PEOPLE & PLACES UPDATE
NIH Pioneer Award for Mirkin Annunzio Award goes West
Chad A. Mirkin,
director of the
Institute for
Nanotechnology at
Northwestern
University, is among
only nine recipients
out of 1350 nominees
of the US National
Institutes of Health
(NIH) Director’s
Pioneer Award,
NIH Pioneer Award winner Mirkin. established last
January to recognize “researchers and thinkers with
highly innovative ideas and approaches to
contemporary challenges in biomedical research”.
Mirkin works on nanoscale chemical and biological
sensors to develop nanomaterial-based medical
diagnostic systems and is the inventor of the
analytical tool dip-pen nanolithography.
Mirkin will receive $2.5 million over five years to test
far-ranging ideas, including exploring applications of
his ultrasensitive protein detection technology, which
enables broader and earlier diagnosis of illness.
Inventions arising from Mirkin’s nanoparticle work are
licensed exclusively to Chicago-based Nanosphere for
commercialization in diagnostics and the life sciences.
‘Genius’ grant for MIT researcher
Angela Belcher, associate professor of materials
science and engineering at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, is among 23 2004 MacArthur Fellows to
receive a $500 000 no-strings-attached ‘genius’ grant
over five years from the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation’s 24th annual fellowship
program, which recognizes “creativity, originality, and
the potential to affect society”.
Belcher uses genetically modified viruses to produce
nanowires, self-assembling films, and other
nanomaterials. By mimicking processes in nature, she
has coaxed snippets of proteins on viruses to make
uniform semiconductor nanostructures.
In 2002, Belcher cofounded nanotech start-up
Semzyme, renamed Cambrios Technologies, this year,
which aims to make and assemble nanocomponents
for electronics.
Belcher may use the grant to develop science
outreach initiatives for children in elementary and
middle schools around Boston.
Please send details of new appointments, honors, and awards to materialstoday@elsevier.com
50 December 2004
Award for DNA separation
The US Government’s Christopher Columbus
Fellowship Foundation has named Jennifer L. West,
associate professor of bioengineering and chemical
engineering at Rice University, as the 2004 Frank
Annunzio Award Columbus Scholar, its highest honor,
which involves a $50 000 prize.
West is recognized for research in tissue engineering
(e.g. bioengineered arteries to combat heart disease)
and nanotechnology. She is exploring biomedical
applications for nanoshells, in collaboration with their
creator Naomi J. Halas, including cancer therapy,
drug delivery, and medical testing.
Rung steps up
The USA’s NanoBusiness Alliance has chosen Skip
Rung, executive director of the Oregon Nanoscience
and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), as an
inaugural member of its new Economic Development
Committee. The committee will look at the issues
facing the nanotech industry, starting with fears of
potential risks and strategies for taking nanotech
developments from the lab to business applications.
ONAMI was established as the Multi-Scale Materials
and Devices research center with a $21 million state
investment in 2003 in collaboration with Oregon
State University, Portland State University, University
of Oregon, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,
and Oregon Health and Sciences University’s Oregon
Graduate Institute and School of Dentistry.
Nano-Tex expands management
California-based Nano-Tex, a supplier of nanotech-
based textile-enhancing treatments to apparel
companies, has appointed Kim Houchens as chief
technology officer and Mark Brutten as senior vice
president of marketing, as part of a strategic growth
plan focusing on new product R&D, brand building,
and consumer adoption.
Nano-Tex says that, over the past year, it has
expanded its infrastructure to eight worldwide
business locations, over 50 production partners and
more than 40 retail-branded customers. “Kim and
Mark will steer our efforts to drive new growth
through innovative products and market
penetration,” said chief executive officer Donn Tice.
Nano-Tex claims that more than 50 textile mills are
now using its treatments in products sold by more
than 40 apparel and interior furnishings brands in
North America, India, Japan, the UK, and Europe.
This year’s Heinrich Emanuel Merck
Award for analytical chemistry
research has been won by
Yoshinobu Baba, professor of
physical chemistry at the University
of Tokushima, Japan for the paper
“Nanospheres for DNA separation
chips” [Nat. Biotech. (2004) 22,
337]. Baba’s paper describes a chip-
based method of analysis that
enables high-speed, high-resolution
separation of a broad range of DNA
fragments. Baba’s main area of
research is technology for decoding
DNA, protein, and sugar chains.
Video-rate AFM developer is CTO
Infinitesima, a scanning probe
microscopy spin-off from the UK’s
University of Bristol, has recruited
Andrew D. L. Humphris as chief
technology officer. His research at
Bristol led to Infinitesima’s video-
rate atomic force microscope, which
enables visualization of nanoscale
events in real-time. “Scientists can
now follow and control chemical or
biological processes at the single
molecule level,” he says. Such tools
are also essential for industrial
applications such as large-area
surface inspection and the
realization of nanoscale devices.
Nano separation and detection
The 9th Desty Award for Innovation
in Separation Science has been won
by Hywel Morgan of the University
of Southampton, UK for the
development of techniques for the
separation and detection of
nanoparticles, which have the
potential to identify genetic
mismatches in DNA. Morgan uses
AC electric fields generated inside
microfluidic chips to manipulate
and separate biological particles to
identify and separate cells, bacteria,
viruses, DNA, and even molecules.
Solaris creates scientific board
Rhode Island’s Solaris Nanosciences
has created a Scientific Advisory
Board to guide development of its
nano-antenna materials for
enhancing light-absorbing
applications. Chaired by Brown
University’s Joseph Calo, it includes
Gregory Crawford and Billy R.
Wooten also from Brown, Rice
University’s Naomi J. Halas, Purdue
University’s Vladimir Shalaev, and
Pieter Kik from the University of
Central Florida.