Accomplished Inventor, Investigator Chow to Share Insights into Cancer Research Career with STEM Undergraduates at March 20 'Lunch & Learn' Lecture 

March 6 — UHCOP's Diana S-L. Chow, Ph.D., FNAI, professor of Pharmaceutics and director of the Institute for Drug Education and Research, will share insights from her accomplished career in cancer research, drug development and patented discoveries at a "lunch-and-learn" lecture noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, in The Honors Commons on the 2nd floor of the MD Anderson Library.

Lunch will be provided for attendees who register in advance at https://tinyurl.com/cancer-alliance-march20. 

Chow's presentation, "Cancer drug development: a multidisciplinary science," is the first in a series of events and activities aimed at encouraging undergraduate students across a range of disciplines to get involved in cancer research.

Supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, the Cancer Research Education Program is a collaboration of UHCOP and the Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Baylor College of Medicine focusing on reducing disparities in cancers that disproportionately affect specific patient populations as well as in the under-representation of specific ethnic and racial backgrounds, namely Hispanic and African-American, in the pursuit of cancer research careers. 

In addition to the Chow's presentation, attendees will have the opportunity to meet other UH cancer researchers from across campus. 

A Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, Chow is an expert in pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, particularly in the development, modeling and analyses of novel drug formulations and drug-delivery systems for the treatment of leukemia, cancer and acute spinal cord injury as well as studying the stability and efficacy of medications used in spaceflight.

Her research has resulted in more than 10 U.S. and international patents, including her co-invention of IV Busulfex® (busulfan), an intravenous conditioning agent for leukemia and other cancer patients undergoing blood, bone marrow or stem cell transplantation. Today, more than 65 percent of all acute leukemia patients transplanted in North America receive the 100 percent bioavailable pretransplant regimen, making significant impacts on patient survivals. In 2009, the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association bestowed its Inventor of the Year Award to Chow and her IV Busulfex® (busulfan) co-inventors.

Chow received her Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia, her M.S. from Ohio State University, and her B.S. from National Taiwan University. Editor of the British Journal of Pharmacology, Chow has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, three book chapters and more than 200 abstracts presented at scientific conferences/meetings. Her former doctoral students can be found in academia, the federal government and the pharmaceutical industry.