Chad A.
Mirkin

Chad A. Mirkin is an American chemist with expertise in materials sciences and medicine. He is a professor at Northwestern University where he also serves as Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology and the Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, he studied primarily in Pennsylvania, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Dickinson College in 1986 and a PhD from Penn State University in 1989.

After two years’ postdoctoral research at MIT, where he worked with Mark S. Wrighton on microelectrode devices for electrocatalysis, he joined Northwestern University where he developed his academic career.

Mirkin’s research has focused on the development of nanostructures composed of DNA and colloidal particles. Most notably, his group developed spherical nucleic acid nanoparticles, which went on to be used in biodiagnostics. His research is behind the development of the diagnostic tool known as VERIGENE®. In parallel, he is also one of the pioneers of the technique known as dip-pen nanolithography, based on which he created the startup Nanoink.

For his research, Mirkin received several awards, including the Linus Pauling Award, the William H. Nichols Medal Award and the Perkin Medal. He is a member of theNational Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine.