Alumnus C. K. “David” Chu honored with Antonín Holý Memorial Lecture Award

C.K. David Chu.

Published June 27, 2017 This content is archived.

C.K. “David” Chu, ’75, was presented with the Antonín Holý Memorial Lecture Award, which recognizes significant contributions in medicinal chemistry, at the annual meeting of the International Society of Antiviral Research held recently in Atlanta.

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Antonín Holý was a medicinal chemist whose discovery of antiviral drugs led to the treatment of millions of patients worldwide infected with AIDs and Hepatitis B.

Chu has spent a majority of his 40-year career in medicinal chemistry, which has led to the discovery of numerous anticancer and antiviral agents. During his academic career, he discovered a number of clinical candidates for cancer and viral diseases, and he is listed as inventor on 60 U.S. patents. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles in organic, biochemical and medicinal chemistry, edited four textbooks, and trained more than 130 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. As a co-founder of Pharmasset and ATEA Pharmaceuticals, Chu has maintained an active research program in drug design and synthesis since his retirement in 2008. His work in drug discovery has been recognized nationally and internationally.

Chu obtained a BS degree in pharmacy from Seoul National University, and after serving as an officer in the Korean Navy, he came to the US, receiving a MS degree from Idaho State University in 1968 and a PhD in medicinal chemistry from the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1975. After working as a postdoctoral fellow in drug discovery at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute of Cancer Research in New York, he stayed on as a research associate for another five years before joining the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Pharmacy in 1982. He is currently a distinguished researcher professor and professor emeritus at UGA.

Among his many honors, Chu has held an endowed professorship of the UGA Research Foundation, received the Creative Research Medal from UGA and an NIH Merit Award. He was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2015 and was also presented with the 2015 Alumnus of the Year Award from Seoul National University. Most recently, Chu received the 2017 Willis G. Gregory Award from the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.  

For over 130 years, the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has continually been a leader in the education of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists, renowned for innovation in clinical practice and research. The school is accredited by the American Council of Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE) and ranked as one of the top 25 schools of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences in the United States.