Suresh Srivastava Named Senior Medical Scientist Emeritus
September 7, 2017
Emeritus status was granted to Suresh Srivastava on March 25, 2015. The Emeritus position at Brookhaven Lab was established to recognize retired scientists who have made particularly noteworthy contributions to the Laboratory's reputation as a world-class scientific institution.
Srivastava arrived at Brookhaven Lab's Nuclear Energy Department in March 1965. He left in 1967 and, in 1975, returned to the Lab's Applied Science Department as an associate chemist. He joined the Medical Department in 1977 and was promoted up the ranks, receiving tenure in 1985. He became a member of the Collider-Accelerator Department in 2010, where he continues to remain following his retirement in 2015.
In a congratulatory letter to Srivastava, Lab Director Doon Gibbs wrote: "You are recognized by peers around the world for your contributions to the conception, development, introduction, and production of a number of radionuclides for imaging and therapy in nuclear medicine. You have been active in the U.S. Society of Nuclear Medicine, American Chemical Society in many capacities and are co-founder and governing body member of the World Association of Radiopharmaceutical and Molecular Therapy [WARMTH]."
Srivastava was elected as president of WARMTH for 2016 and 2017.
"Your continued engagement and reputation as a creative research scientist and your intention to continue to provide help and advice to others in your field will be greatly valued," Gibbs continued.
For more than three decades, and continuing today, Srivastava has been focused on developing medical radionuclides to diagnose and treat disease. Srivastava remains a pioneer in developing personalized medicine, through his long-term development of dual-purpose radionuclides—tin-117m, in particular, which can be used for both imaging for diagnosis and treatment (targeted radionuclide therapy) of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other diseases that respond to radionuclide therapy.
The major objective for the WARMTH organization—for which Srivastava is actively serving as president—is to set standards for provision of radiopharmaceutical therapy, particularly in development of uniform protocols for clinical practice of therapeutic nuclear medicine worldwide. Srivastava and WARMTH—in participation with the International Atomic Energy Agency—hosted the 11th latest Annual International Conference of Radiopharmaceutical and Molecular Therapy (ICRT) in India in November 2016, which dealt with various applications of radionuclides for therapy of cancer and other diseases. Srivastava also helped organize successful workshops in 2013 and 2014 for the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) with the National Cancer Institute that, in 2015, resulted in the establishment of the "Therapy Center of Excellence' within the SNMMI, of which Srivastava was a member of the board of directors, served as president from 2015 to 2016, and is serving as immediate past president until 2018. Srivastava was recently named the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry, sponsored by the American Chemical Society's Division of Nuclear Chemistry & Technology.
Srivastava said, "The process of conceiving, developing, and promoting of these dual-purpose medical radionuclides—for both diagnosis and therapy in the same patient with the same radiopharmaceutical ("Theragnostics") has become a new paradigm, and has kept me on a very good journey at Brookhaven, helping find ways to treat disease, to beat cancer to help humanity. I am very grateful for the support and encouragement I have received at the Laboratory over the years for doing something I am so passionate about—and I will keep going as long as I can."
Meet 12 other scientists who have received emeritus status
2017-12488 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
