As a leading researcher in pharmacy and cancer drug therapy, Dr. DJ Murry applies a lifetime of nuanced learning and experience to treating and improving cancer care. His efforts to reduce the harmful effects of treatments and personalized care have already improved the lives of innumerable patients.
It’s a difficult, complicated field — but Dr. Murry is uniquely suited to tackle it.
A first-generation college student who grew up on a farm in Iowa, Dr. Murry chose to pursue science largely because he had enjoyed his high school math and chemistry classes. The intellectual demands those subjects presented made him hungry for more complexity.
However, it was a nontechnical experience that led him to a career in pharmacy. A distressing but inspirational personal experience.
"My grandfather had a heart attack, and part of his treatment was receiving drug therapy to improve his cardiac function," Dr. Murry shared. "It made me want to understand how drugs can affect your body, and how they could be improved to help patients live longer."
He wanted to make a difference.
To Dr. Murry, a career in pharmacy seemed the perfect way to embrace science, attack formidable problems and save lives. As he trained to become a pharmacist at the University of Iowa, his first-hand experience with patients confirmed the profound difference he could make with a medical career, and he knew he had made the right choice.
"During rotations and experiences with preceptors in pediatric oncology, I saw the need for research that could improve drug therapy for children with cancer," he said. "Drugs used to treat cancer often have severe side effects and long-term consequences — any way we can limit those effects can improve their quality of life."
Although cancer has remained one of the most challenging and intricate problems in medicine, pharmaceutical advancements have greatly improved treatments, and Dr. Murry has found inspiration in these solutions.
"In the 1960s, childhood leukemia was almost uniformly fatal," he explained. "Now we can cure over 90 percent of those children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia."
In November 2015, Dr. Murry brought his drive to take on challenges to the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, where he and his colleagues and students have identified sources of variability for drug response, including pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenetic determinants of drug clearance. He has published nearly 150 scholarly articles and was named a UNMC Distinguished Scientist in 2022.
In Dr. Murry’s opinion, developing drugs that are effective while reducing side effects — all while making dosages adjustable to different patients’ needs — is one of the most considerable and most interesting dilemmas in drug development.
"In cancer, there are new drugs like PROTACs, targeted protein degradation compounds and new molecules that have some limitations on the way we can administer them to patients," he explained. "Even when drugs are approved on the market, we’re always finding new ways to identify patients at risk for toxicities and fine-tuning things based on how patients respond to the medications.
"I’ve found that the best example to explain it to my students is caffeine. If they’re trying to stay awake during my lectures, some of them may need an espresso. We can all dose ourselves with the right amount of caffeine to achieve the desired effect. At this time, we can’t do that with chemotherapy—and we can’t give everyone one dose and expect the same response."
Dr. Murry said teaching these principles to his students is one of the most fulfilling aspects of his job, in part because he knows some of his students may one day be the medical professionals who create solutions for questions not yet answered.
"I get to teach pharmacy undergraduate and graduate students and help them develop their skills and find ways they can impact the future of drug therapy," he said.
These students also often contribute to Dr. Murry’s research. Engaging students in this work provides young, developing scientists the opportunity to work on problems with real-world effects while furthering research goals.
"It’s a complete hands-on experience," Dr. Murry said. "When they start out, they may have just one aspect of the field they’re familiar with. By the time they’re Ph.D. students, they become comfortable in all aspects of the work."
Dr. Matthew McLaughlin, division director of pediatric rehabilitation medicine at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, explained some of the qualities that make Dr. Murry such a great teacher and researcher. He trained under Dr. Murry and continues to collaborate with him.
"Dr. Murry was instrumental in helping walk me through the steps of research and was incredibly patient as an investigator working with me," Dr. McLaughlin shared. "He is always thinking about what we could be doing to help make our project easier or to make the results more accurate. Dr. Murry is a genuine partner. He wants to know how what he is doing fits into my own research plan."
Dr. Murry and Dr. McLaughlin are currently working on projects to improve the function of children’s disabilities, combining Dr. Murry’s expertise as a clinical pharmacologist and Dr. McLaughlin’s training as a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, to understand each aspect of a child’s life and how treatment will affect them.
This kind of collaboration among different areas of expertise is essential to solving the kind of challenges drug therapies present—and fortunately, it’s one of the most appealing parts of the work for Dr. Murry.
"What I enjoy the most is the collaboration among all the investigators," he said. "Trying to move a drug to market is an inherently collaborative process, so I get to interact with people from a large variety of backgrounds. Fitting all of that knowledge together to move something forward and improve health is very rewarding."
The National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska provides another avenue for Dr. Murry’s skills, diligence and collaborative spirit. As a respected NSRI Fellow, Dr. Murry has contributed to several NSRI-facilitated projects, including the development of prophylactics for acute radiation syndrome, an active project that leverages his deep expertise in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, bioanalytical method development, metabolite identification and drug development.
Through Dr. Murry’s leadership, the project has made substantial progress toward completing the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic testing on multiple candidate compounds. The research team is continuing to test candidate compounds and gather the required data needed for evaluation and approval for use by the Food and Drug Administration.
"NSRI really helps with connecting people to collaborate and address specific questions," Dr. Murry said. "They’ve been helpful in identifying projects that fit with our expertise and making sure our expertise is being applied to address critical concerns."
The drugs Dr. Murry and his colleagues are developing could greatly improve the lives of cancer patients across the Nation, as well as the lives of America’s warfighters in austere environments where treatment is doubly challenging.
Will it someday be possible to find a perfect combination of drugs that are effective, easily administered and can be adjusted to meet each patient’s needs? The task is admittedly daunting and complex. Fortunately, a challenge has always been just what Dr. DJ Murry is looking for, and there’s no one better to take it on.
