Igor L. Medintz
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, DC
Igor Medintz is head of the Laboratory for Bio/Nano Science and Technology of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. He earned his doctorate in molecular biology from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York in 1999. This was followed by post-doctoral research at the College of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley as well as at U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C. Since 2004 he has been a Research Biologist at NRL and is head of the Laboratory for Bio/Nano Science and Technology. Dr. Medintz is one of the U.S. Navy's leading scientists engaged in bionanotechnology. Under the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the Department of Defense is tasked with developing new materials by functionally integrating biological molecules with nanoparticles to provide breakthroughs in biosensing, nanomedicine, and energy harvesting for enhancing warfighter capabilities and battle system components. Realizing at an early point the technological importance of such bio-nano hybrids and the role the interface between these two materials plays in defining the biological function, Dr. Medintz focused on the chemistry utilized for assembling such materials along with understanding how they engage in energy transfer across this interface. One of his key achievements is his elucidation of how quantum dots (a special type of nanoparticle) engage in different types of transfer energy with other nanoparticles and bio/organic molecules. He has demonstrated that such nanoscale assemblies can lead to biosensors capable of monitoring the chemical states within a single human. He has co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and holds 14 patents. He is also co-editor of the book FRET - Förster Resonance Energy Transfer: From Theory to Applications.