Murali Krishna Cherukuri
Dr. Murali C. Krishna has been elected IES Fellow in recognition of his seminal contributions to the development of health-related EPR spectroscopy over the past four decades at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Krishna utilized EPR spin trapping to identify free radical intermediates produced in various chemical reactions, including sonochemical, photochemical, radiolytic, and enzymatic reactions. He also identified the enzyme-mimetic activities of nitroxides, providing catalytic and stoichiometric antioxidant activities in live animals exposed to oxidative stress. This work was translated to humans and proved to be effective in protecting normal tissues exposed to ionizing radiation. Already in the mid-1990s, Dr. Krishna initiated efforts to develop 300 MHz EPR instrumentation using time-domain modes of signal acquisition. This allowed his team to demonstrate, for the first time, the power of pulsed EPR for in vivo imaging using narrow line probes such as trityls, quantify the line broadening effects of molecular oxygen, and form images of pO2 in mouse models of human cancer. Using pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma models of different tumor microenvironments, he showed that pO2 imaging with EPR can guide treatment and monitor treatment response. The International EPR (ESR) Society is proud to honor Dr. Murali C. Krishna for his distinguished contributions to EPR by naming him as a Fellow of the Society.
