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Dean Sherry, Ph.D.

Dean Sherry, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus

Endowed Title
Cecil H. and Ida Green Distinguished Chair in Systems Biology Science (UT Dallas)
School
Medical School
Department
Advanced Imaging Research Center
Graduate Programs
Biomedical Engineering
  • Biography

    Download Curriculum Vitae

    A. Dean Sherry, PhD, served as Professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas for 50 years and Professor of Radiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center for 35 years.  He held the Cecil & Ida Green Distinguished Chair in Systems Biology at UT Dallas between 2005-2022 and served as Director of the Advanced Imaging Research Center at UT Southwestern from 2005-2019.  He has been recognized for his outstanding achievements in chemistry by winning the Doherty Award from the DFW Section of the American Chemical Society in 1990, was honored by receiving the Chancellor’s Outstanding Teaching Award at UT-Dallas in 1994, was elected a Fellow of the ISMRM in 2011, and won the Gold Medal from the World Molecular Imaging Society in 2013.  In 2015, he was elected a Fellow of the World Molecular Imaging Society and won the Gold Medal from the ISMRM for his work on MRI contrast agents.  Dr. Sherry's research interests include applications of 2H and 13C stable isotopes as tracers of metabolism in vivo and the development of novel molecular imaging agents for MRI. He has been actively involved with the development of 13C isotopomer methods to measure flux through complex metabolic pathways in vivo and continues to apply those techniques to the analysis of liver and heart metabolism in small animal models and humans. Together with other scientists in the AIRC, he was involved in development of hyperpolarized 13C tracers for imaging metabolism in real time in isolated organs, intact animals and humans. He has also been active in the development of gadolinium complexes as MRI contrast agents since the early 1980s and is now working on the next generation smart agents that respond to biological indices such as pH and metal ions important in cellular metabolism. His group recently reported a novel Zn2+ sensor for monitoring beta-cell function in the pancreas in vivo by MRI and for detecting prostate cancer.  He was first to report the use of europium complexes as PARACEST agents and maintains an active interest in developing novel paraCEST reporter systems for molecular imaging. He served as Deputy Editor for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine from 2010 to 2014 and as Associate Editor of Contrast Media & Molecular Imaging from 2005-2016.  Dr. Sherry has founded two companies related to his research, Macrocyclics, Inc. in 1997 and VitalQuan, LLC in 2017.  He was elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2023.

  • Education
    Undergraduate
    Wisconsin State University , Chemistry
    Graduate School
    Kansas State University (1971), Chemistry
  • Research Interest
    • Stable isotope tracers for imaging metabolism in vivo, responsive MR imaging agents for detecting changes in biology or physiology in vivo, hyperpolarized 13C metabolite probes for imaging metabolism in vivo
  • Publications

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  • Honors & Awards
    • Honorary Doctorate, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
      Honorary Doctoral Degree (2019)
    • Fellow, World Molecular Imaging Society
      Fellow of the WMIS (2015)
    • Gold Medal Award, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
      Gold Medal Award (2015)
    • Gold Medal Award from the World Molecular Imaging Society
      Gold Medal Award (2013)
    • Fellow, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
      Fellow of the ISMRM (2011)
    • Director, Advanced Imaging Research Center
      UT Southwestern (2005-2019)
    • Distinguished Chair in Systems Biology
      UT Dallas (2005-2022)
    • Cecil & Ida Green Honors Chair in Chemistry
      UT Dallas (2002-2005)
    • UT Dallas Chancellor's Council Outstanding Teaching Award
      (1994)
    • WT Doherty Award
      American Chemical Society (1990)
    • NIH Senior Fellow
      (1983)
    • NIH Postdoctoral Fellow
      (1971)