Houston: Indian-origin cancer researcher Raghuraman Kannan has been elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), recognising him as one of the most influential academic inventors in the United States, the University of Missouri said on Monday.

Kannan is one of two University of Missouri professors named to the prestigious 2025 class of NAI Fellows, alongside Henry Nguyen, a professor of plant genetics. The selection highlights the growing contribution of scientists of Indian origin to innovative research with global health implications.

The NAI elects fellows for creating or facilitating inventions that have a measurable impact on quality of life, economic development, and societal welfare. Kannan, a Curators' Distinguished Professor holding the Michael J. and Sharon R. Bukstein Chair in Cancer Research, has joint appointments at the university's School of Medicine and College of Engineering and serves as associate director of the Immuno-oncology and Therapeutics Program at the Ellis Fischel Cancer Centre.

He has developed nanoparticle-based drug delivery platforms that target cancer tumors while minimising damage to healthy tissue. His research focuses on lung, ovarian, breast, pancreatic, and liver cancers. Kannan holds 65 issued patents, including 12 active US patents.

Nguyen is noted for advancing crop resilience through genomic technologies and holds five patents, including one active US patent. Both will be formally inducted at NAI's annual conference in Los Angeles this summer.

The 2025 class of NAI Fellows collectively holds over 5,300 US patents, representing 127 institutions across 40 states.