Current Employment Position(s)

Associate

Lawyer Overview

David K. Ho, born in Hong Kong, pursued his college education in the U.S. He received his B.A. degree in chemistry and biology from Indiana University, and his Ph.D. degree in medicinal chemistry from Purdue University. He performed post-doctoral research in bio-organic chemistry at the Ohio State University. He obtained his J.D. degree from American University. 

Dr. Ho has extensive experience in scientific research at both the Ohio State University as a senior research associate, and at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland as a scientist. His research focused on the synthesis and discovery of natural anticancer and cancer preventive compounds, and the synthesis and design of antitumor drugs and anti-AIDS drugs. He was a co-inventor of methods of treating breast cancer cells using geldanamycin-monoclonal antibody immunoconjugates.

Dr. Ho is admitted to practice in the State of Maryland and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He handles different stages of the patent application process and focuses on technologies related to chemistry, biotechnology and material sciences. He has experience with inventions involving small and large organic molecules, pharmaceutical compositions, bioactive natural products, industrial chemical processes, polymers and carbon nanotubes, protein folding, short peptides, DNA detection devices, reporters for biological assays, regulation of protein kinase activities, golf balls, fuel cell storages, coating compositions, filtration membranes, textile materials and consumer products.

Dr. Ho is a member of the American Bar Association, American Intellectual Property Law Association, and American Chemical Society. He is also a member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society. He has published one legal article in J. Biolaw and Business, and 24 scientific articles in journals, such as J. Organic Chemistry, Tetrahedron Letters, J. Natural Products, J. National Cancer Institute, Cancer Research, Carcinogenesis, and Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. He has also published 22 abstracts of presentations at international and national scientific meetings.

Bar Admissions

Maryland, 2008

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2003  

Education

American University, Washington, District of Columbia, 2005
            J.D.

Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 1985
            Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry

Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 1977
            B.A. in Chemistry (Honors) and Biology  

Speaker

• "Water-Soluble Prodrug of Geldanamycin," Poster Presentation at Annual Meeting of the American Society of Pharmacognosy, Orlando, Florida (1998).
• "Synthesis of 17-Amino-Propyl-Amino-Geldanamycin," Poster Presentation at Fort Detrick - Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center Spring Research Festival, The National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland (1998).
• "Geldanamycin and Derivatives: Production and Chemical Studies," Poster Presentation at National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Washington, District of Columbia (1994).
• "Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationship of Potential Inhibitors of Benzo[a]pyrene Carcinogenesis," Oral Presentation at International Symposium on Recent Advances in Chemistry and Molecular Biology of Cancer Research, Beijing Polytechnic Univ., Beijing (1991).

  Authorship and Co-Authorship

• Author, "The Journey of Taxol," J. BIOLAW & BUS., Bio-Education Special Supplement 49-64 (2003).
• Co-Author, "Geldanamycin:Anti-HER2 Immunoconjugates: Antiproliferative Activity on Human Breast Carcinoma Cell Lines," 92 J. Nat'l. Cancer Institute 1573-1582 (2000).
• Co-Author, "Mechanism of Action of the Antileukemic Xanthone Psorospermin: DNA Strand Breaks, Abasic Sites and Protein-DNA Cross-Links," 54 Cancer Research 3191-3195 (1994).
• Co-Author, "Absolute Stereochemistry of (+)-Gigantecin from Annona coriacea (Annonaceae)," 59 J. Org. Chem. 1598-1599 (1994).
• Co-Author, "Effects of Biochanin A on Metabolism, DNA-Binding, and Mutagenicity of Benzo[a]pyrene in Cultured Mammalian Cells," 12 Carcinogenesis 2001-2006 (1991).
• Co-Author, "Stereochemical Studies of the C-Methylation of Deoxycytidine Catalyzed by HhaI Methylase and the N-Methylation of Deoxyadenosine Catalyzed by EcoRI Methylase," 284 Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 264-269 (1991).

Professional & Honorary Society Membership

            American Bar Association

            American Intellectual Property Law Association

            American Chemical Society

            Sigma Xi (The Scientific Research Society)

            Phi Lambda Upsilon (Honorary Chemical Society)

            Rho Chi (Honorary Pharmacy Society)      

Languages

            Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin dialects)

            German (Reading Comprehension)

Address

1201 New York Avenue, NW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Phones

202.434.1500

Faxes

202.434.1501

Emails

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Websites

http://www.staasandhalsey.com