NAKFI Nanotechnology Planning Committee Member
Chad Mirkin (NAE), Northwestern University

NAKFI’s Nanotechnology Planning Committee Member and Northwestern University researcher Chad Mirkin, one of the world’s leaders in nanotechnology research and its application, has been awarded the prestigious 2009 $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize.

For Mirkin, good things come in small packages -- specifically one billionth of a meter in size. Yet the impact of Mirkin’s work is anything but small. A prolific inventor and entrepreneur, his innovations have the potential to transform the future of medical diagnostics and patient point-of-care and to ignite change across many industries, from semiconductors to health care.

The Lemelson-MIT Program recognizes outstanding inventors. Mirkin, George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern, is being honored for his revolutionary discoveries and sizeable contributions to science and invention.

Mirkin, who recently was named to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, is best known for the invention, development and commercialization of two revolutionary technologies: the nanoparticle-based medical diagnostic assays underlying the FDA-approved Verigene IDTM system, and Dip-Pen Nanolithography, an ultra-high-resolution molecule-based printing technique.

Both inventions were born, in part, out of Northwestern’s Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, funded by the National Science Foundation, and were conceived, managed and directed by Mirkin. His research at the University, with the help of Northwestern graduate students and colleagues, has formed the basis of several start-up companies that are helping to bring his inventions from the lab to the market.

Current medical diagnostic tools make it challenging to detect molecules circulating in the human bloodstream that provide early warning signs of disease. Mirkin invented a highly precise method of identifying low concentrations of disease-signifying molecules. “In the case of proteins, the test can be thousands of times more sensitive than any commercial protein detection system out there and has the power to revolutionize medical diagnostics,” Mirkin said.

A leader in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology, Mirkin is the author of 380 manuscripts and more than 350 patents and applications. He currently is listed as the third most-cited chemist over the last decade and the most-cited nanomedicine researcher in the world. Mirkin also is professor of medicine, chemical and biological engineering, biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering. Mirkin also serves as a role model and leader for aspiring young scientists and inventors. Through work with the International Institute for Nanotechnology, Mirkin and his colleagues devise innovative science programs around the country to educate youth, including the development of the DiscoverNANO Web site that introduces young people to nanotechnology. Currently, Mirkin also is working with Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry to complete a hands-on nanotechnology exhibit.