The University of Missouri Board of Curators has named Indian American professor Dr. Raghuraman Kannan and nine other University of Missouri faculty members as Curators’ Distinguished Professors and Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professors.
The designation is the highest and most prestigious academic rank the Board of Curators awards. It is awarded to a select few outstanding scholars with established reputations, according to a university released.
Kannan is an associate professor and the Michael J. and Sharon R. Bukstein Chair in Cancer Research. He has appointments in radiology in the School of Medicine and bioengineering in the College of Engineering.
He directs Mizzou’s Cancer Nanotechnology Lab, where his research targets some of the most pressing challenges in oncology: drug resistance, immune evasion and effective therapeutic delivery.
READ: Priya Deshpande receives engineering education fellow award (
His team has developed novel RNAi-based therapeutics, immunotherapy strategies and self-assembled multilayered systems that show superior efficacy in reversing resistance in preclinical cancer models.
With more than $10 million in external funding — including NCI/NIH R01 grants and a $6.4 million industry partnership — his translational research spans collaborations with multiple universities.
He has published in high-impact journals including Advanced Materials and ACS Nano. The technologies developed in his laboratory have been patented.
Kannan combines an entrepreneurial spirit with expertise in chemistry, molecular biology and material science to produce promising cancer treatments.
Traditional oncology therapeutics kill cancer cells, but they also kill healthy cells. However, Kannan has developed a library of drug delivery vehicles, based on nanoparticles, that target tumors without damaging healthy tissue. Using this innovation, he is working to develop treatments for ovarian, breast, pancreatic and liver cancers.
Kannan also leverages nanotechnology tools to better understand drug resistance. Utilizing a biological process called RNA interference (RNAi), his discoveries have paved the way for the creation of new therapeutics to reverse drug resistance.
Additionally, his laboratory developed a diagnostic suite, called NSCLC-Suite, to help oncologists devise an effective treatment plan for cancer patients.
Kannan has written more than 55 papers and holds seven patents. His research has led to four startup companies to commercialize nanotechnology that he helped develop.
His ultimate goal is to witness doctors using his work to help patients. “Seeing my products getting into clinics — that will be truly satisfying,” he says.