Adam E. Smith
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Director of General Engineering
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Education:
Postdoctoral Fellow, Virginia Tech, 2010-2012
Ph.D. Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi, 2010
M.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Mississippi, 2004
B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Mississippi, 2002
Biosketch:
I received a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Mississippi. My graduate research in the labs of Dr. John O’Haver in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Dr. Steven P. Stodghill in the Department of Pharmaceutics investigated the thermodynamics of micellization of surfactants and encapsulation of model compounds. Subsequently, I moved to the University of Southern Mississippi to complete my Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering under the direction of Professor Charles McCormick. My doctoral research focused on synthesizing functional polymers using controlled/living radical polymerization in both aqueous and organic media, their stimuli-responsive self-assembly in aqueous solution, and their shell cross-linking for drug delivery applications.
I began my postdoctoral training in January 2010 in Dr. Theresa Reineke’s group at Virginia Tech, where my projects focused on developing synthetic carbohydrate-based polymers for gene delivery using both step-growth and controlled/living radical polymerization techniques. Subsequently, I joined Dr. Tim Long’s group at Virginia Tech and focused my research on developing novel phosphonium-based gene delivery vehicles for the delivery of nucleic acids in collaboration with an industrial partner.
At the University of Mississippi, researchers in my group are working at the interface of polymer science and engineering and utilizing their expertise in controlled radical polymerization and nanoparticle characterization to develop “smart” polymers for the programmed delivery of drugs and nucleic acids.