'Heroes of Chemistry' for saving teeth, clean water, new high blood pre...( WASHINGTON Aug. 16 2009 You've neve...),Health

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2009 You've never met Sumita B. Mitra, Ph.D. But your teeth probably have encountered the results of this scientist's research. Her genius has helped restore millions of decayed, broken, or discolored teeth to their original bright white, natural beauty.

Raise a glass make that water, please to toast and honor William E. Mickols, Ph.D., and the late John Cadotte. Millions of people might well do exactly that. Mickols and Cadotte invented the filters used around the world to remove salt from ocean water. In desalinating seawater, the filters transform the world's oceans into a drought-proof source of fresh water for drinking, irrigating crops, raising livestock and sustaining industry.

Ever clap you hands and cheer a favorite baseball or football team? Why not applaud the scientific team that in 2007 put on pharmacy shelves in the United States the first new type of medicine in more than a decade for high blood pressure? High blood pressure is a key factor in heart attacks and strokes that affect one billion people worldwide. And nearly 700 million people are not getting effective treatment.

Getting the idea?

The American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, puts unsung heroes like these in the limelight once a year, and is announcing the newest inductees into its Heroes of Chemistry "hall of scientific fame" that recognizes the achievements of chemists in industry.

Mitra, Mickols and Cadotte, and a team of 12 scientists from the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, based in Cambridge, Mass., are ACS' 2009 heroes. Mitra is with 3M ESPE Dental Products Division in St. Paul, Minn. Mickols is with the Dow Water & Process Solutions, a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Mich.

"Heroes of Chemistry is a wonderful opportunity to recognize the people behind the products, medicines, and technology that are the foundations of modern socie
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