JoEllyn McMillan, PhD

Associate Professor

Durham Research Center 3051
985800 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-5800

Phone: 402-559-3074
E-mail: JoEllyn McMillan

Keywords: toxicology, environmental, genomics, toxicity mechanisms nanomedicine, drug analysis, cell cultures, antiretroviral drugs, anti-cancer drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, antimalarial drugs, hemolytic anemia

In the News
Professional Summary
Representative Publications
Dr. McMillan's biographical information

In the news:

UNMC Today | June 9, 2022
UNMC sees continued success in ultra-long acting HIV medicines

KMTV | November 16, 2021
UNMC researchers see path to eliminate HIV; genetic therapy shows promise in lab setting

Omaha World-Herald | November 10, 2021
UNMC researchers develop 'molecular scissors' to target HIV

UNMC Today | November 10, 2021
A pathway to HIV elimination

UNMC Today | September 17, 2021 
Study explores potential long-acting HIV, Hep-B treatment

UNMC Today | April 28, 2020 
Potential new HIV treatment developed at UNMC 

News Media Roundup: “The World's First HIV Vaccine Mimetic”

UNMC Today | February 6, 2018
Chemically modified drug shows promise for HIV treatment, elimination

College of Public Health - Faculty Highlight

Professional Summary:

My primary role in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience is in education. My focus in education is two-fold. The first is to develop novel educational methods to assist students in learning basic pharmacological concepts for students in Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions programs. The second is to help provide guided discussions for graduate students in Neuroscience to develop skills to critically evaluate and interpret the literature and to use these skills to formulate new approaches in their scientific investigations.

My research interests have been in the fields of toxicology and development of long-acting drugs for chronic infectious disease such as human immunodeficiency virus. I have used primary liver cells and whole animal rodent models to study mechanisms of liver toxicity of drugs and environmental chemicals such as acetaminophen and trichloroethylene. I have also collaborated with department, UNMC and national investigators with the goal of developing nanoformulations of antiretroviral drugs to provide extended and targeted therapeutic drug concentrations. I have worked with cell culture and animal model systems to understand the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of long-acting prodrug nanoformulations of existing antiretroviral drugs. 

In the College of Public Health, I serve as chair of the graduate program committee for the Environmental Health Occupational Health and Toxicology (EHOHT) program in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health. I direct a basic toxicology course for both online and campus-based students in the Masters of Public Health Program. I also direct advanced toxicology courses for students in the EHOHT program.

Representative Publications:

1. Cobb DA, Smith N, Deodhar S, Bade AN, Gautam N, Shetty BLD, McMillan J, Alnouti Y, Cohen SM, Gendelman HE, Edagwa B. Transformation of tenofovir into stable ProTide nanocrystals with long-acting pharmacokinetic profiles. Nature Commun. 12:5458. 2021. PMID: 34531390
2. Bade AN, McMillan JM, Liu Y, Edagwa B, Gendelman HE. Dolutegravir Inhibition of Matrix Metalloproteinases Affects Mouse Neurodevelopment. Mol. Neurobiol. 2021. doi: 10.1007/s12035-021-02508-5. PMID: 34390469
3. Herskovitz J, Hasan M, Machhi J, Mukadam I, Ottemann BM, Hilaire JR, Woldstad C, McMillan J, Liu Y, Seravalli J, Sarella A, Gendelman HE, Kevadiya BD. Europium sulfide nanoprobes predict antiretroviral drug delivery into HIV-1 cell and tissue reservoirs. Nanotheranostics. 5:417-430. 2021. PMID: 33972918
4. Alomar FA, Al-Rubaish A, Al-Muhanna F, Al-Ali AK, McMillan J, Singh J, Bidasee KR. Adeno-Associated Viral Transfer of Glyoxalase-1 Blunts Carbonyl and Oxidative Stresses in Hearts of Type 1 Diabetic Rats. Antioxidants (Basel). 9(7):592. 2020. PMID: 32640624
5. Cobb DA, Smith NA, Edagwa BJ, McMillan JM. Long-acting approaches for delivery of antiretroviral drugs for prevention and treatment of HIV: a review of recent research. Expert Opin. Drug Deliv. 17: 1227-1238, 2020. PMID: 32552187.
6. Kulkarni TA, Bade AN, Sillman B, Shetty BLD, Wojtkiewicz MS, Gautam N, Hilaire JR, Sravanam S, Szlachetka A, Lamberty BG, Morsey BM, Fox HS, Alnouti Y, McMillan JM, Mosley RL, Meza J, Domanico PL, Yue TY, Moore G, Edagwa BJ, Gendelman HE. A year-long extended release nanoformulated cabotegravir prodrug. Nat. Mater. 19:910-920. 2020. PMID: 32341511.
7. Kevadiya BD, Ottemann B, Mukadam IZ, Castellanos L, Sikora K, Hilaire JR, Machhi J, Herskovitz J, Soni D, Hasan M, Zhang W, Anandakumar S, Garrison J, McMillan J, Edagwa B, Mosley RL, Vachet RW, Gendelman HE. Rod-shape theranostic nanoparticles facilitate antiretroviral drug biodistribution and activity in human immunodeficiency virus susceptible cells and tissues. Theranostics. 10:630-656. 2020. PMID: 31903142.
8. Hilaire JR, Bade AN, Sillman B, Gautam N, Herskovitz J, Dyavar Shetty BL, Wojtkiewicz MS, Szlachetka A, Lamberty BG, Sravanam S, Fox HS, Alnouti Y, Dash PK, McMillan JM, Edagwa BJ, Gendelman HE. Creation of a long-acting rilpivirine prodrug nanoformulation. J. Control. Release. 311-312:201-211. 2019. PMID: 31491432.
9. Dash PK, Kaminski R, Bella R, Su H, Mathews S, Ahooyi TM, Chen C, Mancuso P, Sariyer R, Ferrante P, Donadoni M, Robinson JA, Sillman B, Lin Z, Hilaire J, Banoub M, Elango M, Gautam N, Mosley RL, Poluektova LY, McMillan J, Bade AN, Gorantla S, Sariyer IK, Burdo TH, Young W-B, Amini S, Gordon J, Jacobson JM, Edagwa B, Khalili K, Gendelman HE. Sequential LASER ART and CRISPR Treatments Eliminate HIV-1 in a Subset of Infected Humanized Mice. Nat. Commun. 10:2753. 2019. PMID: 31266936.
10. McMillan J, Szlachetka A, Zhou T, Morsey B, Lamberty B, Callen S, Gautam N, Alnouti Y, Edagwa B, Gendelman HE, Fox HS. Pharmacokinetic testing of a first generation cabotegravir prodrug in rhesus macaques. AIDS. 33:585-588, 2019. PMID: 30289818.
11. McMillan J. Principles of Analytical Validation. In: Proteomic Profiling and Analytical Chemistry: The Crossroads, 2^nd Edition, eds, Ciborowski P and Silberring J, Elsevier, March 2016.
12. Toews ML, McMillan JM, and Bylund DB. Getting Attached in Pharmacology and Toxicology. In:  Physicochemical Properties of Nanomaterials, 1^st Edition, eds, Pleus RC and Murashov V, Pan Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd (Singapore), 2018.

Additional publications in PubMed.

Dr. McMillan's biographical information
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