Adah Almutairi

Adah Almutairi (Arabic: غادة المطيري‎) is a scholar, inventor, and entrepreneur. Almutairi is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry; affiliate faculty in the departments of Bioengineering and NanoEngineering; and Director of the Center for Excellence in Nanomedicine and Engineering in the Institute of Engineering in Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Her work focuses on nanomedicine, nanotechnology, chemistry and polymer science. Almutairi is a 2016 Kavli Fellow and has received numerous honors and awards such as the NIH director's new innovator award in 2009[1] for her work on "Chemically Amplified Response Strategies for Medical Sciences". Almutairi holds over a dozen U.S. and international patents, many of which are currently licensed in Industry. Almutairi is the Founder of eLux Medical Inc.

Adah Almutairi
Adah Almutairi in 2013.
Born (1976-11-01) November 1, 1976
Portland, Oregon, United States
OccupationProfessor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Director of excellence in nanomedicine, University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
Known forContributions and inventions in pharmaceutical sciences and nanomedicine

Early life and education

Almutairi was born on November 1, 1976 in Portland, Oregon, United States to Saudi parents.[2] She moved to Los Angeles in 1997 to complete her higher education. She graduated from Occidental College with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 2000.

She obtained her Ph.D. in materials chemistry from University of California, Riverside, with a focus on electron delocalization and molecular structure in 2005. She completed her Postdoctoral Studies in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, from 2005 to 2008. At Berkeley Almutairi worked with Jean Fréchet where she developed several nanoprobes for in vivo molecular imaging.[3][4] She joined the University of California, San Diego in 2008, and has been there ever since, as the director of excellence in Nanomedicine.

Academic contributions

Her academic contributions throughout her career to Pharmaceutical Sciences are listed below:

  • Introduced the first polymeric nanoparticle to release drug in response to Concentrations of hydrogen peroxide characteristic of inflammation.
  • Developed the first near infrared-degradable polymer, which enables Precise remotely controlled delivery of molecules.
  • Created an activatable MRI agent with unprecedented contrast between "on" and "off" states.
  • Designed a polymeric nanoparticle that enables delivery to the cytosol by rapid degradation upon exposure to mild acid.[5]

Patents
  1. 2014: Polymeric nano-carriers with a linear dual response mechanism and uses thereof[6]
  2. 2014: Nanocarriers with multi-photon response elements[7]
  3. 2015: Polymeric nanocarriers with light-triggered release mechanism[8]
  4. 2015: Light degradable drug delivery system for ocular therapy[9]
  5. 2016: Biocompatible polymeric nanoparticles degrade and release cargo in response to biologically relevant levels of hydrogen peroxide[10]
  6. 2016: Fine spatiotemporal control of fat removal using NIR light[11]
  7. 2016: Selective fat removal using NIR light and nanoparticles[12]
  8. 2016: Selective fat removal using photothermal heating[13]
  9. 2016: Single step polymerization of covalently bound multilayer matrices[14]
  10. 2019: Selective fat removal using photothermal heating[15]

Awards and honors

Almutairi has received several awards for her contributions in science and medicine including:

References
  1. https://commonfund.nih.gov/newinnovator/recipients09
  2. Piercey, Judy. "What's New at Founders' Day 2012". ucsdnews.
  3. "Principal investigator | Laboratory for Bioresponsive Materials in Therapy & Imaging - PI: Adah Almutairi". almutairi.ucsd.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  4. Almutairi, Adah. "Academic achievements/education". pharmacy.ucsd. Archived from the original on 2017-01-15. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  5. Almutairi, Adah. "Key contribution to pharmaceutical science". Pharmacy.ucsd/faculty. Archived from the original on 2017-01-15. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  6. Almutairi, Adah, et al. "Polymeric nano-carriers with a linear dual response mechanism and uses thereof." U.S. Patent No. 8,758,778. 24 Jun. 2014.
  7. Almutairi, Adah, Nadezda Fomina, and Jagadis Sankaranarayanan. "Nanocarriers with multi-photon response elements." U.S. Patent No. 8,828,383. 9 Sep. 2014.
  8. Almutairi, Adah, Mathieu Lessard-Viger, and Wangzhong Sheng. "Polymeric nanocarriers with light-triggered release mechanism." U.S. Patent Application No. 14/424,963.
  9. Almutairi, Adah, et al. "Light degradable drug delivery system for ocular therapy." U.S. Patent Application No. 14/399,504.
  10. Almutairi, Adah, and Caroline De Gracia Lux. "Biocompatible polymeric nanoparticles degrade and release cargo in response to biologically relevant levels of hydrogen peroxide." U.S. Patent No. 9,333,264. 10 May 2016.
  11. Almutairi, Adah, and Khalid Almutairi. "Fine spatiotemporal control of fat removal using NIR light." U.S. Patent No. 9,333,258. 10 May 2016.
  12. Almutairi, Adah, and Khalid Almutairi. "Selective fat removal using NIR light and nanoparticles." U.S. Patent No. 9,333,259. 10 May 2016.
  13. Almutairi, Adah, and Khalid Almutairi. "Selective fat removal using photothermal heating." U.S. Patent No. 9,522,289. 20 Dec. 2016.
  14. Almutairi, Adah, et al. "Single step polymerization of covalently bound multilayer matrices." U.S. Patent No. 9,409,322. 9 Aug. 2016.
  15. Almutairi, Adah, and Khalid Almutairi. "Selective fat removal using photothermal heating." U.S. Patent No. 10,188,461. 29 Jan. 2019.
  16. Almutairi, Adah. "Academic Achievements/Awards&honors". pharmacy.ucsd. Archived from the original on 2017-01-15. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
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