Topic: Nanotechnology

Dr. Halas is best known for her invention of nanoshells, a new type of nanoparticle with tunable optical properties especially suited for biotechnology applications. She has been the recipient of an NSF Young Investigator Award, three Hershel Rich Invention Awards, the 2003 Cancer Innovator Award of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs of the Department of Defense, and the 2000 CRS-Cygnus award for Outstanding Work in Drug Delivery. She was also awarded “Best Discovery of 2003” by Nanotechnology Now, the world’s leading nanotechnology news and information site, and was named finalist for Small Times magazine’s 2004 Nanotechnology Researcher of the Year. She is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications, has presented over 170 invited talks, and has nine issued patents. Dr. Halas is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, a Fellow of the SPIE, and a Fellow of the IEEE. Professor Halas was recently named a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow by the Department of Defense and has been named Associate Editor of Nano Letters. In 2009, Professor Halas became a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also the founder and Director of the Rice University Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP), a multidisciplinary research network whose mission is the design, invention, and application of nanoscale optical components. CV