Mathew Thakur, Ph.D., Honored with Cassen Prize for Outstanding Contributions to Radiopharmaceutical science and devotion to the practice and promotion of Nuclear Medicine

		Radiology News Archive Featured in the Media JeffNEWS

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.