Jefferson Professor Receives Award for Lifetime of Innovative Research in Nuclear Medicine
Mathew
Thakur, Ph.D., professor of radiology and radiation oncology/nuclear
medicine at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University,
has been awarded the 2008 Cassen Prize in recognition of his
outstanding contributions to the science and practice of Nuclear
Medicine. The award, given by the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s
Education and Research Foundation, was recently presented to Dr. Thakur
at the Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he
presented the Cassen Lecture to a ballroom full of his colleagues on
“Genomic Biomarkers for Molecular Imaging: Predicting the Future.” At
Jefferson, Dr. Thakur is also the director of laboratories of
Radiopharmaceutical Research Molecular Imaging, Nuclear Medicine
Research, and is a member of the Kimmel Cancer Center.
“I
am extremely honored to receive this award named after a pioneer in
Nuclear Medicine,” said Dr. Thakur. “In science, nothing is more
gratifying and encouraging than recognition by peers,” said Dr. Thakur,
while accepting the award.
Nuclear
Medicine is the only modality in medical practice that facilitates
diagnosis of disease, its treatment and determines the effectiveness of
the treatment, all with a minimal invasion. The Cassen Award is named
in honor of the late physicist Benedict Cassen, whose invention, the
rectilinear scanner, allowed the early applications of nuclear medicine
in imaging patients. The awarding of this prize, which has come to be
known as the “Nobel Prize” of Nuclear Medicine, recognizes outstanding
achievements in the field that promotes the development and growth of
nuclear medicine.
Dr.
Thakur’s career spanning more than 35 years, has yielded numerous
accomplishments and inventions that have benefited millions of patients
throughout the world. Throughout his career, Dr. Thakur has developed
several widely-used radiopharmaceuticals (radioactive compounds
administered for purposes of diagnosis or therapy) that have improved
diagnostic accuracy and ultimately improved patient care.
Dr.
Thakur became interested in nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceuticals
while an undergraduate at Bombay University, and then as a graduate
student at the University of London in the late 1960s, where he
received his master of science degree in Analytical Chemistry, and his
doctor of philosophy degree in Radiochemistry. Over the years, Dr.
Thakur and his colleagues have developed methods to produce and
separate medically useful radionuclides and many radioactive compounds.
Among the better known are Krypton-81m, which has significant value as
an agent used in nuclear medicine for lung ventilation studies. The
agent was available commercially in the United States and is still
being used in Europe. He also developed Indium-111-Bleomycin, an agent
that has proven very useful for detecting and treating specific
cancerous tumors, of the head and neck
Another
agent Dr. Thakur developed with his colleagues is In-111-oxine (8
hydroxyquinoline), which is predominantly used to tag white blood
cells. When the patient's own white blood cells are labeled with
In-111-oxine and injected back into the patient's bloodstream,
physicians can easily find hidden infection in the patient's body.
Although lengthy in its procedure, this technique has been used
throughout the world for more than a quarter of a century.
Dr.
Thakur also developed the Tc-99m Anti-CD15 Antibody that binds to
neutrophils in the patient’s body, unlike In-111-oxine which tags
In-111 outside the patient’s body. This eliminates the lengthy
procedure. In addition Tc99m eliminates certain drawbacks of In-111.
The Tc-99m antibody was also identified as an agent to detect infection
from Anthrax. This, once injected into a patient’s vein, a picture is
taken with a gamma camera, which allows a doctor to locate where the
infection is occurring.
The major thrust of Dr. Thakur’s current research is on targeting genomic Liomarkers with specific radioactive molecules for
early detection of breast and prostate cancer for which the need is crucial.
Dr.
Thakur’s contributions have been recognized by his peers previously for
which he received the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Georg de Hevesy
Award (2000), the V. Sarabhai Award (1995) and Paul Aebersold Award
(1992); as well as the American Chemical Society’s Maurice S.
Chamberland Award (1980). Known nationally and internationally, he is
a widely-published researcher with more than 300 published articles, 36
book chapters and four books to his name and several patents to his
name. His studies have appeared in such noted scientific journals as Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Radiology and Lancet, among many others.
Dr. Thakur has also served as a reviewer for federal and international funding agencies and for many journals including Science, Cancer Research, Oncology and Journal of Molecular Imaging and Therapeutics.
He served as president of the International Society of Radiolabeled
Blood Elements from 1989-93; President of the Indo-American Society of
Nuclear Medicine from 1993-94; President of the Society of Nuclear
Medicine 2002-2005; President of the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s
Molecular Imaging Center of Excellence 2005-2006 and was the Chair of
the Society of Nuclear Medicine Award Committee 2005-2008. He has
arranged many national and international symposia and actively
participated in many others as an invited speaker.
Dr. Thakur resides in Cherry Hill, N.J.
Media Only Contact:
Ed Federico
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Phone: (215) 955-6300
Published: 7/23/2008