Mansukh C. Wani, (died 2020), was a principal scientist (emeritus) at the

Research Triangle Institute Research Triangle Institute, trading as RTI International, is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. RTI provides research and technical services. It was founded in 1958 with $500,000 in funding fr ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. He was co-discoverer of

Taxol Paclitaxel (PTX), sold under the brand name Taxol among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes ovarian cancer, esophageal cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, cervical ca ...

and

camptothecin Camptothecin (CPT) is a topoisomerase inhibitor. It was discovered in 1966 by M. E. Wall and M. C. Wani in systematic screening of natural products for anticancer drugs. It was isolated from the bark and stem of '' Camptotheca acuminata'' (Campt ...

, two anti-

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

drugs considered standard in the treatment to fight ovarian, breast, lung and colon cancers. In 2000, Wani received an award for applied research in medicine, the Charles F. Kettering Prize, from the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation. Wani was born in Nandurbar, Maharashtra, India. He attended the University of Bombay, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1947 (in chemistry) and a master's in 1950 (in organic chemistry). He moved to the United States in 1958, and received his PhD from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest ca ...

in 1962, when he joined

. He used to live in Durham, North Carolina. He died on 11 April 2020.

References

External links

* Awards: *
Charles F Kettering Prize for major contributions to cancer research
*
'Magic Bullet' Lifetime Achievement Award
*
Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame
Memorial Video: *
A Tribute to Dr. Wani from Local Non-Profit, DOC NC
Year of birth missing 2020 deaths American people of Indian descent Indian organic chemists Scientists from Maharashtra People from Nandurbar district 20th-century Indian chemists {{US-med-bio-stub