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University of Kansas Cancer Center
University of Kansas Cancer Center  :  Leadership

Sitta Sittampalam, PhD


S Sittampalam

Deputy Director, Office of Therapeutics, Discovery and Development
Co-Leader, Drug Discovery and Experimental Therapeutics Research Program
University of Kansas Cancer Center
ssittampalam@kumc.edu

Sitta Sittampalam, PhD brings over 23 years of pharmaceutical industry experience at Eli Lilly & Company to help lead the Office of Therapeutics, Discovery and Development.  His exceptional experience and background in drug discovery and assay development helps to foster the University of Kansas Cancer Center’s (KUCC) effort to attain its goal of being the number one academic generator of oncology drugs. 

Sittampalam joined KUCC in September 2007 to assist in overseeing a fully integrated drug discovery and development program through collaboration of researchers, industry partners, regulatory and technology transfer resources. 

Background

Sittampalam received his PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Arizona in 1982.        

Sittampalam joined Eli Lilly & Company in 1984, as a Senior Analytical Chemist in the Analytical Development Division.  From 1989-2001, he assumed a series of senior positions in Biochemical Pharmacology to Bio Research Technologies Division at Lilly.    In 2001, Sittampalam was named Head of the Lead Optimization Biology Laboratory where he oversaw lead generation and lead optimization and candidate selection efforts.  In 2007, he resumed the role of Senior Research Advisor where he lead the Cell Technology group to develop an adult stem/progenitor cell-based screening platform for High Content Phenotypic Screening.    

In 2005, Sittampalam wrote and edited, “Assay Guidance Manual”, which is published and used by the National Institutes of Health as part of its RoadMap Program. 

University of Kansas Cancer Center

Sittampalam joined KUCC in 2007 and holds a professorship in the department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics. 

Membership Organizations

  • Member, Society for Biomolecular Sciences (Screening), President 2003-2004
  • Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1996-present)
  • Member, American Chemical Society (1982-Present)

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
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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).
  6. 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.
  7. Smith, Sittampalam, “Conceptual and Statistical Issues in the Validation of Analytical Dilution Assays for Pharmaceutical Applications”. J. Biopharmaceutical Statistics, 8(4), 509, 1998.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. Sittampalam, Kahl, Janzen, “High Throughput Screening: Recent Advances in Assay Technologies”. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 1, 384, 1997.