Shana Kelley, the Neena B. Schwartz Professor Department of Chemistry, was honored during an investiture ceremony of endowed chairs on April 18.
Kelley of Northwestern’s Department of Chemistry, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and the International Institute for Nanotechnology, is an internationally renowned researcher that has developed innovative and translational methods for tracking molecular and cellular analytes with unprecedented sensitivity. Her novel approaches integrate nanoscience, bioanalytical science, and engineering.
Kelley perfected a groundbreaking method for nucleic acid detection that uses high surface area nanoscale gold-based sensors. Kelley is also well-known for the development of new methods to detect circulating cancer cells and delivery systems that leverage mitochondrial penetrating peptides and related materials. Her most recent work has focused on developing new high throughput omics approaches for the discovery and development of cell-based and molecular therapies.
Kelley and her team of researchers pioneered the use of nanostructured materials to develop high-sensitivity electrochemical sensors for biomolecular analytes, according to the Kelley Lab website.
A “Top 100 Innovator” in MIT’s Technology Review, Kelley is also an inventor, with over 50 issued patents. As a successful entrepreneur, she also founded three molecular diagnostics companies based on her research discoveries, two of which have been acquired by large bioanalytical companies.
About the Neena B. Schwartz Professor Department of Chemistry chair
Neena Schwartz, the William Deering Professor of Biological Sciences, Emerita at Northwestern, was a fierce advocate for women in science. Schwartz earned her PhD in Physiology from Northwestern in 1953 and returned to the University as a faculty member in 1973, first in the medical school and then in arts and sciences. She was a trained physiologist with a focus on the factors that establish reproductive cycles in mammals. Her work established the role of ovarian inhibin in negative feedback regulation of FSH secretion in females. Endowed Chairs Neena B. Schwartz Professor. Schwartz was instrumental in the founding Northwestern’s Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, served as director of the Northwestern University Center for Reproductive Science, established in 1987, as acting dean of the college of arts and sciences from 1996-97, and was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Schwartz was widely recognized for her advocacy and mentorship of women scientists, along with her leadership positions. She was co-founder of the Women in Endocrinology group under the Endocrine Society, and an organizer and first president of Association for Women in Science (AWIS). In 2010, she wrote a memoir, “A Lab of My Own”, which is required reading for members of the Northwestern Center for Reproductive Science; Schwartz founded and led this organization. She received various awards for her dedication to service, the advancement of science, and mentorship.