Kristi Kiick: Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware
Kristi Kiick is the Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware, holding affiliated faculty appointments in the Departments of Biological Sciences and of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware and in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham, where Kiick is conducting research as a Leverhulme Visiting Professor and Fulbright Scholar.
Her internationally recognised research focuses on the synthesis, characterisation, and application of protein, peptide, and self-assembled materials for applications in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and bioengineering, with specific research in cardiovascular, vocal fold, and cancer therapies.
A Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and of the American Chemical Society, she has published more than 150 articles, book chapters, and patents, and has delivered over 160 invited and award lectures. Kiick’s honours have included several awards (Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation New Faculty, Beckman Young Investigator, NSF CAREER, DuPont Young Professor, and Delaware Biosciences Academic Research Award) as well as induction as a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, of the American Chemical Society and of the American Chemical Society Division of Polymer Chemistry.
She also serves on the advisory and editorial boards for multiple international journals and research organizations. Kiick received her Bachelor of Science in chemistry from UD as a Eugene du Pont Memorial Distinguished Scholar, where she graduated summa cum laude, and a Master of Science in chemistry as an NSF graduate fellow at the University of Georgia.
She worked in industry (Kimberly Clark Corporation) as a research scientist prior to obtaining Master of Science and doctoral degrees in polymer science and engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, completing her doctoral research at the California Institute of Technology as a recipient of a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) fellowship.