Professor Samir Mitragotri Elected Member of National Academy of Engineering

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Professor Samir Mitragotri is one of 67 new members elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2015.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature,” and to the “pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

Mitragotri was elected to the NAE “for development, clinical translation and commercialization of transdermal drug delivery systems.” Transdermal drug delivery, while a simple and painless alternative to needles, remains a big challenge. Mitragotri and his group have developed technologies that involve ultrasound, penetration enhancers and liquid microjets to overcome the skin barrier to enable delivery of proteins, peptides and small interfering RNA (siRNA).

Mitragotri’s election brings to 27 the number of members from UCSB, three of whom are Nobel Prize winners, elected to the prestigious organization.

Mitragotri joined the UCSB faculty in 2000 as an assistant professor of chemical engineering and of biomolecular science and engineering. He is now the director of the UCSB Center for BioEngineering and the Translational Medicine Research Laboratories. He has authored or co-authored more than 170 scholarly publications and his research has led to dozens of patents and pending applications. His research focus also includes bio-inspired technology that uses or mimics the body’s own functions for targeted drug delivery that increases the effectiveness of therapies.

“Election to NAE is one of the highest honors bestowed upon an engineer,” said Mitragotri. “I am truly honored and humbled by this recognition.”

Mitragotri has received numerous awards and honors over his career, including election into the National Academy of Inventors; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He has received the American Institute of Chemical Engineering’s Allan P. Colburn award for outstanding publication record; the Controlled Release Society’s Young Investigator award for outstanding work in drug delivery, and the Technology Review Young Inventor award (TR35) for technological innovation.

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Awards and Accolades