2025
IEEE MARIE SKLODOWSKA-CURIE AWARD
Sponsored by the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society
“For the discovery and development of the cerium-doped lutetium-oxy-orthosilicate scintillator and its long-standing impact on positron emission tomography.”
Chuck Melcher’s invention and development of cerium-doped lutetium oxy-orthosilicate (LSO:Ce), using his own pioneering methods, has revolutionized the detection of high-energy gamma rays. LSO:Ce and its closely-related derivatives, such as LYSO:Ce, have become the scintillator materials of choice for positron emission tomography (PET) scanners, an imaging test that uses radioactive material to diagnose a variety of diseases. LSO:Ce is used in millions of diagnostic scans worldwide each year, determining if cancer has metastasized beyond its original site and whether cancer patients are responding to their treatments. LSO:Ce also has clinical applications in cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disease. The societal impact of Melcher’s invention is enormous, saving and improving lives through better diagnostic imaging.
An IEEE Life Fellow, Melcher is the Director of the Scintillation Materials Research Center and a Research Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.