Paula T. Hammond

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Paula T. Hammond
Paula Hammond in 2023.jpg
Born (1963-09-03) September 3, 1963 (age 61)
Detroit, Michigan, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
AwardsFellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2021), Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (2019), Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering (2017), Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine (2016), Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (2016), Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2013)
Scientific career
Fields Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, Cancer immunology
Institutions Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thesis The Synthesis, Characterization and Optical Properties of Novel Diacetylene-Containing Aromatic Liquid Crystalline Polymers  (1993)
Doctoral advisor Michael Rubner
Other academic advisors George M. Whitesides
Doctoral students Jodie Lutkenhaus
LaShanda Korley
Website https://hammondlab.mit.edu/

Paula Therese Hammond (born September 3, 1963) is an Institute Professor [1] and the Vice Provost for Faculty [2] at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2015, she became the first woman and person of color appointed as head of the Chemical Engineering department. [3] Her laboratory designs polymers and nanoparticles for drug delivery and energy-related applications including batteries and fuel cells. [4]

Contents

Hammond has been the recipient of numerous awards and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (2016), [5] the National Academy of Engineering (2017, “for contributions to self-assembly of polyelectrolytes, colloids, and block copolymers at surfaces and interfaces for energy and healthcare applications”), [6] the National Academy of Sciences (2019), [7] and the National Academy of Inventors (2021). [8]

She is an intramural faculty member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and an Associate Editor of ACS Nano. [9] [10]

Early life and education

External videos
Paula Hammond JPS 2006 03 09.JPG
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg “I learned to not be intimidated by the problem”, Science History Institute

Hammond was born in 1963 in Detroit, Michigan [11] as Paula Therese Goodwin to parents Jesse Francis and Della Mae Goodwin (née McGraw). Her father has a PhD in Biochemistry and her mother has a master's degree in nursing. [12]

Goodwin graduated a year prior to her expected date at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Bloomfield, Michigan in 1980. [13] After her graduation, Goodwin went on to study and earn a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984. [12] She then worked for Motorola for two years as a process engineer, packaging integrated circuits. [11] [14] She returned to academia and obtained a Master of Science in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1988, [12] while working at Georgia Tech Research Institute as a research engineer. [15] Hammond's master's thesis was on conducting elastomers for robotic tactile sensors. [11] [16]

In 1988, she returned to MIT to earn a PhD in chemical engineering. [12] At MIT, she worked under the supervision of Michael F. Rubner, where her PhD thesis research focused on synthesizing polymers with mechanochromic properties. [11] After completing her PhD in 1993, Hammond pursued postdoctoral research with George M. Whitesides in the chemistry department at Harvard University via an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Research and career

In 1995, Hammond was appointed to Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor. [11] Hammond's research focuses on understanding how secondary interactions guide material assembly at surfaces and in-solution to design polymers and nanoparticles for applications in drug delivery; wound healing; and energy and fuel cells. [17] [18] Her work involves Layer by layer (LbL) assembly, which generates thin films of alternating positively and negatively charged molecules for biomedical applications. [19] Additionally, her lab uses nanoparticle carriers for targeted drug, gene, and siRNA delivery for cancer treatment as well as artificial polypeptides and polymeric nucleic acids to interact with biology and build novel drug systems.

Medical applications

Hammond has developed "stealth polymers" to disguise cancer chemotherapeutics in nanoparticles for better entry into tumors. [20] She also develops approaches to transport RNA into cells to selectively increase [21] or decrease the expression of specific genes. [22]

Hammond co-founded MIT's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN), a partnership between MIT, the Army, and industry partners to develop nanotechnology that improves soldier "protection and survivability." [23] [14] Through ISN, Hammond designed a spray that increases the rate of blood clotting to prevent blood loss. [14]

Hammond developed LayerForm™️ technology to build drug delivery films with alternating drug and polymer layers. In 2013, she co-founded a biotechnology company, LayerBio Inc. to commercialize LayerForm™️ for regenerative medicine applications in glaucoma, wound healing, and tendon repair. [24] [18]

Hammond is a member of multiple scientific advisory boards, including Moderna Therapeutics, Inc. and Camden Partners LLC. She is also a member of the board for Alector, a biotech company focusing on immuno-neurology, and Focal Medical and Senda Biosciences. [25] Additionally, Hammond serves on non-profit boards such as MIT Engine and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. [26] [27]

Energy and fuel cells

Hammond also works on the development of polymers for use in batteries thin films of carbon microtubules for applications in batteries, solar cells, and fuel cells. [4] She presented research on virus-based batteries to Barack Obama in 2009. [14]

Honors and recognitions

Hammond has received multiple honors and awards throughout her career. As a graduate student in 1992, she was awarded a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship from the National Academy of Sciences. [28] Her postdoc was supported by an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemistry, awarded in 1994. Since joining the faculty at MIT, Hammond has amassed several plaudits, with early career highlights including an Environmental Protection Agency Early Career Research Award [29] in 1996 and an NSF CAREER Award for Young Investigators [30] in 1997. In 2013, Hammond was one of three African-American women to be elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine [31] and the National Academy of Engineering [32] in rapid succession in 2016 and 2017, respectively, the National Academy of Sciences [33] in 2019, and finally the National Academy of Inventors [8] in 2021.

