Hedi Mattoussi is a Tunisian-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

materials scientist and professor at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

. His research considers colloidal inorganic nanocrystals for biological imaging and sensing. He is a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

and

Materials Research Society The Materials Research Society (MRS) is a non-profit, professional organization for materials researchers, scientists and engineers. Established in 1973, MRS is a member-driven organization of approximately 14,000 materials researchers from academi ...

Early life and education

Mattoussi studied physics at the University of Tunis El Manar, which he completed with honours in 1982. He completed his doctoral research at the

Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the La ...

, where he studied mesomorphic polymers in solution. On completing his PhD, Mattoussi was made a research associate at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

. He moved to the

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 ...

in 1987, first joining

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, then

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Research and career

In 1992 Mattoussi joined the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he worked as an assistant scientist in the department of physics. Mattoussi joined the

United States Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

in 1997, where he served as principal investigator. There he developed inorganic nanoparticles and studied how they interact with biological systems. Mattoussi joined the faculty at

as a professor of chemistry, where he leads a group that study the interfaces between inorganic nanocrystals and biological systems. To this end, he designs and synthesises novel nanocrystals based on semiconductors and metallic nanoparticles, creates multifunctional ligands and studies nanoparticle-bioconjugates. He has used

quantum dot Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor particles a few nanometres in size, having light, optical and electronics, electronic properties that differ from those of larger particles as a result of quantum mechanics. They are a central topic in nanote ...

fluorophore A fluorophore (or fluorochrome, similarly to a chromophore) is a fluorescent chemical compound that can re-emit light upon light excitation. Fluorophores typically contain several combined aromatic groups, or planar or cyclic molecules with se ...

to study the

Förster resonance energy transfer Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), fluorescence resonance energy transfer, resonance energy transfer (RET) or electronic energy transfer (EET) is a mechanism describing energy transfer between two light-sensitive molecules ( chromophores). ...

process. Mattoussi serves on the advisory board of ''

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally cons ...

''.

Awards and honours

* 2008 Top Navy Engineer of the Year * 2011 Elected Fellow of the

* 2014 Elected Fellow of the

* 2020 Elected Fellow of the

Selected publications

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattoussi, Hedi Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American people of Tunisian descent Pierre and Marie Curie University alumni Florida State University faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the American Chemical Society American materials scientists