Sunil David, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry

Contact Info
Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Madras University, India (1986), M.B.B.S
Madras University, India (1995), PhD
Postdoctoral Training
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India (1995)
Forschungszentrum, Borstel, Germany (1995)
University of Kansas Medical Center (1996-2000)
Summary
Sunil David received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India. Following postdoctoral training stints at the Forschungszentrum, Borstel, Germany, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the University of Kansas Medical Center, he joined the faculty at KU before being recruited by the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on the discovery and development of endotoxin-sequestering molecules as potential anti-sepsis agents, modulation of innate immune pathways, and host responses to infectious agents.
Awards & Recognition
Mentor of The Year Award, Office for Diversity in Science Training (2010) Teacher of The Year Award, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (2008) Excellence in Teaching Award, Center for Teaching Excellence at KU (2008) Rho Chi Excellence in Teaching Award, Rho Chi Honor Society, School of Pharmacy at KU (2007) Kansas Health Foundation Scholar, Kansas Health Foundation, Kansas City (1997) Indian National Science Academy Outstanding Young Scientist Medal, Indian National Academy, New Delhi (1995) Nowotny Prize for Outstanding Young Scientist, International Endotoxin Society, Helsinki (1994)
Research
Research Summary/Interests
- vaccine adjuvant design and development
- peptide vaccines.Immunogen design
- molecular mechanisms of host responses to pathogens with emphasis on innate immunity and inflammatory responses to bacterial products
- molecular recognition
- proteomics
- protein structure and function
Patents
SA David & DC Morrison, "The use of synthetic polycationic amphiphilic substances with fatty-acid or hydrocarbon substituents as
lipopolysaccharide-sequestering agents," U.SS Patent # 5,998,482; issued Dec. 7, 1999.
"The use of synthetic polycationic amphiphilic substances with fatty-acid or hydrocarbon substituents as
nontoxic therapeutic agents in the treatment of Gram-positive septic shock," September 2004.
SA David & MR Burns, invention disclosure/provisional patent application: "Lysine-spermine conjugates: Hydrophobic polyamine
amides as potent lipopolysaccharide sequestrants," (S/N:60/627,082); November 2004.
SA David & A Datta, invention disclosure/provisional patent application: "Novel acylspermines as sequestrants of bacterial
Endotoxins," January 2005.
SA David, invention disclosure/provisional patent application: "Novel inhibitors of angiogenesis," January 2005.
MR Burns & SA David, "Recognition of oligosaccharide molecular targets by polycationic small molecule inhibitors and treatment of
immunological disorders and infectious diseases," U.S. Patent # 7,199,267; issued April 3, 2007.
SA David & MR Burns, "Polycationic sulfonamides and use thereof," U.S. Patent # 7,411,002; issued August 12, 2008.
SA David & NM Shukla., "Toll-like receptor-7 and -8 modulatory 1H imidazoquinoline derived compounds," U.S. Patent # 8,618,128; issued May 20, 2014. Key compounds in the above patent are currently under negotiations for licensing by a vaccine specializing in vaccines.
Publications
Human Toll-like Receptor 8-Selective Agonistic Activities in 1-Alkyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-amines. M Beesu, SS Malladi, CD Jones & SA David. J. Med. Chem. (2014) 57:7325-7341.
Determinants of Activity at Human Toll-like Receptors 7 and 8: QSAR of Diverse Heterocyclic Scaffolds. E Yoo, DB Salunke, D Sil, X Guo, ACD Salyer, AR Hermanson, M Kumar, SS Malladi, R Balakrishna, WH Thompson, H Tanji, U Ohto, T Shimizu & SA David. J. Med. Chem. (2014) 57:7955-7970.
Structure-based Ligand Design of Novel Human Toll-like Receptor 8 Agonists. HP Kokatla, D Sil, H Tanji, U Ohto, SS Malladi, LM Fox, T Shimizu & SA David. ChemMedChem. (2014) 9:719-723.
Structure-Activity Relationships in Toll-like Receptor 7 Agonistic 1H-Imidazo[4,5-c]pyridines. E Yoo, BM Crall, LM Fox, R Balakrishna, SS Malladi, AR Hermanson & SA David. Org. Biomol. Chem. (2013) 11:6526-6545.
Design and Development of Hydrolytically-stable, Water-soluble, Human Toll-like Receptor 2-Specific, Monoacyl Lipopeptides as Candidate Vaccine Adjuvants. DB Salunke, SW Connelly, NM Shukla, AR Hermanson, LM Fox & SA David. J. Med. Chem. (2013) 56:5885-5900
Exquisite Selectivity For Human Toll-like Receptor 8 in Substituted Furo[2,3-c]quinolines. HP Kokatla, D Sil, SS Malladi, R Balakrishna, AR Hermanson, LM Fox, X Wang, A Dixit & SA David. J. Med. Chem. (2013) 56:6871-6885.
Toll-like receptor-8 agonistic activities in C2, C4, and C8 modified thiazolo[4,5-c]quinolines HP Kokatla, E Yoo, DB Salunke, D Sil, CF Ng, R Balakrishna, SS Malladi, LM Fox & SA David. Org. Biomol. Chem. (2013) 11:1179-1198.