Financial gifts and support allows McLaughlin to focus on his research.
Mark McLaughlin wants to play a vital role in fighting cancer.
“Ultimately, I hope to develop commercially viable cancer therapies and diagnostic technologies capable of detecting and treating the disease in its earliest stages,” says McLaughlin.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, McLaughlin wanted to continue his studies. McLaughlin knew he needed to choose a university that would provide the facilities for studying radiopharmaceutical chemistry. After researching many schools, McLaughlin chose Mizzou.
“The presence of the MU Research Reactor facility, coupled with the new cyclotron addition, provides access to short-lived radionuclide. Coupled with the presence of the vet school and hospital, MU has all the tools to carry drug development from inception through early clinical trials,” says McLaughlin.
The facilities aren’t the only things attracting and keeping McLaughlin at the university. The G. Ellsworth Huggins Scholarship, as well as a fellowship from the Department of Nuclear Energy made the decision easier. The Huggins award provides financial support for “academically outstanding” students. Huggins, an MU graduate from the class of 1898, who grew up in Barton, Mo., wanted “deserving students to have access to an education at the University.” Huggins’ estate provided a charitable bequest that created the endowed scholarship in 1979. Unrestricted gifts like the Huggins Scholarship help the MU Graduate School attract outstanding students to the Ph.D and master’s degree programs at MU.
“The awards allow me to concentrate solely on my research and allow me to pursue projects without regard to funding availability,” says McLaughlin.
McLaughlin recently began studies with Dr. Dave Robertson’s research group. There, McLaughlin works on radiopharmaceutical chemistry using radiotherapy and targeted cancer therapies. It’s right up his alley and something he’s been looking to do for some time.
“I’ve always had an interest in nuclear science and wanted to find useful ways of applying the principles of radioactivity to improve the lives of people everywhere,” says McLaughlin. “The dramatic growth of the radiopharmaceutical industry provides just such an opportunity.”
McLaughlin plans to graduate in 2013. After graduation he’d like to continue his research and hopes his findings accomplish what he originally set out to do – develop better early cancer detection devices and therapies and further the fight against the disease.
For more information about endowment and estate gifts, contact the MU Office of Gift Planning and Endowments, 1-800-970-9977; or email giftplanning@missouri.edu. You can visit Mizzou’s planned giving website at www.endowment.missouri.edu.
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