Drug Toxicity, Bioavailability Researcher Rongjin Sun Joins College's Phamaceutics Faculty

Sept. 1 — The University of Houston College of Pharmacy recently welcomed Rongjin Sun, Ph.D., as a research assistant professor of pharmaceutics in the Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Sun earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Hubei University of Medicine in Shiyan City, China, a master’s degree in pharmacy from Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Jiangxi, China, and a Ph.D. degree in pharmacology from Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine in Guangzhou, China. He recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the college in the laboratory of UHCOP’s Ming Hu, Ph.D., Diana S-L. Chow Endowed Professor of Drug Discovery and Development.

Sun’s research interests are focused in three areas: mechanisms, biomarkers and prevention of drug-induced liver/intestinal toxicity; manipulating the local bioavailability of drug candidates or drugs for improved efficacy and reduced side effects via regulation of the transporters and enzymes; and studying the pharmacokinetic characterization of drugs and deploying pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling analysis and biostatistics services for potential anti-cancer drugs.

Sun has published 20 papers in such journals as Drug Metabolism and Disposition, Phytomedicine, the Journal of Applied Toxicology, and the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis. Sun has served as a reviewer on more than 50 manuscripts among 20 journals, including Arabian Journal of Chemistry, Cancers, Biopharmaceutics & Drug Disposition, Pharmaceutics, and Phytotherapy Research.

In a previous position at Hubei University of Medicine, Sun was recognized as the Outstanding Teacher of the University and as a second-place honoree in the institution’s Teaching Excellence Award competition.