Dr. R. Stephanie Haung & Dr. Changquan Calvin Sun Named Distinguished McKnight University Professors

Dr. R. Stephanie Huang, professor in the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy’s Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, and Dr. Changquan Calvin Sun, professor and associate head of the Department of Pharmaceutics have been named 2024 Distinguished McKnight Professors. 

Huang has developed a reputation as a preeminent clinical pharmacologist focusing on precision medicine in cancer research and computational biology. She holds an exemplary record of continuous research funding, academic productivity, scholarly impact and extensive contributions to graduate and professional education and mentoring.

Huang is a pioneer in the field of cancer biology and pharmacogenetics. The significance of her work has garnered attention within the broad field of cancer research and the active and growing subfield of precision medicine. Her overall research program is dedicated to assembling a multi-disciplinary team that leverages the expertise of computational biologists, geneticists, pharmacists, pharmacologists, physicians, molecular biologists, and biostatisticians, to address the challenges in the selection of optimal therapies to treat cancers. The primary objective of her program is to develop clinically useful models that enable prediction of the risks of toxicities and non-responsiveness to chemotherapeutic medications before they are actually prescribed to treat the patient.

Sun has established a novel and comprehensive theoretical basis in the broad field of pharmaceutics, helping transform the field into a vibrant and active research area of pharmaceutical materials science and engineering. 

In his research, Sun seeks to develop scientific links among solid state structure (crystalline or amorphous), properties of the solid (e.g. solubility, elasticity, plasticity), processing (milling, drying, tablet compression), and tablet performance (how quickly the drug will dissolve, durability, chemical and physical stability). In this space, he has made numerous critical scientific discoveries. He is a leading scientist and opinion leader in the field of physical pharmacy. He is also an active mentor for the next generation of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. This has included mentorship for undergraduate, PharmD, graduate students in our college and other institutions, and visiting scholars. 

The Distinguished McKnight University Professorship program recognizes outstanding faculty members who have recently achieved full professor status. Recipients hold the title “Distinguished McKnight University Professor” for as long as they remain employed at the University of Minnesota. This program is administered by the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.