Gopal (Mani) Subramanian, Ph.D. (1937 – 2000)

Professor Gopal Subramanian, or Mani, as we knew him, passed away peacefully on February 2, 2000, after a long illness. With an everlasting smile on his face and articulate expression of his ideas, Mani will be missed by many of us working in the field of nuclear medicine. Through his work as a radiopharmaceutical chemist for more than three decades, Mani made a significant impact in the way nuclear medicine is practiced today.

Born in India in April of 1937, Mani received his B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1958 and his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering in 1960 from the University of Madras. Having received a Government of India scholarship, he came as a student to the Johns Hopkins University in 1962. During the M.S.E. (chemical engineering) degree course at Johns Hopkins, Mani worked on a part-time basis with Drs. John McAfee and Henry Wagner, Jr., and contributed to the preparation and evaluation of Tc-99m-sulfur colloid and Tc-99m-MAA. In 1965, he moved with Dr. McAfee to the State University of New York, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, and while working as a full time Research Assistant in Dr. McAfee’s laboratory obtained his Ph.D., also in chemical engineering, from Syracuse University, NY, in 1970. His Ph.D. project, recalls Dr. McAfee, was the challenging task of devising ways to keep water from freezing during the frigid winter months in upstate NY. After successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis in 1970, Mani became an Assistant Professor of Radiology at the State University of New York, Upstate MedicalCenter in Syracuse, where he worked for the rest of his life.

For Mani, the time after 1970 was very productive and creative. In 1972, said Dr. Donald Hnatowich, "Mani dominated the SNM meeting". He dominated many more meetings after that. He was an inventor and co-inventor of 11 US patents, author and co-author of more than 95 full papers published in reputable journals, 10 book chapters, and a co-editor of one book. In his CV, Mani lists 14 different radiopharmaceuticals he prepared and evaluated. Perhaps the most long lasting impact of Mani’s work in nuclear medicine is the development of Tc-99m bone seeking agents, which have remained in use now for more than a quarter of a century.

This long lasting contribution was well recognized by his peers and friends alike throughout the world, for which Mani was offered many prestigious awards. The most prominent of these are the Paul Aebersold Award of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (1982), the Vikram Sarabhai Oration Award of the Society of Nuclear Medicine India (1974), Acomen Medal of Nuclear Medicine, Southern France (1986), and the Life Time Achievement Award of the Indo-American Society of Nuclear Medicine (1997).

In addition to these scholarly activities, throughout his career Mani participated in numerous activities of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, of which he had been a member since 1971. He was a member of the editorial board (1972 – 1975) and the Associate Editor of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (1975-1981). In the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Mani was the President of the Radiopharmaceutical Science Council (1991-1992), a member of the Board of Trustees (1973-1977 and 1979-1984) and several times was a member of the Scientific Program Committee of its annual meetings. In addition, he was the founding President of the Indo-American Society of Nuclear Medicine (1983-1985), and a founding member of the American Board of Sciences in Nuclear Medicine (1976-1982). As a consultant to the International Atomic Energy Agency since 1976, Mani traveled to many developing countries and taught how to make radiopharmaceutical kits. Mani served as a member of the editorial board of The Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals (1987-2000), The Journal of Nuclear Biology and Medicine (Italy, 1982-2000), The European Journal of Nuclear Medicine (1982-1992), and The Journal of Applied Radiology (1974-1988).

One begins life with what one gets, and lives life with what one gives. Mani was born in India, not exactly with a silver spoon in his mouth. He began life by going to a primary school which held its classes under a banyan tree. But he lived a rich life by giving lots of love to his family and a lot of useful radiopharmaceuticals and his services to the profession he enjoyed. The impact of his work on nuclear medicine will continue to echo his name for a long time to come. No doubt Mani’s life of 63 years was short, but, as Bill Lawrence once said, it was long enough, because he lived it well.

Mani is survived by his wife Kalyani, Ph.D., whom he married in August 1966, and by their three wonderful daughters.

Mathew L. Thakur, Ph.D.
John G. McAfee, M.D.