Kristi Kiick

University of Nottingham Scholar Award, University of Nottingham - Chemistry, Materials Science, and Engineering

In the USA, I am both an alumna of the University of Delaware (BS Chemistry), and the Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. I mentor approximately 15 graduate students and postdocs, in research projects in which we synthesize materials with exact control, in the same way that proteins are produced in nature. This allows us to finely tune their interactions with cells, which we take advantage of for designing new materials for drug delivery, wound healing and cardiovascular therapies. My Fulbright-sponsored work at the University of Nottingham will be focused on developing advanced manufacturing protocols to make specific structures with our materials, in an interdisciplinary collaboration with outstanding scientists and clinicians in the School of Pharmacy, the Faculty of Engineering and the Queen’s Medical Centre. We plan to use these structured materials to develop organoids with potential applications in drug screening. My family and I are looking forward to our year in the UK, and are planning lots of hiking, biking, and running in the Peak District, as well as learning about the history and culture of the UK and Europe through daily life and traveling.