STEPPING UP TO SUPPLY CRUCIAL MEDICAL MATERIAL

A UWM chemistry professor and several graduates of his lab are helping two Wisconsin companies produce a vital material that was, until recently, only available from foreign sources.

The material is molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), the parent of technetium-99m (Tc-99m). It’s the most widely used radioisotope in the world for diagnostic medical imaging, according to Mark Dietz, UWM chemistry professor.

About 10 years ago, after repeated disruptions to supplies of Mo-99 from abroad, the Department of Energy wanted to encourage production of this critical radioisotope in the United States.

Two Wisconsin companies – NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes in Beloit and SHINE Medical Technologies in Janesville – took up the challenge of producing Mo-99 domestically.

But doing so wasn’t easy. The companies needed chemists who were skilled in separations involving radioactive materials, and that’s where UWM came in. Over the last four years, five graduates of Dietz’s research group, all trained in this highly specialized work, have been hired by the companies.

“UWM and its graduates have contributed to Wisconsin employers’ ability to solve a problem of national importance,” Dietz said.

Jim Harvey, senior vice president and chief science officer for NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, talked about the importance of the talent pipeline to that growing company at the January toppingoff ceremony for UWM’s new chemistry building.

NorthStar has hired doctoral and other UWM graduates who support the company’s nuclear medicine business producing radiopharmaceuticals. These are used in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, including cancer and conditions that affect the heart.

“What we have found is that we can give these young people that we have hired major projects important to our company, and they can hit the ground running,” Harvey said.

“This is the type of student we need; this is the type of graduate we need.”

– Kathy Quirk