BUFFALO, N.Y., March 24, 2006 -- Paras N. Prasad, PhD, a distinguished chemistry professor at the University of Buffalo (UB), State University of New York, and executive director of its Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics, will receive an honorary professorship from Zhejiang University, one of China's top research universities. Zhejiang University (ZJU) traditionally bestows the honor on Nobel laureates and awards its honorary doctorates to world leaders. Past recipients include Nobel laureates in physics David Gross and T.D. Lee, and in economics, James A. Mirrlees, Robert Mundell and Robert W. Fogel, as well as Kofi Anan, secretary general of the United Nations. Paras N. Prasad, PhD, will receive an honorary professorship from Zhejiang University (ZJU). Past recipients include Nobel laureates in physics.Prasad has earned a global reputation as a leader in the fields of photonics, biophotonics and nanophotonics, and is a champion of scientific research in developing countries, according to a UB statement. He will receive the honor at a dedication ceremony this fall at ZJU, where he will spend several weeks as a visiting researcher. Sailing He, PhD, professor and director for ZJU's Center for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, said in the statement that ZHU is the home of Chinese optics and photonics and is the top Chinese university in the fields in which Prasad has pioneered developments. Prasad has conducted groundbreaking research in the development of photonics and other emerging areas created by the fusion of nanotechnology (nanophotonics) and biotechnology (biophotonics), which are at the leading edges of scientific discovery worldwide. He also has led scientific teams to develop new approaches in nanomedicine, UB said. For example, he patented nanoclinic technology for optically trackable therapies designed for targeted sites in the human body. Most recently, he and his colleagues developed and used customized nanoparticles to achieve gene therapy, avoiding the need to rely on potentially toxic viruses as vectors, an achievement for which he was named one of the world's top 50 scientists in 2005 by Scientific American. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1997, Prasad is a fellow of the Optical Society of America, the American Physical Society and SPIE. With 10 patents to his credit, he is also the author of "Introduction to Biophotonics" (John Wiley & Sons, 2003) and "Nanophotonics" (John Wiley & Sons, 2004). He has published more than 500 scientific papers and co-edited or coauthored major books in the field of photonics materials. For more information, visit: www.buffalo.edu