Over the past 90 years, the University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) has collaborated with many groundbreaking innovators. Among these is Duane Miller, professor emeritus at the UT Health Science Center. A beloved faculty member of the College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences from 1992 to 2015, Miller also served as the department chair from 2000 until his retirement.
Miller’s career is nothing short of extraordinary. He has over 100 patents, more than 400 publications, and at least three drugs that have reached clinical trials. But beyond the numbers, Miller’s unwavering perseverance, passion for mentorship and relentless pursuit of knowledge truly define his legacy.
Duane Miller is a phenomenal cross-disciplinary collaborator, dedicated faculty member and insightful problem solver driven by a desire to find real-world solutions for patients,” said Todd Ponzio, Vice President of UTRF Memphis. “UTRF has had a long, fruitful partnership with Miller since he first arrived at UTHSC. His contribution to UTRF’s patent portfolio is truly remarkable.”
Even in retirement, Miller continues to inspire others and spark new ideas. He remains active on UTHSC’s campus, collaborating with postdocs, research associates, and long-time colleagues.
Miller has worked with Ramesh Narayanan to advance drug candidate ONCT-534 to treat metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. He has also worked with Narayanan on Enobosarm, an oral selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM), and Wei Li on Sabizabulin, a microtubule disruptor. Veru, a biopharmaceutical company, is developing Enobosarm and Sabizabulin.
He is currently working with Lawrence Pfeffer on Therapeutic-Enhancing Drugs (TEDs) for glioblastoma, an aggressive, lethal form of brain cancer. In 2023, the pair received a $2.56 million National Cancer Institute (NCI) award and UTRF Maturation Grant to support their research.
People who have brain cancer know that if they get diagnosed, their life is going to be over in about 11 to 12 months,” Miller said. “If there’s any one drug that I would want to move along, it’s that one because there are many people who are going to die in a pretty short period and need help.”
Miller is enthusiastic about mentoring young scientists and working across disciplines to bring new drugs to clinical trials. His advice to the next generation: Collaboration is key.
You’re not going to solve the problem alone,” he explained. “You may be very knowledgeable in a certain disease area, but how do you get that to the market? You’re going to have to collaborate with people as you bring drugs to the market.”
Miller believes in the importance of working with or establishing companies to advance scientific discoveries—a path he has successfully navigated with companies like RxBio and GTx (now Oncternal Therapeutics).
With dozens of patents, Miller has developed close ties with the UTRF team. He strongly advocates for their mission, encouraging students and colleagues to engage with UTRF to bring their innovations to the world.
Once we’ve created something in an academic environment, we don’t know how to get it to market,” he said. “We need to go to UTRF, where they can help us or get it into the hands of a company that can move it along.”