David Saunders

MD, MPH

Colonel, Army

Department of Primary Appointment:
School of Medicine
Medicine
Title
Director, Translational Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine Director, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Medical Toxicology
Location: Other Location
Research Interests:
Clinical Pharmacology, Vaccinology, Infectious Disease, Pharmacogenomics,
Malaria, Biowarfare, Regenerative Medicine

Biography

Biography: COL Saunders has had a career in government service, starting in 1995 as a Peace Corps Fiji Volunteer to the present as an Army Medical Corps officer. He studied medicine at Johns Hopkins University, completed Internal Medicine residency at Tripler Army Medical Center and Fellowship at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He served as Chief, Department of Immunology and Medicine at the U.S. Army Medical Component of the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) in Bangkok, Thailand from 2008-2015. He served as Medical Director and Product Manager at the US Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA) from 2015-2019 and Chief, Division of Medicine at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).



He has served as a military clinical trialist, pharmacologist, physician and acquisitions professional. His primary contributions to medicine have been in the areas of antimalarial pharmacology and safety, the development of new antimalarial drugs (particularly those for prevention), and the developing problem of malaria drug resistance on the Thai-Cambodian border. He also made substantial contributions to other fields including influenza, regenerative medicine and battlefield trauma. In his role as Product Manager and Medical Director for the Combat Trauma and Acute Rehabilitation Office he had responsibility for a portfolio of regenerative medicine products to treat Wounded Warriors. He is currently a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Translational Medicine Unit at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine. Over his career he’s collaborated with numerous public and private-sector organizations in medical research and military product acquisition. He has an unwavering commitment to subject welfare.



Bibliography: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wtDnFuEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Representative Bibliography

Vanachayangkul P, Lon C, Spring S, Sok S, Ta-aksorn W, Kodchakorn C, Phann ST, Chann S, Ittiverakul M, Sriwichai S, Buathong N, Kuntawunginn W, So M, Youdaline T, Milner E, Wojnarski M, Lanteri C, Manning J, Prom S, Haigney M, Cantilena L, Saunders D. Piperaquine population pharmacokinetics and cardiac safety in Cambodia. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, May 2017; 61 (5): e02000-16

Lin JT, Lon C, Spring MD, Sok S, Chann S, Ittiverakul M, Kuntawunginn W, My M, Heng TK, Balasubramanian S, Rahman R, Chuor CM, Lanteri CA, Gosi P, Ubalee R, Meshnick R, Saunders DL. Single dose primaquine to reduce gametocyte carriage and Plasmodium falciparum transmission in Cambodia: An Open-Label Randomized Trial. PloS One 12 (6), e0168702

Pichyangkul S, Spring MD, Yongchavit K, Kum-Arb U, Limsalakpetch A, Imerbsin R, Ubalee R, Vanachayangkul P, Remarque EJ, Smith PL, Saunders DL. Chemoprophylaxis with sporozoite immunization in P. knowlesi rhesus monkeys confers protection and elicits sporozoite-specific memory T cells in the liver. PLoS One, 12 (2), e0171826

Timmermans A, Melendrez MC, Se Y, Chuang I, Samon N, Uthaimongkol N, Klungthong C, Manasatienkij W, Thaisomboonsuk B, Tyner S, Rith S, Jarman RG, Bethell D, Chanarat N, Pavlin J, Wongstitwilairoong T, Saingam P, Sam El B, Fukuda MM, Touch S, Sovann L, Fernandez S, Buchy P, Chanthap L, Saunders D. Human Sentinel Surveillance of Influenza and other Respiratory Viral Pathogens in Border Areas of Western Cambodia. 2016, PloS One 11 (3), e0152529.

Saunders D, Lon C. Invited Commentary - Existing combination therapies for malaria are failing - what next? The Lancet Infectious Diseases, March 2016; 16 (3): 274–275.

Saunders DL, Garges E, Manning JE, Bennett KB, Schaffer S, Kosmowski AJ, Magill AJ. The safety, tolerability and compliance of long-term antimalarial chemoprophylaxis in field conditions: experience in Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 93:584-590.

Spring MD, Lin JT, Manning JE, Vanachanyangul P,…Lon C, Saunders DL. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine failure in Cambodia for the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria is associated with a ‘triple mutant’ including kelch-13 C580Y in an observational cohort study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, May 2015, 15 (6); 683-691.

Manning J, Satharath P, Gaywee J, Lopez MN, Lon C, Saunders D. Fighting the Good Fight: The Role of Militaries in Malaria Elimination in Southeast Asia. Trends in Parasitology, 2014, 30 (12): 571-81.

Saunders D, Vanachayangkul P, Imerbsin R, Khemawoot P, Siripokasupkul R, Tekwani B, Sampath A, Nanayakkara D, Ohrt C, Lanteri C, Gettyacamin M, Teja-Isavadharm P, and Walker L. The Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of (+) and (-) Primaquine Enantiomers in Rhesus macaques. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2014, 58(12):7283-91.

Saunders D, Vanachayangkul P, Lon C. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine failure in Cambodia. New England Journal of Medicine, 2014, 371 (5), 484-485.