Molly Shoichet
Molly S. Shoichet | |
|---|---|
| Born | Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Academic, Chemist, Biomedical Engineer |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Known for | Tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, Ontario's first Chief Scientist |
| Notable work | Research2Reality platform; Artful Science exhibition |
Molly S. Shoichet is a Canadian academic renowned for her expertise in chemistry, biomaterials, and biomedical engineering. She notably held the position of Ontario's inaugural Chief Scientist. Shoichet has made significant advances in tissue engineering and holds the distinctive honor of being a fellow of all three Canadian National Academies.
Education
Shoichet completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987, followed by a PhD in polymer science and engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1992.
Career
Following her doctoral degree, Shoichet took on an adjunct professor role at Brown University while simultaneously engaging with industry. In 1995, she joined the faculty at the University of Toronto, where she continues to work as of 2019. Her research primarily targets polymer and tissue engineering, with an emphasis on drug delivery systems and tissue regeneration strategies. Early in her career, she developed gel-based techniques to transport chemotherapy drugs and stroke recovery agents across the blood–brain barrier directly into the central nervous system. These hydrogel materials are also being explored for delivering stem cells to impaired tissues such as damaged retinas by creating three-dimensional scaffolds that facilitate cellular growth.
In 2015, Shoichet co-established Research2Reality, a platform designed to present Canadian scientific achievements through user-friendly blogs and videos. Additionally, she organized the "Artful Science" exhibition at Toronto Pearson International Airport, merging scientific concepts with public outreach.
In November 2017, Premier Kathleen Wynne appointed Shoichet as Ontario's first Chief Scientist. In this capacity, she led initiatives to integrate federal government efforts with scientific research and business interests to encourage policies grounded in evidence. However, this role was discontinued by the incoming Conservative administration on 3 July 2018.
Honours and awards
Shoichet was honored with the Order of Ontario in 2010 as one of thirty recipients.
In 2015, she was awarded the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science for her groundbreaking work on nerve tissue regeneration and innovative drug delivery techniques targeting the spinal cord and brain using novel biomaterials. She is also an outspoken supporter of women pursuing careers in science and academic fields.
The University of Toronto designated her as a "University Professor" in 2014, and she uniquely holds fellowships across all three Canadian National Academies. The university further acknowledged her innovation by naming her "Inventor of the Year" in 2013. Shoichet received the Chemical Institute of Canada's Kalev Pugi Award in 2017 and holds a Canada Research Chair specializing in Tissue Engineering.
In 2017, she was honored with the Killam Prize for engineering and appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC).
The prestigious Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) was awarded to her in 2020.
Other honours
- Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2013)
- Awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013)
- Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Sciences of the Royal Society of Canada
- Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering
- Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
- Recipient of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) Senior Scientist Award (2014)
- Fellow of the Royal Society UK
Personal life
Her brother, Brian Shoichet, holds a professorship at the University of California, San Francisco, where he acts as Co-Vice Dean of Graduate Pharmacy Education and is a member of the Pharmaceutical Chemistry faculty.
Selected publications
- Obermeyer JM, Ho E, Gracias A, Shoichet MS. Advanced biomaterials strategies for modulating neuroplasticity in stroke therapy. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. 2019;148:204–218.
- Pakulska MM, Miersch S, Shoichet MS. Engineered protein delivery systems: Transitioning from natural to affinity-controlled release mechanisms. Science. 2016;351(6279):aac4750.
- Pakulska MM, Elliott Donaghue I, Obermeyer JM, Tuladhar A, McLaughlin CK, Shendruk TN, Shoichet MS. Controlled release without encapsulation: Electrostatic adsorption as an alternative to protein encapsulation in PLGA nanoparticles. Science Advances. 2016;2(5):e1600519.
- Ganesh AN, McLaughlin CK, Duan D, Shoichet BK, Shoichet MS. Novel approach to antibody–drug conjugates: Trastuzumab-fulvestrant colloidal aggregates targeting HER2-positive cells. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 2017;9(14):12195–12202.
- Fisher SA, Tam RY, Fokina A, Mahmoodi MM, Distefano MD, Shoichet MS. Impact of photo-immobilized EGF chemical gradients on breast cancer cell invasion and therapeutic response within defined 3D hydrogels. Biomaterials. 2018;178:751–766.
- Arnold AE, Malek-Adamian E, Le PU, Meng A, Martínez-Montero S, Petrecca K, Damha MJ, Shoichet MS. Downregulation of a critical gene in glioblastoma stem cells via antibody-antisense oligonucleotide conjugates. Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids. 2018;11:518–527.
- Ballios BG, Cooke MJ, Donaldson L, Coles BLK, Morshead CM, van der Kooy D, Shoichet MS. Injectable hyaluronan-based hydrogel enhances survival and integration of transplanted stem cell progeny. Stem Cell Reports. 2015;4(6):1031–1045.