Prof Chad Mirkin (2nd from right) is presented with the 2023 Materials Today Innovation Award by Editors-in-Chief of Materials Today, Prof Jun Lou (left) and Prof Gleb Yushin (right), and Daniel Staemmler (2nd from left), managing publisher.
Prof Chad Mirkin (2nd from right) is presented with the 2023 Materials Today Innovation Award by Editors-in-Chief of Materials Today, Prof Jun Lou (left) and Prof Gleb Yushin (right), and Daniel Staemmler (2nd from left), managing publisher.
Prof. Chad A. Mirkin
Prof. Chad A. Mirkin

As selected by the EiCs of Materials Today , we are delighted to announce that the 2023 Materials Today Innovation Award have been presented to Prof. Chad A. Mirkin (Northwestern University) for his field-defining contributions to nanotechnology at the interface of materials science. Specifically, he and his group have invented spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), dip-pen nanolithography, cantilever-free, scanning probe-based nanopatterning and materials discovery methodologies, and high-area rapid printing (HARP). These innovations have led to over 2,000 commercial products and processes, which have benefited both science and society greatly.

Prof. Chad A. Mirkin is the Director of International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); George B. Rathmann Prof. of Chemistry, Medicine, Mat. Sci. & Eng., Biomedical Eng., Chem. & Bio. Eng., Northwestern University. He received his B.S. in Chemistry (1986) from Dickinson College and PhD in Inorganic & Organic Chemistry (1989) from the Pennsylvania State University.

Prof. Mirkin is a leading force and innovator in the fields of nanoscience and materials science. He has made many seminal contributions surrounding the synthesis and development of gold nanoparticles functionalized with biomolecules, specifically nucleic acids like DNA and RNA, that have not only opened new domains in materials chemistry but have made marked impacts in society through their application in transformational life science and biomedical technologies and programmable materials synthesis. Prof. Mirkin has published > 860 peer-reviewed papers, over 80 of which are in Science and Nature.  

In addition to an unparalleled publication record, he has pushed paradigm-shifting technologies into the marketplace. Companies he founded include Nanosphere, AuraSense, TERA-print, Azul 3D (based on the world’s highest throughput stereolithography 3D printing technology), MattIQ, Holden Pharma, and Flashpoint Therapeutics. The products they commercialized have impacted millions of end-users worldwide.

In summary, Prof. Mirkin has strongly pushed forward the modern exploitation of nanoparticles in biodetection, sensing, and gene regulation and immunotherapy.

The Materials Today Innovation Award recognizes “monumental” work, which has opened a new, significant field of research and resulted in impactful, practical applications. Previous winners include Prof M Stanley Whittingham (Institute for Materials Research and the Materials Science and Engineering program at Binghamton University), Prof Russell Dupuis (Georgia Tech), Prof Michael Grätzel (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Prof Yury Gogotsi (Drexel University) and Prof. Zhenan Bao (Standford University) for their work on lithium-ion batteries, MO-CVD, solar energy conversion, inorganic nanomaterials and organic electronics, respectively.