Remembering Dr. Mathur Kannan

Mathur S. Kannan: A Legacy of Scholarship and Collaboration

Dr. Mathur Kannan, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (VBS), passed away on January 4. He retired in 2018 after 31 years of distinguished research, graduate and professional teaching, and local, national and international service.  He earned his Veterinary Medicine degree at Madras Veterinary College, the top veterinary school in India and a master’s degree in biochemistry from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.  

In 1974, Mathur and his wife Lakshmi subsequently emigrated to Canada, and in 1978, he received a Ph.D. degree in pharmacology from the University of Alberta in Edmonton (Canada) for his investigations in smooth muscle biology in the laboratory of the renowned physiologist, Dr. Edwin E. Daniel. He then completed postdoctoral work at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colorado, and became a faculty member in the Department of Neuroscience at McMaster University. 

He joined the VBS faculty in Fall of 1987, bringing an established research program on the physiology and pharmacology of airway smooth muscle supported by foundation and federal grants. Dr. Kannan developed enduring collaborations and friendships with investigators at the Mayo Clinic, University of Pennsylvania and here at the University of Minnesota.  

With these collaborations, Dr. Kannan developed pivotal work defining the physiological role of cyclic ADP ribose in calcium-based signal transduction in smooth muscle, especially in the airways.  As a consequence, cyclic ADP ribose has become a cellular target of great importance in the design of new anti-asthmatic drugs.  He authored well over 100 refereed journal articles and was an invited speaker at over sixty scientific conferences across the globe, from Italy and India to Canada and Korea.  

Dr. Kannan was the primary advisor of ten graduate students, the co-advisor of eight; and trained five postdoctoral fellows and at least one CVM faculty member in his laboratory. He was a kind, patient and very valuable mentor to students and junior faculty in the department, College and University, and through his connections with Mayo, he played a critical role in helping his faculty colleagues develop new and important research collaborations with Mayo scientists. He treasured working collaboratively with clinicians, training several fellows from the Medical School and residents and veterinary students from our College. 

Mathur influenced the lives of many people, and actually saved the lives of some of them through his connections with the Mayo Clinic. He will be remembered as a devoted caregiver who loved his family and a cheerful and productive faculty member with significant accomplishments in academia and life.