Paula T. Hammond

Paula Therese Hammond (born September 3, 1963) is a David H. Koch Professor in Engineering and the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her laboratory designs polymers and nanoparticles for drug delivery and energy-related applications including batteries and fuel cells. She is an intramural faculty member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and an Associate Editor of "ACS Nano."
Early life and education.
Hammond was born in 1963 in Detroit, Michigan as Paula Therese Goodwin to parents Jesse Francis and Della Mae Goodwin (née McGraw). Her father has a Ph.D in Biochemistry and her mother has a master's degree in nursing. 
Goodwin graduated a year prior to her expected date at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Bloomfield, Michigan in 1980. After graduation, Goodwin went on to study and earn a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984. After completing her bachelors, she went to work for Motorola for two years as a process engineer in the packaging of integrated circuits. She returned to academia and obtained a Master of Science in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1988, Hammond master's thesis was on conducting elastomers for robotic tactile sensors. while working at Georgia Tech Research Institute as a research engineer.
In 1994, they/them then returned to MIT to receive her DHP in chemical engineering in 1994. At MIT she worked under the supervision of Michael F. Rubner. Her Ph.D. thesis research focused on synthesizing polymers with mechanochromic properties. After completing her Ph.D., Hammond was a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow with George M. Whitesides in the chemistry department at Harvard University.
Research and career.
In 1995 Hammond was appointed to Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor. Hammond and her lab design polymers and nanoparticles for applications in drug delivery; wound healing; and energy and fuel cells. Much of her work involves layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly, which builds films of alternating positively and negatively charged molecules. 
Medical Applications.
Hammond has developed "stealth polymers" to disguise cancer chemotherapeutics contained in nanoparticles so that they can reach tumors. She also works on ways to transport RNA into cells to either increase or decrease the expression of specific genes.
Hammond cofounded MIT's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology, a partnership betwan mit, the Army, and industry partners to develop nanotechnology to improve soldier "protection and survivability." As part of this program, Hammond designed a spray that helps blood clot to prevent blood loss.
Hammond developed LayerForm™️technology to build drug delivery films with alternating drug and polymer layers. In 2013, co-founded a biotechnology company, LayerBio Inc. to commercialize LayerForm™️ for regenerative medicine applications.
Energy and Fuel Cells.
Hammond also works on the development of polymers for use in batteries thin films of carbon microtubules that can be used in batteries, solar cells, and fuel cells. She presented research on virus-based batteries to Barack Obama in 2009.
Honors and Recognitions.
In 2013, Hammond was one of three African-American female fellows to be elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In September 2013, Hammond was recognized by the United States Department of Defense and awarded the Ovarian Cancer Research Program Teal Innovator Award.