Seminars

Prof Karen Wooley

Combinations of Covalent and Non-covalent Interactions, Applied Iteratively in Various Sequences, to Cchieve Unique, Nanoscopic Macromolecular Structures: An emphasis toward polymer nanomedical devices of controlled dimensions, shapes and morphologies

Abstract.pdf

Monday September 17, 2012

Location ABB 271 -- 3:30pm

http://www.chem.tamu.edu/faculty/faculty_detail.php?ID=9003

 BIOGRAPHY: Karen L. Wooley received a Bachelors of Science degree in Chemistry from Oregon State University in 1988 and then studied under the direction of Professor Jean M. J. Fréchet at Cornell University, obtaining a Ph.D. in polymer/organic chemistry in 1993. She then began an academic career as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, was promoted in 1999 to Full Professor with tenure, was installed as a James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences in 2006, and in 2007, received an appointment in the School of Medicine, Department of Radiology. In July 2009, Karen relocated to Texas A&M University, where she undertook a professorship in the Department of Chemistry, as the W. T. Doherty-Welch Chair in Chemistry, with a joint appointment in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She was awarded the title of University Distinguished Professor in 2011. Research interests include the synthesis and characterization of degradable polymers, unique macromolecular architectures and complex polymer assemblies, and the design and development of well-defined nanostructured materials. The development of novel synthetic strategies, fundamental study of the materials’ properties, and their applications for the diagnosis and treatment of disease or for performance as non-toxic anti-biofouling coatings are particular foci of her research activities. She has received young investigator awards from the National Science Foundation (1994-99), the Army Research Office (1996-99), and the Office of Naval Research (1998-01). Karen was named as a DuPont Young Professor (1996-99) and she received a 2002 Arthur C. Cope Young Scholar Award. In 2002 and 2008, she also was awarded NSF Division of Materials Research, Special Creativity Extension Awards and she was the recipient of the Academy of Science of Saint Louis Innovation Award in 2002. In 2005, she received a Washington University Distinguished Faculty Award. In 2008, she received one of the inaugural American Competitiveness and Innovation Awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation. She was awarded the Herman F. Mark Scholar Award from the Polymer Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society, in 2009. Karen was Chair for the 2007 Polymers (East) Gordon Research Conference, was a Co-organizer for the 2005 US-Japan Joint Seminar on Polymer Chemistry, and served as the U.S. Area Coordinator for Materials Science and Nanotechnology for Pacifichem 2005. Karen currently serves as an Editor for the Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry, as a member of the Editorial Advisory boards of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Bioconjugate Chemistry, Chemistry of Materials, International Journal for Nanomedicine, and Soft Matter. She directs a National Heart Lung and Blood Institute-supported Program of Excellence in Nanotechnology, serves as Chair of the National Institutes of Health NANO study section, and also serves on the Scientific Advisory Panel for the National Institutes of Health’s Nanomedicine Development Centers,and the Dutch BioMedical Materials Program, among many other advisory roles within the broader scientific community.