Group Members
Group Members
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Theresa M. Reineke, Ph.D.
Theresa M. Reineke, Ph.D.
Prager Chair in Macromolecular Science
Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota
Editor-in-Chief Bioconjugate Chemistry
Theresa M. Reineke, Ph.D., is a Prager Chair in Macromolecular Science and a Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota. She holds graduate faculty appointments in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Pharmaceutics.
Her research group is focused on enabling fundamental and applied technology advancements in three main areas: 1) the design of polymer-based delivery systems for DNA and RNA to treat genetic diseases, 2) the creation of sustainable and environmentally friendly polymers/plastics from naturally occurring chemicals derived from plants, and 3) engineering interactions between small molecules and polymers for active encapsulation, drug delivery, chemical sensing, and network engineering. She is also a co-founder of Nanite Inc. and Liberate Bio, two biotech firms in the field of nucleic acid delivery. She is currently Editor-in-Chief of the American Chemical Society journal Bioconjugate Chemistry and on the Editorial Advisory Boards of the ACS journals Biomacromolecules and ACS Applied Polymer Materials and the RSC journal Polymer Chemistry.
Additional information
Additional information
Research Areas
Research Areas
Monomer and polymer synthesis
Polymer characterization in solution and the solid state
Natural product feedstock design
Sustainable polymers
Adhesives, coatings, and elastomers
Stimuli responsive and shape memory polymers
Thermosets and gels
Biodegradable polymers
Carbohydrate chemistry
DNA and RNA delivery
Polymer-cell interactions
Transfection reagents
Nucleic acid therapeutics
Drug delivery
Drug-polymer interactions
Controlled-release
Excipient development
Oral drug delivery
Intracellular mechanisms of delivery
Lanthanide-organic chemistry
Imaging agent design
Theranostic agent design
Chemical detection and sensing
Awards and Distinctions
Awards and Distinctions
2023 Fellow of the American Chemical Society
2023 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
2022 Prager Chair in Macromolecular Science
2022 American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award
2018 DuPont Nutrition and Health Science Excellence Medal (Danisco Foundation)
2018 Fellow of the American Chemical Society Division of Polymer Chemistry
2018 Big 10 Alliance Academic Leadership Program Fellow
2017 Distinguished McKnight University Professorship (UMN)
2017 Carl S. Marvel Creative Polymer Chemistry Award (American Chemical Society Polymer Chemistry Division)
2016 Sara Evans Faculty Woman Scholar/Leader Award
2016 George W. Taylor Award for Distinguished Research (UMN)
2016 AIMBE Fellow (American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering)
2012 Outstanding New Investigator Award (American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy)
2012 American Chemical Society (PMSE Division) Macro 2012 Lecture Award
2011 Lloyd H. Reyerson Professorship (UMN)
2009 National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award
2008 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
2007 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship
2007–2009 Kavli Fellow (National Academy of Sciences “Frontiers of Science” Program)
2007 OH Bioscience Thirty in Their 30s Award
2006–2008 Lowenstein Scholar (University of Cincinnati)
2005 Beckman Young Investigator Award
2005 Sigma Xi Outstanding Young Investigator Award
2005 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
2003 American Chemical Society (PMSE Division), Arthur K. Doolittle Award
2002 National Institutes of Health, Individual National Research Service Award
2000 Outstanding Graduate Research Award from the Wirt and Mary Cornell Prize
1998–2000 Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Graduate Fellowship
1999 Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award (Arizona State University)
1998–1999 Pew Charitable Trusts – Preparing Future Faculty Fellow
1997 Excellence as a Teaching Assistant Award (Arizona State University)
Education
Education
NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, California Institute of Technology, 2000-2002
