An Ohio University professor received an award this month for his work on a new technology — tiny devices that can detect heart disease, as well as cardiovascular complications related to diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
Tadeusz Malinski, an OU chemistry and biochemistry professor, won the Albrecht Fleckenstein Memorial Award from the International Academy of Cardiology. A committee of 225 leading cardiologists and scientists chose Malinski for the award, which recognizes excellence in basic research, at the 21st World Congress on Heart Disease in Boston.
“It was given to me to my surprise,” Malinski said. “I am not a cardiologist. But they adopted me very well. They are respectful of the work we are doing.”
Malinski said he is probably the only non-cardiologist to win the award. According to his profile on the OU website, Malinski researches nanomedicine and teaches two courses, electroanalytical chemistry and advanced analytical chemistry.
Malinski won the award for his research into a new way to monitor the cardiovascular system using nanosensors. The devices, a thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, can be implanted into different regions of the cardiovascular system, he said.
Malinski said the technology he helped develop can aid early detection and treatment of several diseases.
“I hope the work of my lab at Ohio University will impact beneficially the many lives Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, heart transplants and heart disease affect each year,” Malinski said in an OU news release.
Malinski’s research continues. He said he’s involved in two research projects he thinks will “probably be very well received in the medical system.”
One involves the molecular aspects of Down Syndrome in children, and another involves the prevention of epileptic seizures.
Malinski conducted most of the research that earned him the Albrecht Fleckenstein Memorial Award at OU — though some at the awards ceremony confused OU with The Ohio State University.
“We are doing something very important here, so naturally people assume I am from Ohio State,” Malinski said.
Malinski said he gently reminded them that he comes from OU.
