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Prof. Paula T Hammond

Institute Professor and Vice Provost for Faculty
David H Koch Chair Professor in Engineering

Primary DLC

Department of Chemical Engineering

MIT Room: 76-553
(617) 258-7577
https://cheme.mit.edu/profile/paula-t-hammond/

Assistant

Liz Galoyan
(617) 253-3016
lgaloyan@mit.edu
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Areas of Interest and Expertise

Macromolecular Design and Synthesis
Targeted Drug Delivery for Cancer
Nanoscale Assembly of Synthetic Biomaterials
Electrostatic and Directed Materials Assembly

Research Summary

Hammond is a world-renowned expert in the synthesis of tailored, functional materials. Her work is characterized by interesting chemical synthesis, careful understanding of the fundamental secondary interactions that guide polymer self-assembly, development of novel processes and the choice of important problems.

Research Interests include:
(*) macromolecular design and synthesis; directed assembly using surface templates
(*) block copolymers; asymmetric morphologies
(*) liquid crystalline block copolymers for electro-mechanical and electro-optical applications, and dendritic copolymers as nano-encapsulants or hosts for drug and gene delivery
(*) ISN research includes the investigation of high strength polymer fibers that simulate the properties of spider silk, actuating liquid crystalline polymers, and functional thin film sensors for chemical and biological protection

Hammond is a core faculty member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and was a founding member of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. She has collaborators in academic departments throughout the Institute, and has worked with clinicians and researchers at various Boston-area hospitals. Her research group focuses on biomaterials and drug delivery. Their research focuses on the self-assembly of polymeric nanomaterials; the core of her work is the use of electrostatics and other complementary interactions to generate functional materials with highly controlled architectures, including the development of new biomaterials and electrochemical energy devices. She and her former students and postdocs have started a range of biotech companies.

Recent Work

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