In 2021, Hammond was also selected to be a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) under President Biden. [34] In 2024, Hammond was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry for developing an innovative approach to create novel materials one molecular layer at a time and applying these materials to areas ranging from drug delivery to energy storage. [35] In 2025, Hammond was a recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. [36]

Selected bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Paula Hammond and Arup Chakraborty named Institute Professors". MIT News. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  2. ↑ "Paula Hammond appointed vice provost for faculty". MIT Organizational Chart. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  3. ↑ "Paula Hammond named head of Department of Chemical Engineering". MIT News. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  4. 1 2 Trafton, Anne. "Harnessing the Power of Polymers". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  5. ↑ "National Academy of Medicine Member Page". www.nam.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  6. ↑ "National Academy of Engineering Member Page". www.nae.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  7. ↑ "National Academy of Sciences Member Page". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  8. 1 2 "NAI 2021 Class of Fellows" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  9. ↑ "Editorial Board". pubs.acs.org. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  10. ↑ "The Koch Institute: Paula T. Hammond". ki.mit.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "In Profile: Paula Hammond, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology". Advanced Materials. 14 (2): 95. 2002. Bibcode:2002AdM....14...95.. doi: 10.1002/1521-4095(20020116)14:2<95::AID-ADMA95>3.0.CO;2-X .
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Paula Hammond". Science History Institute . 29 June 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Paula T. Hammond '84, PhD '93 | MIT Infinite History". infinitehistory.mit.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "The Paula T. Hammond Lab". Science | AAAS. 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  15. ↑ "Career Ladder: Paula Hammond". Chemical & Engineering News. February 22, 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  16. ↑ Hammond, Paula T (1988). Development of a conductive elastomeric matrix for robotic tactile sensors (Thesis). OCLC   19115234.
  17. ↑ "Paula Hammond". Science History Institute. 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  18. 1 2 "Paula Hammond on women in science: Life will always be busy; start a company anyway". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  19. ↑ Bourzac, Katherine (2015-12-11). "A Conversation with Paula Hammond". ACS Central Science. 1 (9): 466–467. doi:10.1021/acscentsci.5b00375. ISSN   2374-7943. PMC   4827460 . PMID   27163008.
  20. ↑ "Faculty highlight: Paula Hammond". MIT News. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  21. ↑ "Bio-inspired approach to RNA delivery". MIT News. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  22. ↑ "Practicing medicine at the nanoscale: New approaches to drug delivery offer hope for new, more targeted treatments" . Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  23. ↑ "Institute For Soldier Nanotechnologies – Mission". isnweb.mit.edu. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  24. ↑ "LayerForm". LayerBio. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  25. ↑ "Alector Announces the Appointment of Paula Hammond, Ph.D., to the Board of Directors | Alector". investors.alector.com. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  26. ↑ "Paula Hammond | Koch Institute". ki.mit.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-28.
  27. ↑ "BWF Board". Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  28. ↑ "Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowships".
  29. ↑ "Grantee Research Project Results Search | Research Project Database | Grantee Research Project | ORD | US EPA". cfpub.epa.gov. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  30. ↑ "NSF Award Search: Award#9702752 – CAREER: Control Through Molecular Design in Engineering: Molecular Order and Function from Ionic Multilayers of Liquid Crystal Polymers". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  31. ↑ "Paula Hammond elected to the National Academy of Medicine". MIT News. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  32. ↑ "Eight MIT faculty elected to the National Academy of Engineering". MIT News. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  33. ↑ "Three from MIT elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2019". MIT News. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  34. ↑ "President Biden Announces Members of President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology". The White House. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  35. ↑ Franklin Institute (2024-01-30). "The Franklin Institute Celebrates 200 Years of Recognizing in Science and Technology with Announcement of 2024 Franklin Institute Awards Laureates | The Franklin Institute". fi.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  36. ↑ The White House (3 January 2025). "President Biden Honors Nation's Leading Scientists, Technologists, and Innovators". The White House. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
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