Co-Director of the Drug Discovery, Delivery, and Translational Therapeutics Program
Co-Director, Molecular Tumor Board

Research Programs:
Drug Discovery, Delivery and Translational Therapeutics
Colleges & Departments:
College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science
Faculty Rank:
Professor
Research Focus
Dr. Kolesar’s research focuses on the drug development of anticancer agents with an emphasis on targeted therapies and biomarkers. She has authored more than 200 abstracts, research articles, and book chapters, and as a principal investigator she has received more than $1.5 million in research funding from the NCI, American Cancer Society and other sources. Jill has received teaching and research awards from local, national and international organizations including the Innovations in Teaching Award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
Contact Information
567 Todd Building - BioPharm Complex
789 South Limestone
Lexington, KY 40536
United States
Publications
- Defective DNA repair in hereditary ovarian cancers: Implications for therapy. Kolesar Jill, Burgess Brian. (2018). American Journal of Health System Pharmacy, 75(21), 1697-1707.
- Pharmacodynamic study using FLT PET/CT in advanced solid malignancies treated with a sequential combination of X-82 and docetaxel. Scarpelli M, Rampurwala M, Eickhoff J, Carmichael L, Heideman J, Binger K, Kolesar Jill, Perlman S, Harrow K, Dukart G, Liang C, Jeraj R, Liu G, JY Bruce. (2018). Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, 82(2), 211-19.
- Smoking, Sex, and Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Steroid Hormone Receptors in Tumor Tissue (S0424). Cheng T D, Darke A K, Redman M W, Zirpoli G R, Davis W, Payne Ondracek R, Bshara W, Omilian A R, Kratzke R, Reid M E, Molina Chen Y, Kolesar Jill, MacRae R M, Moon J, Mack P, Gandara D R, Kelly K, Santella R M, Albain K S, Ambrosone C B. (2018). Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 110(7), 734-42.
- Low-Fat Abiraterone Food Effect Is of Little Consequence. Kolesar Jill, Liu Glenn. (2018). Journal of Clinical Oncology, 36(14), 1385-86.
- Phenome-Wide Association Studies (PheWASs) Offer New Opportunities for Drug Repositioning. Rastegar-Mojarad M, Ye J, Kolesar JM, Lin SM and Hebbring SJ. Nat Biotechnol. Apr 7;33:342-5, 2015.
- Detection of a point mutation in NQO1 (DT diaphorase) in a patient with colon cancer. Kolesar JM, Burris H, Kuhn JG. J Natl Cancer Inst 87:1022 24, 1995.
- Implementation and clinical utility of an integrated academic-community regional molecular tumor board. Burkard ME, Deming D, Parsons K, Schuh M, Leal T, Uboha N, Lang J. Thompson M, Warren R, Bauman J, Mably M, Laffin J, Paschal C, Lager A, Lee K, Matkowskyj K, Buehler D, Rehrauer W, Kolesar J. JCO Precision Oncology, in press.
- A pilot, first-in-human, pharmacokinetic study of 9cUAB30 in healthy volunteers. Kolesar JM, Hoel R, Pomplun M, Havighurst T, Stublaski J, Wollmer B, Krontiras H, Brouillette W, Muccio D, Kim K, Grubbs CJ, Bailey HE. Cancer Prev Res 3:1565-1570, 2010. PMCID: PMC3204611
- Prioritization of family member sequencing for the detection of rare variants. Sippy R, Kolesar JM, Darst BF, Engelman CD. BMC Proceedings 2016; 10 (S7):11.
Education
Degree
Master of Science University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Certifications and Special Training
Mini-Sabbatical University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Fellowship
Fellowship The University of Texas Science Center
Degree
PharmD Univ Of Texas At San Antonio
Residency
Residency Medical Center Hospital
Degree
Bachelor of Science Pharmacy University of Wisconsin