Andrew Huber is the Drug Metabolism and Disposition Highlighted Trainee Author for the February 2023 issue. Dr. Huber obtained his PhD at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, USA.  He is currently a postdoctoral research associate in Dr. Taosheng Chen’s lab in the Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The DMD article that earned his selection as a Highlighted Trainee Author is titled “Regulation of Nuclear Receptors PXR and CAR by Small Molecules and Signal Crosstalk: Roles in Drug Metabolism and Beyond” and is available at https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.122.000858.

During his PhD, Dr. Huber worked on antiviral drug discovery and determining the mechanisms of action of antiviral drugs. His postdoctoral scientific area is deciphering the mechanistic principles of chemical activation versus inhibition of pregnane X receptor (PXR). PXR is a ligand-activated transcription factor that controls the expression of major drug metabolism genes. He incorporates multiple disciplines (biochemical and biophysical approaches, cellular models, structural biology, chemistry, bioinformatics, and molecular dynamics) into his studies to describe the chemical properties of small molecules as well as the conformational properties of PXR that determine active or inactive states.

The anticipated impact of Dr. Huber’s current research is to design more potent PXR agonists and antagonists. The two classes of molecules have translational potential in different contexts: agonists have been proposed as possible therapies for inflammatory bowel disease, while antagonists could increase the bioavailability of co-administered drugs.

When not in the lab, Andrew enjoys playing guitar and writing music.