Breakthroughs in Chemistry and Nanomedicine Earn MU Researcher Election to AAAS

Katti joins prestigious society dedicated to the advancement of science

A University of Missouri researcher's success in advancing chemistry and nanomedicine has earned him election to one of the world's largest and most prestigious scientific societies. Kattesh Katti, PhD, Curators' Distinguished Professor of Radiology and Physics, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

AAAS elects members whose efforts on the behalf of the advancement of science are scientifically or socially distinguishable. Katti was elected for his "distinguished contributions encompassing main group, transition metal and nanoscale chemistry, particularly for ground-breaking discoveries enabling application of chemical concepts for biomedical applications," according to the AAAS.

Katti

"Dr. Katti is one of the University of Missouri's most accomplished scientists and an internationally renowned expert in applying nanomedicine discoveries to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer," said Les Hall, MD, interim dean of the MU School of Medicine. "We are extremely proud that the American Association for the Advancement of Science has recognized his remarkable contributions to research."

In 2005, Katti received a prostate cancer research grant that distinguished MU as one of 12 universities to participate in the National Cancer Institute's Nanotechnology Platform Partnership. The grant established MU as a leader in advancing nanomedicine by uniting a variety of biomedical research resources across campus. With scientists at the MU Research Reactor (MURR), the most powerful university reactor in the country, Katti and his colleagues have developed cancer specific therapeutic radioactive gold nanoparticles. MURR is one of only a few sites worldwide able to produce cancer targeting gold nanoparticles. Katti and his colleagues have developed a library of more than 85 engineered nanoparticles for use in molecular imaging and therapy and have developed a promising prostate cancer treatment that uses gold nanoparticles.

Katti received his doctorate in 1984 from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India. In 1985, he was awarded a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany to work at the University of Göttingen in Germany. He is a Margaret Proctor Mulligan Distinguished Professor in Medical Research at MU, and in 2011, he received the University of Missouri System President's Award for excellence in teaching, research, service and economic development. Katti is a past recipient of the Missouri House of Representatives' Outstanding Missourian Award. He has won several international awards in recognition of his pioneering research in green nanotechnology, and he is the founding executive editor of the International Journal of Green Nanotechnology. In 2010, Katti and his colleagues formed a partnership with an international pharmaceutical firm to advance testing of a potential cancer treatment they created at MU. Earlier this year, Katti was elected a fellow of the St. Louis Academy of Science.

"I am deeply honored and humbled to have been selected for this award; it is always special when your peers elect you in recognition of your scientific accomplishments," said Katti. "Fellowship of the highly prestigious AAAS really means a lot to me, my department, my university and to our state. I am indebted to all of my teachers and mentors who have trained me at different stages in my career and I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my collaborators and students who have contributed so much over the years toward my scientific accomplishments."

"I take great pleasure in congratulating Dr. Katti on this momentous occasion of his election into the globally recognized AAAS," said Abhaya Kumar, CEO and managing director of Shasun Pharmaceuticals. "Shasun pharmaceuticals and the Shasun family have been highly fortunate for our association with one of world's greatest, yet highly humble, scientific leaders."

"When Dr. Katti discovered the first cyclometallaphosphazene during his tenure as an Alexander von Humboldt fellow in Göttingen, Germany, in my laboratories almost 25 years ago, I knew I was witnessing the makings of a great scientist," said Herbert Roesky, PhD, a world-renowned professor at the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Göttingen. "His work in main group and transition metal chemistry have built a solid foundation for many exciting results on various applied aspects of nanotechnology and green nanotechnology with implications in biomedicine."

"I congratulate Kattesh on this terrific occasion of his election to the prestigious AAAS," said Sanjiv Gambhir, MD, PhD, Virginia and D. K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research and chair of the Department of Radiology at Stanford University. "This award is yet another example of recognition of Kattesh's sustained, original and outstanding contributions in basic sciences leading to applications in nanomedicine and green nanotechnology by his peers. His work is highly original, will have a great impact on society, and is inspiring. He is a tremendous asset to the university, the state of Missouri, and to our nation."

Katti is among 701 newly elected AAAS fellows. Five of them are from the University of Missouri. All new fellows will be honored Feb. 16, 2013, at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

AAAS is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science around the world. In addition to organizing membership activities, AAAS publishes the journal Science, as well as many scientific newsletters, books and reports, and spearheads programs that raise scientific understanding worldwide.

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