The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, welcomes Carolyn J. Anderson, an internationally recognized radiopharmaceutical researcher, as a UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair. In this role, Anderson will research the potential of ORNL-produced radioisotopes for cancer treatment and will translate new knowledge and discoveries into solutions, often in collaboration with colleagues at the UT Health Science Center.
Anderson will begin her role as the UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Nuclear Medicine: Radiopharmaceutical Therapies beginning Aug. 1. She will hold a joint appointment as a faculty member in UT’s Tickle College of Engineering and an ORNL researcher in the Isotope Science and Engineering Directorate.
The Governor’s Chair program aligns UT and ORNL investments to recruit world-class researchers and accelerate innovation in strategically important fields.
The UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute identified radiopharmaceutical therapies as a convergent research initiative in 2024. Backed by a $20 million five-year commitment, the initiative is designed to position Tennessee as a world-leading innovation hub for next-generation cancer treatment. Anderson’s expertise aligns with the initiative’s focus on targeted alpha-emitting radioisotopes, which can precisely kill cancer cells with minimal side effects compared to traditional treatment methods.
“Tennessee has some of the highest cancer rates in the country, and that’s why hiring exceptional faculty matters to our university and our state,” said Chancellor Donde Plowman. “By attracting world-class researchers with expertise in areas where we already have great strengths and capabilities, we can solve the problems that matter most to Tennesseans and people around the world.”
Advancing knowledge and solutions
Anderson, who previously held positions at Washington University and the University of Pittsburgh, currently serves at the University of Missouri as a professor in Medicinal Chemistry and Radiology. She co-created and previously directed the University of Missouri’s Molecular Imaging and Theranostics Center. Her lab conducts basic research and preclinical translation, designing, synthesizing, and evaluating novel radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic imaging and targeted radiotherapy.
Radioisotopes produced at ORNL hold the potential to overcome significant cancer treatment challenges. For example, they can obliterate otherwise drug-resistant cancers and target metastasized cancers across a person’s body in a single treatment application. However, these radioisotopes quickly decay into other types of isotopes, some of which can cause new problems. Anderson’s research will help overcome such issues.
“The Governor’s Chair position is the best of all worlds,” she said. “To move real-world solutions forward, I’ll also be going back to the basics to advance our understanding of how alpha-emitting radioisotopes work and their full range of capabilities.”
A professional homecoming
Anderson is no stranger to East Tennessee — she did graduate work at ORNL. “This appointment feels like a homecoming,” she said. “I love this region and I love seeing it grow.”
She noted the regional presence of several large industry players in radiopharmaceutical tools and technologies. “I want to help draw even more companies here, including start-ups and small businesses,” she said. “Industry support is key to bringing our research work to clinical trials.”
Several of her current industry partners have expressed interest in continuing to work with her after she moves to UT.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Anderson back to East Tennessee,” said Deb Crawford, UT’s vice chancellor for research, innovation and economic development. “Her work will build on our state’s deep history of radioisotope production and help us expand UT’s leadership in nuclear medicine. The partnership with ORNL multiplies the real-world impact of both institutions to improve outcomes for cancer patients.”
Instilling skills and excitement
“There is amazing work already going on at UT and ORNL, with state-of-the-art instrumentation, great faculty and full institutional support,” Anderson said. “I bring the ability to bridge the different aspects of radiopharmaceutical research and the many people involved.”
Anderson looks forward to mentoring UT’s junior faculty and graduate students. “At each level, I want to help them be as successful as they possibly can be,” she said.
Her passion for mentoring extends to undergraduates. “I learned about nuclear chemistry as an undergraduate, and I’ve always had undergrads in my lab,” she said. She’s already planning new ways to introduce UT undergraduates to emerging opportunities in nuclear medicine.
“My greatest joy is to train young scientists and follow them as they become the new hope for a future where people live longer, healthier, fulfilled lives,” she said.