Research Interests

Lymphatic Drug Targeting via Endogenous Chylomicron Association Investigating mesenteric lymphatic drug delivery systems by facilitating the association of drugs with endogenous chylomicrons. Antiretroviral and anticancer agents are employed as model compounds. For drugs with poor lipophilicity, medium- and long-chain lipid-based prodrugs are synthesized to enhance lipophilicity and promote lymphatic transport.

Pharmacokinetic and biodistribution studies are conducted in rat models to evaluate lymphatic targeting efficiency. In Silico Prediction of Drug–Chylomicron Association Developing computational models to predict the binding affinity of pharmaceutical compounds to endogenous chylomicrons, enabling efficient screening and selection of candidate drugs for subsequent in vitro and in vivo investigations.

Physicochemical Determinants of Intestinal Drug Absorption Exploring the influence of physicochemical properties, including lipophilicity, molecular size, and solubility, on intestinal drug absorption and lymphatic transport to optimize oral drug delivery strategies.

Professional Experiences

Medical Supply Administration and Logistics Officer, 737th Medical Squadron, 737th Tactical Fighter Wing, Taiwan Air Force (Jul 2010 – Aug 2012)

Medical Supply Administration and Logistics Officer, Medical Clinic, 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, Taiwan Air Force (Jul 2014 – Dec 2015)

Medical Supply Administration and Logistics Officer, Medical Supply Maintenance Division, Tri-Service General Hospital (Jan 2016 – Sep 2018)

Pharmacist Officer, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Tri-Service General Hospital (Apr 2023 – Sep 2024)

Faculty Member, Department of Biology and Anatomy, National Defense Medical Center (Oct 2024 – Present)

Academic Achievements

Publications :

Wong A, Chu Y, Chen H, Feng W, Ji L, Qin C, Stocks MJ, Marlow M, Gershkovich P. Distribution of lamivudine into lymph node HIV reservoir. Int J Pharm. 2023 Dec ; 648:123574. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123574.

Chu Y, Wong A, Chen H, Ji L, Qin C, Feng W, Stocks MJ, Gershkovich P. Development of lipophilic ester prodrugs of dolutegravir for intestinal lymphatic transport. Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2023 Oct; 191:90-102. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2023.08.015.

Feng W, Qin C, Abdelrazig S, Bai Z, Raji M, Darwish R, Chu Y, Ji L, Gray DA, Stocks MJ, Constantinescu CS, Barrett DA, Fischer PM, Gershkovich P. Vegetable oils composition affects the intestinal lymphatic transport and systemic bioavailability of co-administered lipophilic drug cannabidiol. Int J Pharm. 2022 Aug; 25;624:121947. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2022.121947.

Feng W, Qin C, Cipolla E, Lee JB, Zgair A, Chu Y, Ortori CA, Stocks MJ, Constantinescu CS, Barrett DA, Fischer PM, Gershkovich P. Inclusion of Medium-Chain Triglyceride in Lipid-Based Formulation of Cannabidiol Facilitates Micellar Solubilization In Vitro, but In Vivo Performance Remains Superior with Pure Sesame Oil Vehicle. Pharmaceutics. 2021 Aug 27; 13(9): 1349. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13091349.

Feng W, Qin C, Chu Y, Berton M, Lee JB, Zgair A, Bettonte S, Stocks MJ, Constantinescu CS, Barrett DA, Fischer PM, Gershkovich P. Natural sesame oil is superior to pre-digested lipid formulations and purified triglycerides in promoting the intestinal lymphatic transport and systemic bioavailability of cannabidiol. Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2021 May;162:43-49. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2021.02.013. Epub 2021 Mar 5. PMID: 33677067.

Chu Y, Qin C, Feng W, Sheriston C, Jane Khor Y, Medrano-Padial C, Watson BE, Chan T, Ling B, Stocks MJ, Fischer PM, Gershkovich P. Oral administration of tipranavir with long-chain triglyceride results in moderate intestinal lymph targeting but no efficient delivery to HIV-1 reservoir in mesenteric lymph nodes. Int J Pharm. 2021 Jun 1;602:120621. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120621. Epub 2021 Apr 21. PMID: 33892057.

Qin C, Chu Y, Feng W, Fromont C, He S, Ali J, Lee JB, Zgair A, Berton M, Bettonte S, Liu R, Yang L, Monmaturapoj T, Medrano-Padial C, Ugalde AAR, Vetrugno D, Ee SY, Sheriston C, Wu Y, Stocks MJ, Fischer PM, Gershkovich P. Targeted delivery of lopinavir to HIV reservoirs in the mesenteric lymphatic system by lipophilic ester prodrug approach. J Control Release. 2021 Jan 10;329:1077-1089. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.10.036. Epub 2020 Oct 20. PMID: 33091528.

Qin C, Feng W, Chu Y, Lee JB, Berton M, Bettonte S, Teo YY, Stocks MJ, Fischer PM, Gershkovich P. Development and validation of a cost-effective and sensitive bioanalytical HPLC-UV method for determination of lopinavir in rat and human plasma. Biomed Chromatogr. 2020 Nov;34(11):e4934. doi: 10.1002/bmc.4934. Epub 2020 Jul 10. PMID: 32598032.

Conference :

YenJu Chu, Chaolong Qin, Wanshan Feng, Joseph Ali, Michael Stocks, Peter M. Fischer, Pavel Gershkovich. In silico and in vitro assessment of intestinal lymphatic transport potential of tipranavir. The 18th PhysChem forum, Frankfurt, Germany, May 2019.

YenJu Chu, Chaolong Qin, Wanshan Feng, Joseph Ali, Charles Sheriston, Binhua Ling, Michael Stocks, Peter M. Fischer, Pavel Gershkovich. Targeting tipranavir to mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) for improved treatment of HIV/AIDS. AIDS 2020 23rd International AIDS conference, Virtual, July 2020.

YenJu Chu, Abigail Wong, Michael M. Stocks, Pavel Gershkovich. Targeted delivery of dolutegravir to HIV reservoir in the mesenteric lymphatic system by lipophilic ester prodrug approach. AIDS 2022, the 24th International AIDS Conference, Montreal, Canada, July-August 2022.

YenJu Chu, Abigail Wong, Michael J. Stocks, Pavel Gershkovich. Targeting dolutegravir to mesenteric lymph nodes by lipophilic prodrug approach for improved treatment of HIV/AIDS. The 13th World Meeting on Pharmaceutics,Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical (PBP) Technology.

Awards

First Prize, Outstanding Medical Professional Publication Award (Xinglin Award), 2022, Tri-Service General Hospital

E-mail

roy210100@gmail.com