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George B. Richter-Addo is a George Lynn Cross Research Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, and Price Family Foundation Institute of Structural Biology at the Stephenson Life Sciences Research Center. His research deals with the interactions of metals, specifically iron, in the body with various nitrogen oxides.
“The smallest nitrogen oxide, namely nitric oxide, is a freely diffusible gas that signals an enzyme in the body to maintain normal blood pressure,” he said. “Prior to the 1900s, NO was thought of only as an atmospheric pollutant. In the late 1980s, NO was discovered to be made naturally by humans and is involved not only in blood pressure regulation, but also in neurotransmission, bacterial defense mechanisms and even in progression of some cancers.”
What was missing, he said, was an examination of the roles that metals play in the metabolism of such nitrogen oxides species.
Richter-Addo developed an internationally recognized research program on the bioinorganic chemistry of nitrogen oxides that places his research group at the top of his field. In recognition of his world-class research efforts, he was awarded a George Lynn Cross Research Professorship in 2017. But his most treasured award is the Outstanding Professor Award given to him by chemistry and biochemistry graduate students in 2019.
Richter-Addo was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in Ghana, West Africa. He majored in chemistry and minored in mathematics at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, before getting a doctorate in chemistry at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He did postdoctoral work at the University of Alberta before returning to the University of British Columbia, then the University of Utah.
He joined the University of Oklahoma as an assistant professor in 1993, becoming the first Black faculty member hired in his department. Among his first accomplishments, he applied his knowledge of the non-biological actions of nitric oxide to develop a new area in the bioinorganic chemistry of nitric oxide.
He became a full professor in 2001, setting a record at the time for how quickly a faculty member advanced from date of hire to full professor for the department. In 2000, he expanded his research expertise through a sabbatical in biochemistry and protein crystallography with his colleague Ann West, the Grayce B. Kerr Centennial Chair in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and an associate vice president for research and partnerships. Richter-Addo integrated these skills to his research program and his research now examines both the chemistry and structural biology of the nitrogen oxides of relevance to biology and the environment.
He leads and manages the Richter-Addo Lab, a world-class functional bioinorganic and structural biology laboratory that utilizes both chemistry-biochemistry and structural biology to address how protein active sites actually work with nitrogen oxides.
“There is no other research group in the U.S. that combines synthetic inorganic-NOx (nitrogen oxides) chemistry and structural biology in the exact same laboratory,” he said.
He said he enjoys challenging the status quo of knowledge in his field regarding the binding and reactivity of the small nitrogen oxides of relevance to the environment and human health. However, his favorite part of his job is “working with students and seeing them shine.”
Several of his doctoral students have pursued careers in academia, industry and governmental roles. Three received OU’s Best Ph.D. Thesis in Science and Engineering award.
Richter-Addo has helped guide improvements to OU’s research culture in numerous ways, from serving two terms as department chair, serving as the originator and founding member of the departmental committee that participated in the national Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate to evaluate doctoral programs in the United States, and leading the team that formulated, designed and implemented the process that resulted in the eventual establishment of the Stephenson Life Sciences Research Center.
“The SLSRC is a modern facility that has changed the way that research is done in our department and demonstrates how research could be done in other departments,” he said. “This includes a cultural change to promote multidisciplinary work and create frameworks for the establishment of centers.”
He has published more than 130 works, including authoritative and critical invited reviews and book chapters. He authored the first book in his field, Metal Nitrosyls, while a postdoctoral student, an extremely rare achievement for a scholar so early in their career. He has been invited to present numerous seminars at prestigious institutions, as well as various national and international meetings and conferences. His work has received continuous funding for more than 25 years from the National Science Foundation and/or National Institutes of Health.
