The 2012 EU-40 prize from the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) has been awarded to Professor Molly Stevens, Imperial College London, UK, and Professor Francesco Stellacci, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
The E-MRS award is given to scientists under 40 working in any field of materials science, who have made an outstanding contribution and show exceptional promise as leaders in the field. The award was presented on May 16, 2012, at the Society’s Spring Meeting, where both recipients presented plenary lectures.
Molly Stevens (left) studied Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Bath, UK, and gained her Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham, UK, in 2000. She performed postdoctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, in the group of Professor Robert Langer. In 2004, she joined the faculty at Imperial College London, UK, where she is currently Professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine and the Research Director for Biomedical Material Sciences in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering.
Stevens’ research is focused on regenerative medicine, including the directed differentiation of stem cells, the design of novel bioactive scaffolds, and peptide-functionalized nanoparticles for enzyme biosensing.
Francesco Stellacci (right) studied materials engineering at Politecnico di Milano, Italy, gaining his Ph.D. in 1998. He went on to perform postdoctoral research at the University of Arizona, USA. He then joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 2007 and tenured associate professor in 2009. In 2010, he moved to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at EPFL as a full Professor, where he currently heads the Supramolecular NanoMaterials and Interfaces Laboratory (SuNMil) and holds the Alcan Engineered Products chair in the field of Multi-Materials and Interfaces.
Stellacci’s research interests are in nano-science and nano-technology, specifically in the synthesis, characterization and nano-patterning of metal nanoparticles. His recent work has focused on mixed monolayer protected nanoparticles that have coexisting patches of opposite hydrophilicity at a molecular length-scale on the surface.
Selected recent publications by Molly Stevens:
- Multiplex sensing of protease and kinase enzyme activity via orthogonal coupling of quantum dot-peptide conjugates,
S. B. Lowe, J. A. G. Dick, B. E. Cohen, M. M. Stevens,
ACS Nano, 2012, 6, 851–857.
DOI: 10.1021/nn204361s - Exploring and exploiting chemistry at the cell surface,
M. D. Mager, V. LaPointe, M. M. Stevens,
Nature Chem. 2011, 3, 582–589.
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1090 - Quantum-dot-based FRET detection of histone acetyltransferase activity,
J. E. Ghadiali, S. B. Lowe, M. M. Stevens,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 3417–3420.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201008263
Selected recent publications by Francesco Stellacci :
- Synthesis and Characterization of Janus Gold Nanoparticles,
H. Kim, R. P. Carney, J. Reguera, Q. K. Ong, X. Liu, F. Stellacci,
Adv. Mater. 2012.
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201200926 - Oligonucleotide Delivery by Cell-Penetrating “Striped” Nanoparticles,
C. M. Jewell, J.-M. Jung, P. U. Atukorale, R. P. Carney, F. Stellacci, D. J. Irvine,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50(51), 12312–12315.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201104514 - Direct mapping of the solid-liquid adhesion energy with sub-nanometer resolution,
K. Voïtchovsky, J. J. Kuna, S. Antoranz Contera, E. Tosatti, F. Stellacci,
Nature Nanotech. 2010, 5, 401–405.
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2010.67
Also of interest:
- News: Polymer International Award
Professor Molly Stevens, Imperial College London, receives the second Polymer International-IUPAC award