Ph.D., The University of Michigan, 2000
M.S., Arizona State University, 1998
B.S., University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 1995
Group Members
Group Members
Kaylee Barr
Kaylee Barr
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Jackson Cleveland
Jackson Cleveland
Ph.D. Student, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
John Hutchinson
John Hutchinson
Ph.D. Student, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Michael Leyden
Michael Leyden
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Plinio Rosales Lopez
Plinio Rosales Lopez
Ph.D. Student, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Geethaanjali Mohan
Geethaanjali Mohan
Ph.D. Student, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Jacob Reineke
Jacob Reineke
Undergraduate Student, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering
Cal Thoma
Cal Thoma
Ph.D. Student, Department of Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
Tyler Weinstein
Tyler Weinstein
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Alumni
Alumni
Graduate Students and Postdocs
Graduate Students and Postdocs
Nick Kreofsky, Ph.D., 2025
Christopher LaSalle, Ph.D., 2025
Ruma Ghosh, Ph.D., 2025
Jae Hyun (Jaeheon) Kim, Ph.D., 2024
Punarbasu Roy, Ph.D., 2024
Emily Prebihalo, Ph.D., 2024
Mayuri Porwal, Ph.D., 2023
Christian Grimme, Ph.D., 2023
Mckenna Hanson, Ph.D., 2023
Rishad Dalal, Ph.D., 2022
Ethan Gormong, Ph.D., 2022
Craig Van Bruggen, Ph.D., 2022
Ramya Kumar, Ph.D., 2022
Joseph Jaye, Ph.D., 2021
Monica Ohnsorg, Ph.D., 2021
Anna (Luke) McCue, Ph.D., 2021
Hussnain Sajjad, Ph.D., 2020
Cristiam Santa Chalarca, Ph.D., 2020
Derek Saxon, Ph.D., 2020
Matthew Bockman, Ph.D., 2019
Piril Ertem, Ph.D., 2019
Nayereh Dadoo, Ph.D., 2019
Swapnil Tale, Ph.D., 2019
Zhe Tan, Ph.D., 2019
Ngoc Le, M.S., 2019
Anatolii Purchel, Ph.D., 2019
Rui Ding, Ph.D., 2018
Leon Lillie, Ph.D., 2018
Pranav Agrawal, Ph.D., 2018
Yaming Jiang, Ph.D., 2018
Mitra Ganewatta, Ph.D., 2018
Victoria Szlag, Ph.D., 2018
William Boyle, Ph.D., 2017
Mammad Nasiri, Ph.D., 2017
Yogesh Dhande, Ph.D., 2017
Seyoung Jung, Ph.D., 2017
Jukuan Zheng, Ph.D., 2017
Haley (Phillips) Gorr, Ph.D., 2017
Quanxuan Zhang, Ph.D., 2016
Jeffrey Ting, Ph.D., 2017
James Gallagher, Ph.D., 2016
Susith Wickramaratne, Ph.D., 2015
Nilesh Ingle, Ph.D., 2016
Zach Tolstyka, Ph.D., 2016
Dustin Sprouse, Ph.D., 2015
Bharat Wagh, Ph.D., 2015
Lakmini Widanapathirana, Ph.D., 2014
Yaoying Wu, Ph.D., 2014
Lian Xue, Ph.D., 2014
William C. Shearouse, Ph.D., 2014
Tushar S. Navale, Ph.D., 2013
Molly Dalsin, M.S., 2013
Kevin Anderson, Ph.D., 2012
Sneha Kelkar, Ph.D., 2012
Megan Sonnenburg, M.S., 2012
Mallory Cortez, Ph.D., 2012
Antons Sizovs, Ph.D., 2011
Giovanna Grandinetti, Ph.D., 2011
Karina (Kizjakina) Frangieh, Ph.D., 2011
Adam Smith, Ph.D., 2011
Vijay Taori, Ph.D., 2011
Patrick McLendon, Ph.D., 2010
Josh Bryson, Ph.D., 2009
Katye Fichter, Ph.D., 2009
Lisa Prevette, Ph.D., 2008
Chen-Chang Lee, Ph.D., 2008
Chris Gulgas, Ph.D., 2007
Sathya Srinivasachari, Ph.D., 2006
Yemin Liu, Ph.D., 2008
Yumin Chen, Ph.D., 2008
Robie Lucas, Ph.D., 2007
Guodong Zhang, Ph.D., 2005
Haibo Lee, Ph.D., 2012
Hao Lu, M.S., 2011
Mike Benjamin, M.S., 2006
Jane Abey, M.S., 2006
Undergraduates
Undergraduates
Shannon Aide 2025
Eduardo Santos 2025
Andrew Droske 2025-Present
Sofiya Ismagilova 2024-Present
Wakana Kani 2024
Jacob Reineke 2024
Jessica Beaudoin 2023
Melody Johnson 2023
Genevieve Herron 2022
Shan Jiang 2019-2021
Vijay Shaw 2019-2021
Alejandra Chapa 2019
Paige Prendergast 2019
Logan Karls 2018
Andy Schmitz 2018–2020
George Funk 2017–2019
Cameron Swenson 2017–2019
Julia Rusciano 2017–2018
Samantha Linn 2017–2018
Ydana Virgen 2017
Rebecca Goncalves 2017
Cristobal Rodriguez 2016
Paola Medina 2016
Seamus Jones 2014–2016
Nam Nguyen 2014–2016
Monika Molenda 2015
Diane Kuai 2015
John Broderson 2014–2015
Catherine Meis 2014
Lidia Swanson 2014
Cassandra Ha 2012–2013
Kyle Senger 2011–2014
Miao Wang 2011–2013
John Campbell 2012
Erica Davis 2008–2011
Shelby Anderson 2010
Mike Kozar 2010–2011
Teresa Cutler 2009
Emily Fox 2007
Andrew Wolf 2007
Khang Nguyen 2007–2008
Michael Robinson 2006
Lisa Bartholomew 2006–2007
Amanda Ramey 2005
Sam Cathcart 2004–2005
Ashley Davis 2004–2005
Dennis Kirkpatrick 2003–2004
Laura Wenning 2003–2004
Emili Davis 2003
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