Drug Discovery & Development Overview

The Office of Therapeutics, Discovery and Development (OTDD), led by Director Scott Weir, PharmD, PhD, and Deputy Director Sitta Sittampalam, PhD is an integral component of the University of Kansas Cancer Center.  The OTDD plays an important role in our quest to obtain the National Cancer Institute’s designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by translating the discoveries made in our basic scientist’s labs to those that need it the most: patients.  Unlike any other program in the country, Dr. Weir has established a completely integrated, efficient organization by applying industry best practices, establishing high performance and highly collaborative project teams, and by leveraging relationships with other institutions and industry partners to reach our ultimate goal of  eliminating cancer.  The OTDD manages three established Cancer Center shared resources (Biotechnology Innovation & Optimization Drug Discovery & Development Project Management, and High Throughput Screening) and three developing shared resources (Preclinical Proof of Concept, Clinical PKPD, and Stem Cell Biology & Pharmacology).

The University of Kansas Cancer Center is positioning itself to be the number one generator of anti-cancer agents by leveraging the wealth of expertise at the University of Kansas and it’s Medical Center campuses and through collaborations with KU Departments of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, Chemistry, Molecular Biosciences, Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, and research partners the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Children’s Mercy Hospital, and the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.