Adah Almutairi ( ar, غادة المطيري; born November 1, 1976) is an American scientist and professor at

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

(UCSD). Her work focuses on

nanomedicine Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. Nanomedicine ranges from the medical applications of nanomaterials and BioBrick, biological devices, to Nanoelectronics, nanoelectronic biosensors, and even possible future applicatio ...

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

and

polymer science Polymer science or macromolecular science is a subfield of materials science concerned with polymers, primarily synthetic polymers such as plastics and elastomers. The field of polymer science includes researchers in multiple disciplines includ ...

. Forbes has described her as one top ten most influential female engineers in the world.

Early life and education

Almutairi was born on November 1, 1976, in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to Saudi parents. She moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1997 to complete her higher education. She graduated from

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry in 2000.

Academic career

She obtained her Ph.D. in materials chemistry from

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

, with a focus on electron delocalization and molecular structure in 2005. She completed her Postdoctoral Studies in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, from 2005 to 2008. At Berkeley Almutairi worked with

Jean Fréchet Jean M.J. Fréchet (born August 1944) is a French-American chemist and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is best known for his work on polymers including polymer-supported chemistry, chemically amplified photores ...

where she developed several nanoprobes for

in vivo Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, and ...

molecular imaging Molecular imaging is a field of medical imaging that focuses on imaging molecules of medical interest within living patients. This is in contrast to conventional methods for obtaining molecular information from preserved tissue samples, such as ...

. She joined the

in 2008, and has been there ever since, as the director of excellence in

Nanomedicine Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. Nanomedicine ranges from the medical applications of nanomaterials and BioBrick, biological devices, to Nanoelectronics, nanoelectronic biosensors, and even possible future applicatio ...

. Her academic contributions throughout her career to

Pharmaceutical Sciences Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links healt ...

are listed below: * Introduced the first polymeric

nanoparticle A nanoparticle or ultrafine particle is usually defined as a particle of matter that is between 1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. The term is sometimes used for larger particles, up to 500 nm, or fibers and tubes that are less than 1 ...

to release drug in response to Concentrations of hydrogen peroxide characteristic of inflammation. * Developed the first near infrared-degradable polymer, which enables Precise remotely controlled delivery of molecules. * Created an activatable MRI agent with unprecedented contrast between "on" and "off" states. * Designed a polymeric nanoparticle that enables delivery to the

cytosol The cytosol, also known as cytoplasmic matrix or groundplasm, is one of the liquids found inside cells (intracellular fluid (ICF)). It is separated into compartments by membranes. For example, the mitochondrial matrix separates the mitochondri ...

by rapid degradation upon exposure to mild acid. Almutairi is a 2016 Kavli Fellow and has received numerous honors and awards such as the NIH director's new innovator award in 2009 for her work on "Chemically Amplified Response Strategies for Medical Sciences". Almutairi's groundbreaking work was highlighted by U.S. NIH director Francis Collins to Congress as one of the 4 most important American technology breakthroughs of the year 2012. Almutairi is the Founder of eLux Medical Inc. .

Patents

# 2014: Polymeric nano-carriers with a linear dual response mechanism and uses thereof # 2014: Nanocarriers with multi-photon response elements # 2015: Polymeric nanocarriers with light-triggered release mechanism # 2015: Light degradable drug delivery system for ocular therapy # 2016: Biocompatible polymeric nanoparticles degrade and release cargo in response to biologically relevant levels of hydrogen peroxide # 2016: Fine spatiotemporal control of fat removal using NIR light # 2016: Selective fat removal using NIR light and nanoparticles # 2016: Selective fat removal using photothermal heating # 2016: Single step polymerization of covalently bound multilayer matrices # 2019: Selective fat removal using photothermal heating

Awards and honors

Almutairi has received several awards for her contributions in science and medicine including: * NIH director's new innovator Award in 2009. *

phRMA Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA, pronounced ), formerly known as the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, is a trade group representing companies in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States. Founded in 195 ...

foundation award in 2009. * Thiema chemistry journal award in 2009. * Young Investigator Award, World Biomaterials Congress, Chengdu,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 2012. *

Kavli Kavli () is a Norwegian brand of soft cheese, caviar, mayonnaise, crackers and milk. The company sells products in 30 countries, with plants in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, England and Scotland. In 1914, Olav Kavli founded Kavli Holding ...

Fellow, 2016 U.S. National Academy of Sciences

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almutairi, Adah Scientists from Portland, Oregon Occidental College alumni Living people University of California, Riverside alumni 21st-century American chemists American women chemists Saudi Arabian women chemists American women engineers Saudi Arabian women engineers American chemical engineers Women chemical engineers 21st-century chemists 21st-century engineers 21st-century women engineers 1976 births American people of Saudi Arabian descent 21st-century American women scientists