Mark E. Davis is the Warren and Katherine Schlinger Professor of Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He is a member of the City of Hope National Medical Center. He earned his B.S.,

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

, and Ph.D. in chemical engineering all from the University of Kentucky. His lab focuses on the synthesis of materials for catalysis and biocompatible materials for drug delivery. Davis was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering in 1997, for pioneering work in the synthesis of new catalytic materials.

Research

He did his doctoral work with John Yamanis on reactions engineering with annular bed reactors. His academic career started as an assistant professor at

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six regi ...

in 1981 and rose until becoming the Charles O. Gordon Professor of Chemical engineering in 1990. During his time at Virginia Tech, he developed some of the earlier Zeolite

molecular sieves A molecular sieve is a material with pores (very small holes) of uniform size. These pore diameters are similar in size to small molecules, and thus large molecules cannot enter or be adsorbed, while smaller molecules can. As a mixture of molecu ...

and increasing the pore size. In 1991, he joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology and served as the Executive Officer of the department from 1999 to 2004. In 2004 he joined the City of Hope National Medical Center, Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 1995, his wife, Mary, was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to go through chemotherapy. Having seen the side effects of cancer treatment, he decided to do research on molecules that would prevent drug from leaking through healthy blood vessels but would stop at the tumor. His group conjugated cyclodextrin to the anti-cancer compound camptothecin to improve the bio-availability and exhibit efficacy in mouse tumor models. The compound,

CRLX101 CRLX101 is an experimental approach to cancer chemotherapy that is under investigation in human trials. It is an example of a nanomedicine. The agent represents a nanoparticle conjugate that consists of a drug delivery molecule, namely a cyclode ...

is now being tested in clinical trials. The cyclodextrin nanoparticles are also being used to encapsulate siRNA. He was the recipient of the

Alan T. Waterman Award The Alan T. Waterman Award, named after Alan Tower Waterman, is the United States's highest honorary award for scientists no older than 40, or no more than 10 years past receipt of their Ph.D. It is awarded on a yearly basis by the National Scienc ...

in 1990. In 1997, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, in 2006, to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

, and in 2011, the National Academy of Medicine. He is also the founder of Insert Therapeutics and Calando Pharmaceuticals.

Personal

Mark was born in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, as the son of teachers of history and English. Mark Davis is an accomplished athlete and was on a full scholarship in track and field at the University of Kentucky. He is the 400-Meter World Champion for the 55–59 division. He was also part of the USA 4x100 and 4x400 meter teams. He met his wife Mary while a professor at Virginia Tech. She was an accomplished flautist before being diagnosed with breast cancer.

References

External links

Academic ProfileDavis Lab websitePNAS Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Mark E. Living people 1955 births Engineers from Pennsylvania American chemical engineers Academic staff of the Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain Kentucky Wildcats men's track and field athletes University of Kentucky College of Engineering alumni Virginia Tech faculty California Institute of Technology faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the National Academy of Medicine People from Ellwood City, Pennsylvania City of Hope National Medical Center