Dr. Santosh Mandal
Professor’s NRC Summer Research Assignment on Glass Formation from Radioactive Waste Leads to Discovery of Anticancer Drug
Santosh Mandal, Ph.D., an inorganic chemist and professor of chemistry at Morgan State University (MSU) in Baltimore, Md., spent the summer of 2007 as a participant in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Historically Black Colleges and Universities Faculty Research Program where he studied the incorporation of rhenium into glass and in the process, discovered that perrhenate complexes make excellent anticancer drugs. The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education administers the program on behalf of the NRC.
High-resolution version of photo. Photo courtesy of Morgan State University.
During the school year, Santosh Mandal, Ph.D., teaches chemistry and supervises the research of undergraduate and graduate students at Morgan State University (MSU) in Baltimore, Md. But unlike some instructors who take the summer months off, Mandal chose to spend his 10 weeks at MSU as a participant in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Historically Black Colleges and Universities Faculty Research Program (HBCU-FRP). As a result, Mandal made some interesting discoveries in the process.
As part of his research assignment, Mandal helped the NRC investigate technetium waste disposal. Technetium is produced in significant quantities during the uranium fission and poses problems during the remediation of nuclear waste, as the off-gases maybe recycled back into subsequent melts. To address the costly and inefficient remediation process, which also poses potential health risks, Mandal examined chemical methods for reducing the technetium volatility problem while simultaneously improving technetium immobilization by enhancing its incorporation into durable glass and ceramic forms.
Mandal met one of the group’s research goals by discovering how to synthesize perrhenate complexes from the reaction of rhenium heptoxide and hydride complexes. No rhenium was lost as a byproduct in this reaction, which is important in removing technetium from its wastes.
But that wasn’t all Mandal accomplished. During his investigation, Mandal realized that the perrhenate complexes are excellent anticancer agents. He, along with several undergraduate students, studied the preparation, characterization, properties and synthesis of rhenium compounds for the development of fluorescent rhenium-based anticancer drugs. In the process, they found the fluorescence exhibited by such drugs can pinpoint the tumor and make drug delivery to the tumor location much easier.
Mandal returned to his MSU classroom in the fall to teach Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, but will always be grateful to the NRC for its support of this important research. “Without the help of this program, I would not have fulfilled many of my research goals. It really helped me to explore new areas of chemistry,” he said.
The NRC HBCU-FRP, which is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, gives participants the opportunity to conduct ongoing NRC research at laboratories across the country.