New Endowment for Medicinal Chemistry Dept. Research Established by the Srinivasan Family
The University of Utah College of Pharmacy is excited to announce a new endowment for research in the Medicinal Chemistry Department. The Dr. Ananthachari Srinivasan Memorial Endowment was established by Kalyani Srinivasan and Anand Srinivasan, in memory and honor of their late husband and father. Ananthachari Srinivasan, lovingly known as ‘Srini’ by his family, friends, and colleagues, passed away on April 6, 2024.
After receiving his master's degree from the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, and a PhD from Utah State University in Logan, Utah, Srini completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Arthur Broom, PhD, at the U’s College of Pharmacy from 1976 – 1983. Srini credited his successes in life and career to the friendship and mentorship of Dr. Broom, who touched many lives during his tenure at the College of Pharmacy.
Kalyani said Srini always fondly remembered Dr. Broom and all that he did to advance his career. Kalyani shared, “Dr. Broom had so many students, and yet he always took the time to recommend Srini as the chemist they needed in their company.”
Dr. Broom helped Srini begin his distinguished career by recommending him for a position at Smithkline and Beckman. Subsequently, he recommended him for a position at NeoRx Corporation, where he played a key role in the approval of one of the initial monoclonal antibodies for lung cancer imaging.
Srini then transitioned to Mallinckrodt Medical in St. Louis. There, he became a highly respected expert in organic chemistry, leading the radiolabeled peptide program in collaboration with various industry and academic partners, including Rotterdam Erasmus, four other prestigious academic institutions, and Mallinckrodt Petten in St. Louis under the SPIRIT initiative. Some of their most notable achievements included the DOTATATE peptide, widely utilized with Lu-177 as Lutathera (and now serving as a precursor to Ac-225 DOTATE and Pb-212 DOTAMTATE), as well as radiolabeled Bombesin and Neurotensin peptides.
Srini and Kalyani later moved to Berlin, where he contributed to numerous projects at Bayer/Schering. After his retirement from Bayer/Schering, Srini served as an adjunct professor of radiology at Stanford University, continuing his scientific contributions and mentorship alongside Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, until his retirement from the industry. Kalyani is proud to share that during his career, her husband held 51 patents (with an additional 11 patents pending) and developed 83 presentations—all while helping bring two drugs to market.
Kalyani reflected, “Srini’s career and research were important to him. His love for research was so strong that I wanted to ensure the work will continue through this endowment at the College of Pharmacy, where we spent some of the happiest years of our life together working with Dr. Broom. We lived in the Medical Towers and had our son, Anand, there. We had so much fun together. I am so proud of his career and accomplishments. Knowing that this endowment will continue on in perpetuity means the world to me and my son. It feels like a completion of his life circle to me.”
To learn more about supporting research and graduate education at the College of Pharmacy, please contact Laura.Thomas@utah.edu.