Chukwunonso Nwabufo, MBA, PhD

Pharmacologist, Entrepreneur, Transformational leader

I am a Pharmacologist

I am an Entrepreneur

I am a Transformational Leader

22

What I do

I deploy pharmacological principles to develop safe and effective drugs for unmet medical needs

I am advancing the implementation of precision medicine in global healthcare through OneDrug’s innovative medical devices

I use my creative and innovative skills to solve the world’s most pressing problems in global healthcare

My Services

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Portfolio

Research and Development

Entrepreneurship

Transformational Leadership

Impact Highlight

Approved and commercialized drugs
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startups
0
NGO
0
Funding
$ 0 k+
Scientific papers
0

Dr. Chukwunonso Nwabufo

Live. Powerful. Impactful

Dr. Chukwunonso Nwabufo is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Bioengineering, School of Medicine and College of Engineering, University of Washington, where he is developing novel microdevices for precision medicine applications. Dr. Nwabufo is the founder and CEO of OneDrug Inc., an innovative medical technology startup that is developing smart point-of-care technologies to advance the clinical implementation of precision medicine across the globe. He is a multiple award-winning translational pharmacologist with over eight years of experience in drug development across academia and the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Nwabufo contributed to the development of Remdesivir and Lenacapavir, approved for the treatment of COVID-19 and HIV, respectively, during his tenure at Gilead Sciences. He also contributed to the development of novel compounds under basic science research for the treatment and/or diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease during his MSc program.

Dr. Nwabufo’s doctoral research work was focused on deploying pharmacological strategies to improve the clinical efficacy and safety profile of promising COVID-19 drugs. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Canada Graduate Scholarship – Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplements Award, Emerging Academic Scholars Award, Pfizer Canada Fellowship, Top 25 Canadian Immigrant for Healthcare Innovation, and 2024 Canadian CEO of the Year Award for Medical Technology Development. In general, he has received more than 35 international and national awards and recognitions with over $400,000 in funding due to academic, research, and leadership accomplishments. Dr. Nwabufo has authored 19 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 11 industry-standard peer-reviewed reports in support of drug development programs.

Dr. Nwabufo serves as an editorial board member of Drug Metabolism Reviews and Journal of Applied Bioanalysis. He has served as a Track Leader and Abstract Screener for the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) PharmSci 360 Conference, and as Past Chair, Chair, and Vice Chair of the AAPS Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Drug Metabolism Community. In addition, he contributes to the advancement of clinical pharmacology education and mentorship as a member of the Student, Trainee, and Early-Stage Professional Committee of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

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Milestones

University of Toronto, Canada

  • PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences, 4.0/4.0 ‖ 2025

Quantic School of Business and Technology, USA

  • Master of Business Administration, 93% ‖ 2021

University of Saskatchewan, Canada

  • MSc Pharmacy, 90.5% ‖ 2019

University of Benin, Nigeria

  • BSc Biochemistry, 91% ‖ 2015

Postdoctoral Scholar

  • Bioengineering, School of Medicine, University of Washington ‖ 2025–Present

OneDrug

  • Founder and CEO ‖ 2021–Present

Gilead Sciences, Canada

  • Senior Research Associate, Analytical Operations ‖ 2019–2021

Approved Life-saving Drugs

  • 2 approved and commercialized life-saving medicines

COVID-19 Drug Development

  • 7 high-impact scientific papers supporting the development of transformative medicines for COVID-19

Drug Development for Parkinson’s Disease

  • 3 novel compounds under basic science research for the treatment and/or diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.
  • 4 high-impact scientific papers supporting drug development for Parkinson’s disease.
  • 1 most-read paper, 2 trending papers, and 1 paper with over 12k readership.

Pharmacology and Therapeutics

  • Served as Guest Editor for a special issue of Drug Metabolism Reviews focused on improving predictive power of preclinical models for expedited drug development, featuring nine contributions from leading experts.
  • The 9 published articles achieved strong metrics: 16,512+ total reads, 22 total altmetric score, and 144+ citations.

Drug Metabolism Reviews

  • Editorial Board Member

American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, USA

  • Chair, Pharmacokinetic, Pharmacodynamic, & Drug Metabolism Community

Journal of Applied Bioanalysis

  • Editorial Board Member

Science Rendezvous

  • Judge, SRHacks Hackathon

Western Canadian Medicinal Chemistry Workshop

  • 2018 Session Co-chair
COVID-19 Drug Development
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo§ (2025) Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2–mediated dysregulation of drug processing genes is dependent on pathogenic variants, target site of infection, age, and sex. Drug Metab Dispos. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dmd.2025.100152
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo§ (2025) COVID-19 Alters Inflammatory, Mitochondrial, and Protein Clearance Pathway Genes: Potential Implications for New-onset Parkinsonism in Patients. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 20, 58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11481-025-10215-4
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo§ (2025) Uncovering the Impact of COVID-19 Mediated Bidirectional Dysregulation of CYP3A4 on Systemic and Pulmonary Drug Concentrations Using Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling. Drug Metab Dispos. https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.124.001893
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo§ et al. (2024) COVID-19 severity gradient differentially dysregulates clinically relevant drug processing genes in nasopharyngeal swab samples. Br J Clin Pharmacol. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.16124
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo§ et al. (2023) SARS-CoV-2 Infection Dysregulates Clinically Relevant Drug Metabolizing Enzymes and Transporters. Front. Pharmacol. link
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo & Reina Bendayan (2022) Pharmacokinetic Considerations to Optimize Clinical Outcomes for COVID-19 Drugs. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tips.2022.09.005
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo & Omozojie P. Aigbogun (2022) Potential Application of Mass Spectrometry Imaging in Pharmacokinetic Studies. Xenobiotica. https://doi.org/10.1080/00498254.2022.2119900
Drug Development for Parkinson’s Disease
Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo & Olusanya Olasehinde (2017) Biochemical Effect of Hibiscus sabdariffa on Male Reproductive Hormones. Adv. Appl. Sci. Res. 8(2), 38–41.
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo & Ugbogbo, C. (2016) Designing Life: The Future of Genetic Engineering. Microbiology World 3(6), 51–55.
  • Chukwunonso K. Nwabufo (2014) Hybridoma Technology: A Tool in Immunotherapy. Microbiology World 8, 29–37.
Opinion Editorials
  • Prescription for Change: Diversity’s Missing Link in Canada’s Healthcare System. The Hill Times, Mar 7, 2024. link
  • COVID-19 May Affect Patient Response to Medicines. The Hill Times, May 29, 2023. link
  • Don’t Let the Next Pandemic Meet This Pharmaceutical Sector. The Hill Times, Jun 2, 2021. link
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Milestones

  • University of Toronto, Canada

PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences, 4.0/4.0 ‖ 2024                                   

  • Quantic School of Business and Technology, USA

Master of Business Administration, 93% ‖ 2021

  • University of Saskatchewan, Canada

MSc Pharmacy, 90.5% ‖ 2019

  • University of Benin, Nigeria

BSc Biochemistry, 91% ‖ 2015

  • OneDrug

Founder and CEO ‖ 2021-Present

  • Gilead Sciences, Canada

Senior Research Associate, Analytical Operations ‖ 2019-2021                                  

    • Drug Metabolism Reviews

    Editorial Board Member

    • American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, USA

    Vice Chair, Pharmacokinetic, Pharmacodynamic, & Drug Metabolism Community

    • Science Rendezvous

    Judge, 2022 SRHacks Hackathon

    • Western Canadian Medicinal Chemistry Workshop

    2018 Session Co-chair

Awards and Honors

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