Dr. Chris Orvig collecting the UK award from Prof. Robin Perutz, Chair of the RSC Dalton division

Via his expertise in coordination chemistry and its applications to health problems, he has made major contributions to understanding metal ions in biological processes, particularly medicinal. His focus for thirty years has been medicinal inorganic chemistry, in both basic and applied research, and in the promulgation of the field to non-experts. Projects in his labs study the roles of metal ions in the etiology, diagnosis, and therapy of disease. His doctoral thesis work elucidated radiopharmaceutical chelating ligands that are now used in clinical nuclear medicine agents. He showed early in collaborative work that the gastrointestinal uptake of aluminum could be controlled very specifically by appropriate ligands thereby contributing to neurotoxicology by providing a reproducible source of aluminum for biological studies. In the 1990s, Orvig discovered vanadyl complexes that are potent orally active insulin enhancers – one compound completed in May 2008 the second phase of human clinical trials for type 2 diabetes. Recently, his group has focused on new therapies for neurological disorders and is exploring new agents for the treatment of malaria and bone disorders.

The 2009 Bioinorganic Chemistry Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK was awarded for his wide-ranging contributions to our understanding of the behaviours of metal complexes in biological systems and for the development of new therapeutic agents. Professor Orvig delivered lectures at a number of locations throughout the UK during October 2009 in association with his Bioinorganic Chemistry Award.

Dr. Chris Orvig accepting the Canadian award from Dr. Raymond Breault from Rio Tinto Alcan