American chemist
Theresa M. Reineke (born January 1, 1972) is an American chemist and Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota. She designs sustainable, environmentally friendly polymer-based delivery systems for targeted therapeutics. She is the associate editor of ACS Macro Letters.
Early life and education
Reineke earned her bachelor's degree at University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.[1] She moved to Arizona State University for her graduate studies and earned a master's degree in 1998.[1][2] Reineke was a PhD student at the University of Michigan, where she was supervised by Michael O'Keeffe and Omar M. Yaghi.[1][3] She was awarded the Wirt and Mary Cornell Prize for Outstanding Graduate Research. Reineke joined the California Institute of Technology as an National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow in 2000.[1]
Research and career
Reineke joined the University of Minnesota in 2011. Her research group focus on the design, characterisation and functionalisation of macromolecular systems.[4][5] These macromolecules include biocompatible polymers that can deliver DNA for regenerative medicine as well as targeted therapeutic treatments.[4] She was made a Lloyd H. Reyerson Professor with tenure at the University of Minnesota in 2011.[1] Reineke has published over 140 papers.[6]
Nucleic acids can have an unparalleled specificity for targets inside a cell, but need to be compacted into nanostructures (polyplexes) that can enter cells.[7] Reineke designs polymer-based transportation systems for nucleic acids.[7] These polymer vehicles can improve the solubility and bioavailability of drugs.[8] These often incorporate carbohydrates, which have an affinity for polyplexes and are non-toxic.[7] She is a member of the University of Minnesota Centre for Sustainable Polymers, synthesising polymers from sustainable ingredients. The carbohydrate units within her polymer drug delivery systems are a widely available, renewable resource.[9] The sustainable polymers designed by Reineke include poly(ester-thioethers).[9]
Reineke used reversible addition−fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization for the synthesis of diblock terpolymers that can be used for targeted drug delivery.[10] She used spray dried dispersions of the polymer with the drug probucol.[11]
Reineke was made a University of Minnesota Distinguished McKnight University Professor in 2017.[1] She is the associate editor of ACS Macro Letters and on the Advisory Board of Biomacromolecules, Bioconjugate Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry.[1] She is a member of the American Chemical Society Polymer Division.[12] Her work has been supported by an National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a Sloan Research Fellowship, the National Institutes of Health and the National Academy of Sciences.[13]
