Rachel O'Reilly is a British chemist and Professor at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. She works at the interface of biology and materials, creating polymers that can mimic natural nanomaterials such as viruses and cells. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Education

O'Reilly was born in Holywood and educated in a grammar school. She has dyslexia. She studied

Natural Sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, working with

Brian F. G. Johnson Brian Frederick Gilbert Johnson (born 11 September 1938 in Northampton, England) is a British scientist and emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Cambridge. He was also Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge from 1999 to 2005. ...

on her Master's project, and graduated in 1999. She moved to

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

to work with

Vernon C. Gibson Vernon Charles Gibson (born 15 November 1958) is a British scientist who served as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Ministry of Defence between 2012 and 2016. He is visiting professor at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, H ...

on catalyst design, earning a PhD in 2003.

Career

O'Reilly joined Craig Hawker and Karen L. Wooley at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. Here she demonstrated the fabrication of cross-linked polymer nanoparticles that were Click-ready. O'Reilly was awarded a 2004 Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 fellowship, and took up a research fellowship at

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

, in 2005. At the

she was awarded a

Dorothy Hodgkin fellowship. She developed hollow polymeric nanocages that could selectively recognise substrates. She joined the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

in 2009 as an

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences, mainly to universi ...

career-acceleration fellow. Her fellowship explored water-soluble responsive polymer scaffolds that contained domains for catalysis as well as responsive polymers that could trigger the release of catalysts into the media surrounding them. She was appointed Professor in 2012 at the age of 34. That year she was the first ever UK winner of the

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

Samsung Young Polymer Scientist prize. She appeared on Start the Week with Andrew Marr in 2012, where he described her as a "a chemist who does strange things with plastics". In 2013 she was awarded 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 ...

Hermann Mark Young Scholar award. She was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the

in 2017. Alongside her research, O'Reilly is a keen geologist and enjoys travelling to volcanoes. She became a 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 ...

in 2013 and was named as one of the

's 175's Faces of Chemistry. In 2023 she was elected an Honorary Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge.

Honours and awards

* 2022 –

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

* 2020 –

Corday–Morgan Prize The Corday–Morgan Medal and Prize is awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry for the most meritorious contributions to experimental chemistry, including computer simulation. The prize was established by chemist Gilbert Morgan, who named it af ...

* 2018 – Journal of Polymer Science Innovation Award * 2016 –

Gibson-Fawcett award The Gibson-Fawcett Award is awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry every two years to recognise outstanding work in the field of materials chemistry. In particular, the emphasis is on the originality and independence of the work carried out. The ...

* 2014 –

and

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

, McBain Medal * 2013 –

Hermann Mark Young Scholar award * 2012 –

Samsung Young Polymer Scientist prize * 2012 –

Hickinbottom Award The Hickinbottom Award (also referred to as the Hickinbottom Fellowship) is awarded annually by the Royal Society of Chemistry for contributions in the area of organic chemistry from researchers under the age of 35. The prize winner receives a mon ...

* 2008 –

Macro group UK Young Researcher medal * 2007 –

Meldola Medal and Prize

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Rachel Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Imperial College London 21st-century British chemists Scientists with dyslexia British scientists with disabilities Washington University in St. Louis faculty Academics of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Warwick