B.S. Pharmacy, Seoul National University, 1964

M.S. Medicinal Chemistry, Idaho State University, 1970

Ph.D. Medicinal Chemistry, State University of New York, Buffalo, 1974

Drug discovery, design and development

NIH Advisory Committee Member (AIDS Emphasis panel-AARR3), 1998-2002

NIH Advisory Committee Member (Bioorganic & Natural Product Chemistry Study Section), 1995-1997

NIH Advisory Committee ad hoc member (BNP, OIG, NCDDG, SBIR, AIDS),1987-2010

NIH Principal Investigator, 1986-2013

American Chemical Society (Northeast Georgia Section) chemist of the year, 1998

Member, Board of the University of Georgia Research Foundation (1989-1989)

University of Georgia Creative Research Medal (1988)

Dean’s Special Award for Research Achievement (1989)

Triangle Pharmaceuticals, Scientific Advisory Board (1995-2002)

Pharmasset; Co-Founder & Chair, Scientific Advisory Board, (1998-2013)

ATEA Pharmaceuticals; Co-Founder & Scientific Advisory Board (2013-present)

Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society (1970-present)

Sigma Xi Honor Society (1984-present)

Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars (1989-present)

Editorial Advisory Board (Nucleosides, Nucleotides & Nucleic acids) (1994-Present)

President, The Society of Biomedical Research (1995-1997)

Millikan-Reeve Professor of Pharmacy (Pharmacy chaired professor), 1998-1999  (resigned to accept Distinguished Research Professorship)

University of Georgia Distinguished Research Professor (UGA chaired professor) (1998-2007)

Marquis Who’s Who in the World (2002-present)

Marquis Who’s Who in America (2002-present)

Idaho State University College of Pharmacy Dean’s Advisory Council member (2007-2010)

NIH Merit Award (2001-2011)

Inventor of the Year Award (University of Georgia) 2002

Elected Fellow of American Association of Advancement of Science (AAA) 2002

National Board member of Florida A & M University College of Pharmacy RCMI (2002-2015)

John A. Montgomery Award (International Society for Nucleosides, Nuceotides & Nucelic Acids) August, 2014

Seoul National University Distingushed Alumni Award (자랑스러운 서울대인) 2015

Elected Fellow of National Academy of Inventors 2016

Antonin Holy Award (International Society of Antiviral Research) 2017

State University of New York/Buffalo) Distinguished Alumni Award 2017

American Chemical Society (Medicinal, Organic, and Carbohydrate Division Member)

American Association for Cancer Research

American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy

Korean American Scientists and Engineers Association in U.S.

The International Society for Antiviral Research

The Society of Biomedical Research

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

International Society for Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids

American Society of Microbiology

International AIDS Society

Major Achievements in Drug Discovery

Pseudoisocytidine for cancer (discovered 1975-Phase 1-discontinued)

AZDU (CS-87) for AIDS (discovered in 1987-Phase I/II-1999-discontinued)

AZMC (CS-92) for AIDS (discovered in 1988-Phase 1-discontinued)

Amdoxovir (DAPD) for HBV & AIDS (discovered in 1992- Phase II;currently stop developing)

Troxatyl (L-OddC) for cancer (discovered in 1993, conducted Phase III; stop eveloping)

Clevudine (L-FMAU) for hepatitis B virus (discovered in 1993-Phase III clinical trials in US but discontinued Clevudine, NDA approved in South Korea,Thailand and Philliphines)

DOT for drug resitant mutant HIV (discovered in 2001, Pharmasset conducted preclinical)

FMCA as anti-HBV agent (discovered in 2010, currently preclinical)

L-BHDU as anti-VZV agents (discovered 2003, currently preclinical)

Areas of Research Interest      

Nucleoside and carbohydrate chemistry

Antiviral chemotherapy (Hiv, hepatitis B & C virus, West Nile virus, VZV and Epstein–   Barr virus)

Cancer chemotherapy

Structure-based drug design & molecular modeling

Antiviral drug discovery for bioterrorism (Smallpox, Monkeypox, Ebola virus , etc.)

