Department of Medicinal Chemistry

Dr. Duane D. Miller is the Harriet S. Van Vleet Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Associate Dean at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee at Memphis. Dr. Miller received a B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry at the University of Washington, where he was an NIH fellow. He began his academic career at The Ohio State University where he served as chair of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy for 10 years and was appointed as a Kimberly Professor. In 1992, Dr. Miller moved to the University of Tennessee at Memphis as the Van Vleet Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and in 2001 was appointed Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs in the College of Pharmacy. His research program has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1970. He has published over 250 papers, is listed as an inventor on at least 13 patents, and has presented over 80 invited lectures. Professor Miller has been recognized at both Ohio State and the University of Tennessee for his teaching skills at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and has mentored 23 Ph.D. students and 33 postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Miller's service contributions include a variety of roles within the Division of Medicinal Chemistry, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He has also been an active and consistent contributor to both universities in service roles. In 2008, Dr. Miller was inducted into the American Chemical Society's Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. In addition, he is the recipient of the 2008 Division of Medicinal Chemistry award. Dr. Miller co-discovered a new class of drugs, selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), which have the potential to treat muscle wasting and other musculoskeletal conditions. As a part of a collaboration with Dr. Jim Dalton and GTx Inc., these agents are being developed and commercialized for the treatment of sarcopenia, which is the loss of skeletal muscle mass resulting in reduced physical strength and ability to perform activities of daily living, cancer induced muscle loss and other musculoskeletal conditions.