FAMU professor Kinfa Redda receives national honor
Aug. 7, 2013
Written by
Evan Miles
Democrat writer
Florida A&M University professor Kinfe “Ken” Redda stepped onto the stage at this summer’s 2013 HBCU Awards, smiled and graciously accepted his plaque. He’d just been named the national Male Faculty Member of the Year.
While Redda, the acting vice president for research for the past three years, has received a host of accolades for his extensive research, primarily in the medical field, this event was different. Redda found himself in awe that he was standing beside civil rights activist Myrlie Evers Williams, the widow of the slain icon Medgar Evers, during the ceremony at Jackson (Miss.) State University.
“When I stood with her in the picture, I couldn’t believe I was standing on the same platform with her,” he said. “It was incredible. I was humbled by it.”
Redda may be the most humble award-winning, research grant writer at FAMU. He has secured three patents for anti-cancer and anti-HIV agents, and has no reason to be modest.
In Redda’s birthplace of Eritrea, North Africa, only the top one percent of students have a chance to go to a university. Redda knew early on that he had to work harder to become successful.
“I was always among the top two students in my class through elementary and high school,” he said,“so I was fortunate enough to go to school.”
His passion for math was matched only by his natural gift for science.
Redda came to North America in 1973 and graduated with a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Alberta in Canada. Soon after, Redda began studying anti-cancer and anti-HIV compounds as an assistant professor at the University of Puerto Rico. He was hired by FAMU as an associate professor in 1985, where he continued his research.
In addition to being a full-time professor and researcher, Redda serves as the activity leader at the Drug Discovery Core Facility, a part of FAMU’s Research Center in Minority Institutions Program.
In 2009, Redda became the acting vice president of the FAMU Division of Research.
Redda’s research has allowed undergraduate, graduate and professional FAMU students to discover new, innovative ways to treat terminal illnesses and better grasp the practical concepts of chemistry.
Redda and his team, including Nelly Mateeva, have made hundreds of anti-cancer compounds that are more than 300 percent more active than Tamoxifen, a frequently prescribed anti-cancer drug. However, compounds are only compounds.
There are many steps in the process of turning it into a marketable drug. They must be modified, improved and tested on humans. This is why Redda tries to secure so many grants. Finding a cure for a type of cancer takes money — and lots of it.
“You don’t get to do much research these days unless you’re successful in competing for some high-profile research grants in the pharmaceutical sciences,” FAMU interim President Larry Robinson said. “Dr. Redda is successful in that arena as well.”
The “high-profile research grants” Robinson was referring to are the $35.5 million Redda has acquired for the FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
For this, former FAMU President Fred Gainous rewarded him with an “Exceptional Contribution in the Area of Grantsmanship” award.
The funding pays for better facilities and salaries for his team of researchers. His team puts the money back into their studies, which mainly focus on breast cancer and HIV and their prevalence among African-Americans.
Breast cancer in African-American women is less treatable than in Caucasian women. Black women are 40 percent more likely to die from the disease than white women.
Redda wants to change this statistic.
The health gap present in the black community is the primary reason for Redda’s drive to research treatments for these diseases. He has a genuine sense of obligation to better his community.
“This affects millions around the world,” he said. “Health disparity is a big passion for us because that’s our mission. We want safety for all of us.”
Finding a way to improve others’ health has always been a lifelong goal for Redda. But he also treasures the relationships he has with his students, including those who have earned their degrees and are now doing their own research.
“We email, sometimes they come and visit and they give you this big hug and talk about their lives,” he said. “That’s what’s exciting for me, that they remember you.”
Tiffany Ardley, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry, calls Redda her “research father.” As soon as she entered FAMU’s pharmacy school, Redda began making an impact on her life.
“He was an excellent teacher who always wanted to make sure that the students understood the content and he always brought practical examples so that we could make the connection between what he was teaching in the classroom and how it would actually apply in real life,” she said.
Redda was the reason she returned to FAMU to teach.
“He took me under his wings as an undergraduate my sophomore year and he nurtured me all the way through my Ph.D,” Ardley said. “He’s still giving me guidance as an assistant professor.”
He said watching students learn and go through challenges in the classroom is the best part of his job. Ardley is just one example of how Redda has changed lives — though he insists the students enrich him every bit as much as he helps them.
“The most important thing in life for me was trying to make a difference in an individual’s life,” he said. “It is a passion of mine to serve the students. Sometimes they leave this indelible mark on your life.”
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20130807/POLITICSPOLICY06/308070019/FAMU-professor-Kinfa-Redda-receives-national-honor
Received on Thu Aug 08 2013 - 23:41:44 EDT