Nucleoside and carbohydrate chemistry

Antiviral chemotherapy (Hiv, hepatitis B & C virus, West Nile virus, VZV and Epstein–   Barr virus)

Cancer chemotherapy

Structure-based drug design & molecular modeling

Antiviral drug discovery for bioterrorism (Smallpox, Monkeypox, Ebola virus , etc.)

Current Research Projects

Drug design and synthesis of antiviral agents against small pox, WestNile, hepatitis B & C viruses

Drug design and synthesis of anti-AIDS opportunistic infections

Asymmetric synthesis of nucleosides from carbohydrate chiral templates

Molecular mechanism and drug resitance of HIV & HBV RT

Antiviral agents discovery for emerging viruses (Ebola, Mers & Chikunggya virus).

Click here to view Dr. Chu’s CV (complete list of publications)

Rao, R.R.; Jha, A.K.; Rawal, R.K.; Sharon, A.; Day, C.W.; Barnard, D.L.; Smee, D.F.; Chu, C.K. (-)-Carbodine: Enantiomeric synthesis and in vitro antiviral activity against various strains of influenza virus including H5N1 (avian influenza) and novel 2009 H1N1 (swine flu), Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2010, 20, 2601-2604.

Kim, Y.A.; Sharon, A.; Jha, A. K.; Chu, C.K.; Rais, R.H.; Al Safarjalani, O.M.; Naguib, F.N.M.; el Kouni, M. H. Structure-activity relationships and molecular modeling of carbocyclic 6-benzylthioinosine nalogues as subversive substrates of Toxoplasma gondii adenosine kinase, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, 2010, 18, 3403–3412.

Sharon, A.; Jha, A.K.; Chu, C.K. Clevudine (L-FMAU): A unique antiviral agent for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, A book chater in Analogue-based Drug Discovery II, Fisher & Ganellin (Eds) Wiley-VCH, 2010.

Al Sarjalani, O.N.; Rais, R.H.; Kim, Y.A.; Chu, C.K.; Naguib, F.N.M.; el Kouni, M.H. Carbocyclic 6-benzylthioinosine analogues as subversive substrates of Toxoplasma gondii adenosine kinase: Biological activities and selective toxicities, Biochem. Pharmacol. 2010, 80, 955-963.

Gadthula, S.; Rawal, R.K.; Sharon, A.; Wu, D.; Korba, B.; Chu, C.K. Synthesis and antiviral activity of cyclopropyl spirocarbocyclic adenosine,  (4R,5S,6R, 7R)-4-(6-amino-9H-yl)-7-(hydroxymethyl)spiro[2.4]heptane-5,5-diol against hepatitis C virus, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 2011, 3982-3985.

Wang, J.N.; Rawal, R.; C.K. Chu in Recent advances in carbocyclic nucleosides: Synthesis and Biological Activity in Medicinal Chemistry of Nucleic Acid, Zhang eds. 2011.

Wang, J; Singh, U.S.; Rawal, R. K.; Chavre S. N.; Sugiyama,M.; Woo,D.; Yoo,J.; Jha, A.K.; Scroggin,M.; Huang,Z.; Murray,M.G.; Govindarajan,R.;Tanaka,Y.;Korba,B.; and Chu, C.K. Antiviral Activity of Novel 2′-Fluoro-6′-methylene-carbocyclic adenosine (FMCA) and its Monophosphate Prodrug (FMCAP) Against Wild-type and Drug-resistant Hepatitis B Virus Mutants, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 2011, 21, 6328-6331.

Friedman, J.; Cho, W.-K.; Chu, C.K.; Keedy, K.S.; Archin, N.M.; Margolis, D. M.;, Karn, J. Epigenic silencing of HIV-1 by the histone H3 lysine27 methyltransferase enhancer of Zeste 2. J. Virology, 2011, 85, 9078-9089.

