Ohio University nanomedicine pioneer makes big strides in medical diagnosis and treatments

Marvin and Ann White Professor of Bioanalytical Chemistry and OHIO Distinguished Professor Tadeusz Malinski works in the nanomedical research laboratories at Ohio University’s Biochemistry building on West State Street. Photo by Madeline Hordinski

For over forty years, Tadeusz Malinski has dedicated his career to medical research, receiving six U.S. and European patents, earning prestigious honors such as the Marie Curie Medal, and having his research cited more than 11,000 times in scientific literature.

However, Malinski, an Ohio University Distinguished Professor and the Marvin E. and Ann Dilley White Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, feels the greatest reward is how his research contributes to saving lives.

“Our final goal is to extend the span of life, the longevity,” he said. “We don’t need to wait several years to find out if something is wrong with our health. This is a major goal of the research here in this laboratory, to make an accurate representation and design a process for accurate early medical diagnosis as well as early treatment.”

Malinski’s research examines the body’s chemical processes at the single-cell level, as a means to identify problems before they progress. If scientists are able to break down these processes and recognize fatal problems sooner, treatment is more effective with less side effects, he said.

“The problem with medical diagnosis these days is that we observe pathological changes within the body when they are already in macro-scale,” he said. “We can see only some effects of processes which have already occurred. And this is not enough.”

Most recently, Malinski and his team uncovered the potential of vitamin D3 to restore the cardiovascular system. This discovery suggests that the vitamin may be helpful in treatment of the cardiovascular system damaged by several diseases like diabetes or atherosclerosis.

“Professor Tadeusz Malinski is known worldwide as a pioneer in the use of nanosensors and nanodevices to address fundamental questions in medicine,” Vice President for Research and CreativeActivity and Dean of the Graduate College Joseph Shields said. “His work has profoundly changed our thinking about the role of nitric oxide and related compounds in the cardiovascular system, and his recent results on the role of Vitamin D3 in the restoration of damaged tissue represents the latest contribution to achieve international recognition.”

This leading-edge research has been enabled in part due to the generosity of alumnus Marvin E. White, BSCE ’47, and his wife Ann D. White, AB ’46, who in 1999 established the Marvin and Ann Dilley White Professorship that attracted Malinski to OHIO.

Marvin White, a Russ College graduate, enjoyed a notable career as an industrial engineer. He served as CEO of Columbia Distribution Companies for many years before co-founding Interstate Gas Supply (IGS) in 1987. IGS is currently the largest privately owned gas marketing company in the Midwest.

Ann White was a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences and served as a member of the Third Century Society, an OHIO giving campaign.

“Both my father and mother had great memories of Ohio University, and they were very pleased to set up this professorship,” said Scott White, BBA ’88, son of Marvin and Ann White and the current CEO of IGS.“Although both Ann and Marvin have passed away, all of his kids are pleased that this professorship lives on to help the University attract the highest level of professors.”