Professor Amit Tiwari

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Dr Amit K. Tiwari is Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, Director of Graduate Programs, and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he leads the Cancer and Systems Therapeutics program and is a member of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. Dr Tiwari is a board-certified toxicologist and a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology. In addition to being a Susan G. Komen Scholar, he is also a UFRI Fellow. He is an expert in pharmacology and pharmaceutical engineering, with a research program centered on the design, discovery, and delivery of therapeutics to overcome drug resistance in cancer.

Dr Tiwari’s laboratory integrates medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, systems toxicology, and pharmaceutical engineering to develop first in class anticancer agents and delivery platforms that bypass classical resistance mechanisms. His work has defined the role of ABC transporters in chemotherapy failure and demonstrated pharmacologic strategies to reverse multidrug resistance, influencing clinical trial design and regulatory guidance. More recently, his group has discovered novel small molecules targeting mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergetics, including agents that induce non apoptotic and immunogenic cell death in apoptosis resistant tumors, several of which are advancing toward IND enabling studies. A parallel focus of his program is drug delivery, where his team has developed patented macropinocytosis based platforms and endosomolytic small molecules to enable intracellular delivery of siRNAs and proteins in resistant cancers.

Dr Tiwari has published over 230 peer reviewed articles, holds multiple patents, and has mentored more than 80 trainees. For his excellence in teaching, research, engagement with learners and international collaborations, Dr Tiwari has earned numerous national and international awards. In addition to serving on numerous grant panels (DOD, NSF, NIH, EPA, AACP), Dr Tiwari also reviews numerous scientific journals. He served as the Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Reports, Associate Editor for Frontiers in Pharmacology, Frontiers in Oncology, Journal of Clinical Medicine, and serves on over 15 scientific journals' editorial boards. Dr Tiwari's research has been supported by grants from federal agencies in the United States such as the Department of Defense, National Institute of Health, National Cancer Institute, National Science Foundation, private Foundations, pharmaceutical companies, and international agencies.

Updated 19 December 2025