wang, Y.; Zhang, M.; Wang, X.; Hedstrom, L.; Cuny, G.D. Mycophenolic anilides as broad specificity inosine-5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) inhibitors. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2020, 30, 127543.
  • Suebsuwong, C.; Dai, B.; Pinkas, D.M.; Duddupudi, A.L.; Li, L.; Bufton, J.C.; Schlicher, L.; Gyrd-Hansen, M.; Hu, M.; Bullock, A.N.; Degterev, A.; Cuny, G.D. Receptor-interacting protein kinase 2 (RIPK2) and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD) cell signaling inhibitors based on a 3,5-diphenyl-2-aminopyridine scaffold. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2020, 200, 112417.
  • Ali, G.; Cuny, G.D. Synthesis of the tetracyclic framework of polycyclic spiro lignan natural products. ACS Omega 2020, 5, 9007 – 9012.
  • Pawlowic, M.C.; Somepalli, M.; Sateriale, A.; Herbert, G.T.; Gibson, A.; Cuny, G.D.; Hedstrom, H.; Striepen, B. Genetic ablation of purine salvage in Cryptosporidium parvum reveals nucleotide uptake from the host cell. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2019, 116, 21160 – 21165.
  • Hrdinka, M.; Schlicher, L.; Dai, B.; Pinkas, D.M.; Bufton, J.C.; Picaud, S.; Ward, J.A.; Rogers, C.; Suebsuwong, C.; Nikhar, S.; Cuny, G.D.; Huber, K.V.M.; Filippakopoulos, P.; Bullock, A.N.; Degterev, A.; Gyrd-Hansen, M. Small molecule inhibitors reveal an indispensable scaffolding role of RIPK2 in NOD2 signaling. EMBO J. 2018, 37(17), e99372.