Tu Named Senior Member of National Academy of Inventors

Zhude (Will) Tu, PhD, professor of radiology for WashU Medicine Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), was elected to the 2026 National Academy of Inventors (NAI) class of senior members. This honor recognizes those at NAI-member institutions who have successfully produced, patented and commercialized technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society and economic progress. 

Tu serves as director of MIR’s Precision Radiotheranostics Translation Center and co-director of the PET Radiotracer Translation and Resource Center, a U.S. innovation hub for the development of novel PET radiotracers. He holds 15 patents, including three for FDA-approved radiotracers for imaging neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and cerebral small-vessel disease. In his lab, Tu develops radiotracers that bind to proteins linked to central nervous system disorders, making them visible and measurable with PET imaging.

One of four WashU researchers selected, Tu joins a cohort of 230 inventors, the largest class of NAI senior members to date.

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