Juan Vivero-Escoto, an assistant professor of chemistry, is the 2013 recipient of the Ralph Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associate Universities (ORAU), a 109-member university consortium affiliated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
Vivero-Escoto was among 30 winners in a pool of 147 applicants from consortium institutions. Only two faculty members per institution were permitted to apply; they underwent a highly competitive peer-review process organized by ORAU from among its members.
Vivero-Escoto’s research interests include the design and synthesis of novel hybrid inorganic-organic materials for biomedical applications.
The Powe Award will support his research on the development of novel, silica-based, hollow nanoparticles as efficient platforms for intracellular protein drug delivery. This work aims to develop effective protein delivery systems, which are needed to enhance the clinical use of therapeutic proteins. He will collaborate with Sheng Dai, group leader of the Nanomaterials Chemistry Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, on this project.
Now in their 23rd year, the Powe Awards honor their namesake who served as the ORAU councilor from Mississippi State University for 16 years.