Mirkin Awarded Prestigious International Harvey Prize

Professor Chad A. Mirkin will receive the 2023–2024 Harvey Prize in Science and Technology for his pioneering discoveries that have reshaped nanoscience and nanotechnology, nanomedicine, and drug development.

Mirkin is the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences; a professor of materials science and engineering, biomedical engineering, and chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern Engineering; and a professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He also is the director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN).

Awarded by the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, the annual Harvey Prize was established in 1972 by pioneering industrialist and inventor Leo M. Harvey to honor “individuals who have made significant contributions to humankind.” Technion’s most prestigious scientific honor, the prize is known both for honoring discoveries that have shaped modern science and for identifying future Nobel Prize recipients. More than 30 percent of award recipients have gone on to win a Nobel Prize.

A pioneer in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology, Mirkin invented and developed spherical nucleic acids (SNAs). SNAs are globular forms of DNA and RNA made by templating short linear strands around a tiny spherical nanoparticle core. They possess chemical and biological properties that are distinct from conventional genetic materials of the same sequence. Through the discovery of SNAs, Mirkin established the emerging field of structural nanomedicine, where nanoscale structure, in addition to composition, plays a crucial role in determining therapeutic performance and safety.

SNAs can be made using diverse chemical and biological materials and can enter cells efficiently in high quantities, enabling advances in extracellular and intracellular diagnostics, gene regulation and editing, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and vaccine development. Seven SNA-based therapeutics are currently in human clinical trials and underpin more than 1,800 commercial products used globally.

Previous recipients of the Harvey Prize include Nobel Prize-winning biologist Sydney Brenner; Edward Teller, who is often considered the father of the atomic age; two-time Nobel laureate Barry Sharpless; CRISPR-based gene editing pioneers Jennifer Doudna, Emmanuelle Charpentier, and Feng Zheng; and Drew Weissman and Pieter Cullis, who developed RNA technologies underlying mRNA vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccines. 

The Harvey Prize in Science and Technology is a career-defining milestone. I am honored to be among the extraordinary list of previous winners. Chad Mirkin

“The Harvey Prize in Science and Technology is a career-defining milestone. I am honored to be among the extraordinary list of previous winners,” Mirkin said. “I thank Technion for this award and the many colleagues and trainees whose efforts made this progress possible.”

This year, the Technion will jointly award two Harvey Prizes. Mirkin and Harvard Professor David R. Liu will each receive a separate prize in recognition of their exceptional achievements.

Among Mirkin’s many achievements, he invented and developed dip-pen nanolithography and related massively parallel cantilever-free nanoprinting and tip-based synthesis techniques, colloidal crystal engineering with DNA, nanoparticle megalibraries, high-area rapid printing, and the weak-link approach to supramolecular chemistry. He also has made important contributions to nanoparticle synthesis.

Mirkin has authored more than 930 peer-reviewed publications and holds more than 1,420 patents and patent applications worldwide. More than 450 of those patents have been issued, and they have been licensed to companies, including 11 that he has founded spanning diagnostics, therapeutics, biotechnology, AI-guided clean energy, and advanced materials sectors. His innovations have shaped new industries, created clinical-stage technologies, and informed national science policy.

Mirkin’s leadership extends across research, education, and public service. He served for eight years on President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and has given more than 1,000 invited lectures. He has mentored more than 350 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, who now lead independent laboratories and companies worldwide. He received his BS from Dickinson College and his PhD from the Pennsylvania State University.

Mirkin is one of only two Northwestern University faculty members to receive this prestigious award. He joins professor and IIN-affiliated faculty member Tobin J. Marks, who received the 2017 Harvey Prize.