Rawal, R. K.; Singh, U. S.; Chavre, S. N; Wang, J.; Sugiyama, M.; Hung, W.; Govindarajan, R.; Korba, B.; Tanaka Y.; Chu, C. K. 2′-Fluoro-6′-methylene-carbocyclic adenosine phosphoramidate (FMCAP) prodrug: In vitro anti-HBV activity against the lamivudine-entecavir resistant triple mutant and its mechanism of action, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett.  2013, 23, 503-506.

Hung, S.W.; Mody, H.; Marrache, S.; Bhutia, Y.D.; David, F.; Cho, J.H.; Zaster, J.; Dhar, S.; Chu, C.K.; Govindarajan, R. PLoS ONE, 2013, 8(8): e71196.

Coen, N., Singh, U., Vuyyuru, V., Van den Oord, J. J., Balzarini, J., Duraffour, S., Snoeck, R., Cheng, Y. C., Chu, C. K., Andrei, G. “Activity and Mechanism of Action of HDVD, a Novel Pyrimidine Nucleoside Derivative with High Levels of Selectivity and Potency against Gammaherpesviruses”. J. Virol.  2013, 87 (7), 3839-3851.

De, C., Liu, D. M., Zheng, B., Singh, U. S., Chavre, S., White, C., Arnold, R. D., Hagen, F. K., Chu, C. K., Moffat, J. F., “beta-L-1-[5-(E-2-bromovinyl)-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-(dioxolan-4-yl)] uracil (L-BHDU) prevents varicella-zoster virus replication in a SCID-Hu mouse model and does not interfere with 5-fluorouracil catabolism”. Antivir. Res. 2014, 110, 10-19.

Singh, U. S., Mishra, R. C., Shankar, R., Chu, C. K., “Stereoselective Synthesis of 2′-Fluoro-6′-methylene Carbocyclic Adenosine via Vince Lactam. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 79 (9), 3917-3923.

Zeybel, M., Luli, S., Sabater, L., Hardy, T., Oakley, F., Leslie, J., Page, A., Salvador, E. M.,   Sharkey, V., Tsukamoto, H., Chu, C. K., Singh, U. S., Ponzoni, M., Perri, P., Di Paolo, D.,  Mendivil, E. J., Mann, J., Mann, D. A. “A Proof-of-Concept for Epigenetic Therapy of Tissue Fibrosis: Inhibition of Liver Fibrosis Progression by 3-Deazaneplanocin A”. Mol. Ther. 2017, 25 (1), 218-231.

Singh, U. S., Mulamoottil, V. A., Chu, C. K. “2′-Fluoro-6′-methylene carbocyclic adenosine and its phosphoramidate prodrug: A novel anti-HBV agent, active against drug-resistant HBV mutants”. Med. Res. Rev. 2018, 38 (3), 977-1002.

Singh, U. S., Mulamoottil, V. A., Chu, C. K. “Synthesis of an Anti-hepatitis B Agent, 2′-Fluoro-6′-methylene-carbocyclic Adenosine (FMCA) and Its Phosphoramidate (FMCAP). J. Org. Chem. 2019, 84 (2), 752-759.

De, C., Liu, D., Singh, U. S., Chu, C. K., Moffat, J. F. “β-L-1-[5-(E-2-Bromovinyl)-2-(Hydroxymethyl)-1,3 Dioxolan-4-yl)] Uracil (L-BHDU) Inhibits Varicella Zoster Virus Replication by Depleting the Cellular dTTP Pool”. bioRxiv, 2020. DOI: 10.1101/2020.02.13.948216.

Singh, U. S., Chu, C. K. “Synthesis of 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro-2′-C-methyl spiro cyclopentyl carbocyclic uridine analog as potential inhibitors of HCV NS5B polymerase”. Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids 2020, 39 (1-3), 52-68.