Omowunmi "Wunmi" A. Sadik (born 19 June 1964) is a Nigerian

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

, chemist, and inventor working at

New Jersey Institute of Technology {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

. She has developed microelectrode biosensors for detection of drugs and explosives and is working on the development of technologies for recycling metal ions from waste, for use in environmental and industrial applications. In 2012, Sadik co-founded the non-profit Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization.

Early life and education

Sadik was born in 1964 in

Lagos, Nigeria Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

. Her family included a number of scientists, who supported her interests in physics, chemistry, and biology. She received her bachelor's degree in chemistry from the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

in 1985, and went on to receive her master's degree in chemistry in 1987. Sadik then attended

Wollongong University The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university ...

in Australia. In 1994, she received her Ph.D. degree in chemistry from Wollongong.

Career

A postdoctoral fellowship from the

National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...

supported her as a researcher at the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

from 1994 to 1996. She then accepted a position as an assistant professor of chemistry at the

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

. She was promoted to associate professor in 2002, and full professor in 2005. At that time, she also became director of the Center for Advanced Sensors & Environmental Systems (CASE) at Binghamton. In 2019, Dr. Sadik moved to

, has become chair of the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, and director of the NJIT BioSensors Materials for Advanced Research & Technology (The BioSMART Center). She has been visiting faculty at the Naval Research Laboratories,

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Sadik studies

surface chemistry Surface science is the study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, including solid–liquid interfaces, solid–gas interfaces, solid–vacuum interfaces, and liquid–gas interfaces. It includes the fiel ...

, with particular emphasis on the development of biosensors for use in environmental chemistry. She has found that conducting polymers are especially promising for use in sensing applications. She has developed microelectrode biosensors sensitive to trace amounts of organic materials, technology which can be used for drug and bomb detection. She is also studying detoxification mechanisms of wastes such as organochlorine compounds in the environment, with the purpose of developing technologies for recycling metal ions from industrial and environmental waste. In one project, microbial enzymes increased the conversion of highly toxic

chromium (VI) Hexavalent chromium (chromium(VI), Cr(VI), chromium 6) is chromium in any chemical compound that contains the element in the +6 oxidation state (thus hexavalent). Virtually all chromium ore is processed via hexavalent chromium, specifically the ...

to non-toxic chromium (III) from 40% to 98%. Sadik is credited with more than 135 peer-reviewed research papers and patent applications. She holds U.S. patents on particular types of bichair oors. In 2011, she was the chairperson of the inaugural Gordon Conference on Environmental Nanotechnology. In 2012, Sadik and Barbara Karn co-founded the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization, a non-profit, international professional society for the responsible use of nanotechnology worldwide. Sadik is an elected fellow of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

(2010) and of the

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington. It represents 50,000 medical and biomedical engineers, and academic institutions, private industry, ...

(elected 2012). She is also a member of the

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 ...

. She is involved with the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

and the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

, and was part of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

Study Panel on Instrumentation and Systems Development. She is involved in international collaborations with the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

International Center of Biodynamics in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Romania,

Ege University Ege University or Aegean University ( tr, Ege Üniversitesi) is a public research university in Bornova, İzmir. It was founded in 1955 with the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in İzmir and the ...

in Turkey, and the

University of Fukui The is a national university of Japan located in the city of Fukui, Fukui, Japan. History University of Fukui was established in 1949 by integrating three national colleges in Fukui Prefecture: , and . The university at first had two faculti ...

in Japan.

Awards

* 2000, National Research Council (NRC) COBASE fellowship * 2001, Chancellor's Award for Research in Science and Medicine, SUNY * 2002, Chancellor's Award for Premier Inventors, SUNY * 2003–2004, Distinguished Radcliffe Fellowship from Harvard University * 2005–2006, NSF Discovery Corps Senior Fellowship * 2016,

Nigerian National Order of Merit Award The Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNOM) is an academic award conferred on distinguished academicians and intellectuals who have made outstanding contributions to the academic, growth and development of Nigeria. The award is often conferred ...

(NNOM) * 2017, Jefferson Science Fellow * Australian Merit Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadik, Omowunmi 1964 births Living people People from Lagos University of Lagos alumni University of Wollongong alumni Nigerian chemists Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Nigerian women scientists 21st-century American women scientists Nigerian women chemists Binghamton University faculty Yoruba women academics Nigerian women academics Yoruba women scientists Nigerian inventors American people of Yoruba descent State University of New York faculty Nigerian emigrants to the United States Radcliffe fellows American women academics Women inventors 21st-century American scientists Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering 21st-century American inventors Scientists from New York (state) Scientists from Lagos