Chad Mirkin
Encyclopedia
Chad A. Mirkin is an American chemist. He is the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Medicine, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology
and Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly at Northwestern University
. He received his B.S. degree from Dickinson College
in 1986 and his Ph.D. from Penn State University in 1989.
Mirkin is known for his development of nanoparticle-based biodetection schemes, the invention of Dip-Pen Nanolithography, and contributions to supramolecular chemistry, nanoelectronics, and nanooptics. He is listed as the most cited chemist in the world over the last decade in terms of total citations, the second highest most cited chemist in terms of impact factor and the top most cited nanomedicine researcher. He is one of only eleven scientists, engineers and medical doctors, and the only chemist to be elected into all three branches of the National Academies.
The focus of his research is on developing methods for controlling the architecture of molecules and materials on the 1 - 100 nm length scale, and on utilizing such structures in the development of analytical tools that can be used in the areas of chemical and biological sensing, lithography, catalysis, and optics. Mirkin has pioneered the use of biomolecules as synthons in materials science and the development of nanoparticle
-based biodiagnostics. A common strategy used by Mirkin's group is the use of the unique properties of polyvalent DNA gold nanoparticles
to enable the synthesis of novel materials and colloidal crystals, the development of high sensitivity probes for chemical and medical diagnostic purposes, single-entity structures capable of intracellular gene regulation.
On April 27, 2009, it was announced that Mirkin was appointed to President Barack Obama
's President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Mirkin has served on a number of Editorial Advisory Boards, including the Journal of the American Chemical Society
and Angewandte Chemie
. He is the founding editor of the journal Small
, one of the premier international nanotechnology journals. Mirkin is a founder of three companies, Nanosphere, NanoInk
, and Aurasense.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
and Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. He received his B.S. degree from Dickinson College
Dickinson College
Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...
in 1986 and his Ph.D. from Penn State University in 1989.
Mirkin is known for his development of nanoparticle-based biodetection schemes, the invention of Dip-Pen Nanolithography, and contributions to supramolecular chemistry, nanoelectronics, and nanooptics. He is listed as the most cited chemist in the world over the last decade in terms of total citations, the second highest most cited chemist in terms of impact factor and the top most cited nanomedicine researcher. He is one of only eleven scientists, engineers and medical doctors, and the only chemist to be elected into all three branches of the National Academies.
The focus of his research is on developing methods for controlling the architecture of molecules and materials on the 1 - 100 nm length scale, and on utilizing such structures in the development of analytical tools that can be used in the areas of chemical and biological sensing, lithography, catalysis, and optics. Mirkin has pioneered the use of biomolecules as synthons in materials science and the development of nanoparticle
Nanoparticle
In nanotechnology, a particle is defined as a small object that behaves as a whole unit in terms of its transport and properties. Particles are further classified according to size : in terms of diameter, coarse particles cover a range between 10,000 and 2,500 nanometers. Fine particles are sized...
-based biodiagnostics. A common strategy used by Mirkin's group is the use of the unique properties of polyvalent DNA gold nanoparticles
Polyvalent DNA gold nanoparticles
Polyvalent DNA gold nanoparticles are colloidal gold whose surface is modified with thiol capped synthetic DNA sequences. They were discovered by Chad Mirkin et al. at Northwestern University in 1996. Due to the strong interaction between gold and thiols , a single monolayer of DNA around the...
to enable the synthesis of novel materials and colloidal crystals, the development of high sensitivity probes for chemical and medical diagnostic purposes, single-entity structures capable of intracellular gene regulation.
On April 27, 2009, it was announced that Mirkin was appointed to President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Mirkin has served on a number of Editorial Advisory Boards, including the Journal of the American Chemical Society
Journal of the American Chemical Society
The Journal of the American Chemical Society is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the Journal of Analytical and Applied Chemistry and the American Chemical Journal...
and Angewandte Chemie
Angewandte Chemie
Angewandte Chemie is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers all aspects of chemistry. Its impact factor was 12.730 in 2010, the highest value for a chemistry-specific journal that publishes original research...
. He is the founding editor of the journal Small
Small (journal)
Small is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal published twenty-four times a year. Small publishes research in science and technology on the micro- and nanoscales in the form of Communications, Reviews, Concepts, Highlights, Essays, and Full Papers. The journal was co-founded by Chad Mirkin and...
, one of the premier international nanotechnology journals. Mirkin is a founder of three companies, Nanosphere, NanoInk
NanoInk
NanoInk, Inc. is an emerging growth nanotechnology company headquartered in Skokie, Illinois, with a MEMS fabrication facility in Campbell, California....
, and Aurasense.
Awards and honors
- 2011 – American Chemical Society Award for Creative Invention
- 2010 – Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2010 – Member of the Institute of MedicineInstitute of MedicineThe Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...
- 2010 – Member of the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
- 2009 – Member of the National Academy of Engineering
- 2009 – Lemelson-MIT PrizeLemelson-MIT PrizeThe Lemelson Foundation awards several prizes yearly to inventors in United States. The largest is the Lemelson-MIT Prize which was endowed in 1994 by Jerome H. Lemelson, and is administered through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
- 2007 – Alumni Fellow, Pennsylvania State University
- 2004 – NIH Director's Pioneer AwardNational Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer AwardNational Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award is a research initiative first announced in 2004 designed to support individual scientists' biomedical research...
- 2004 – Collegiate Inventors Award, National Inventors Hall of FameNational Inventors Hall of FameThe National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
- 2004 – Outstanding Science Alumni Award, Pennsylvania State University
- 2004 – Honorary Degree, Dickinson College
- 2004 – American Chemical Society Nobel Laureate Signature Award
- 2003 – Collegiate Inventors Award, National Inventors Hall of FameNational Inventors Hall of FameThe National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
- 2003 – Raymond and Beverly Sackler PrizeSackler PrizeThe Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize is a $40,000 prize in the disciplines of either physics or chemistry awarded by Tel Aviv University each year for young scientists who have made outstanding and fundamental contributions in their fields. It was created through the generosity of...
- 2002 – Feynman Prize
- 2001 – Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award
- 1999 – ACSAmerican Chemical SocietyThe American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
Award in Pure Chemistry