Heather D. Maynard

Biosketch

Heather D. Maynard is the Dr. Myung Ki Hong Professor in Polymer Science, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and a founding member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. She is also the Co-Director of the National Science Foundation BioPACIFIC Materials Innovation Platform. Maynard is a worldwide leader in the area of protein-polymer conjugates, and is known for her extensive contributions in drug delivery. Maynard is elected to the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She is an American Chemical Society, Leverhulme, Kavli Frontiers, and Royal Society of Chemistry Fellow. Maynard’s research and teaching have been recognized by numerous awards including the American Chemical Society Arthur Cope Scholar Award, Herman Mark Senior Scholar Award, Macrogroup UK Medal for Outstanding Achievement, Fulbright Specialist Award, and Hanson-Dow Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was a member of the US Defense Science Study Group and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Maynard was born in Rochester, NY and received her BS in Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; a MS in Materials Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara; PhD from the California Institute of Technology; and was an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH).

Research Interests

Research in the Maynard Group lies at the frontiers of polymer chemistry and medicine. The work is a continuum of the creation of new chemistries and materials, to the study of biological efficacy; Maynard is equally enthusiastic about fundamental research as she is about application in drug delivery. Maynard makes major contributions to the area of protein-polymer conjugates. She develops new methods to synthesize the materials, invents polymers to improve properties such as stability, and demonstrates preclinical efficacy of her conjugates with an eye towards translation for human health. Maynard also works in the area of smart materials for precision medicine: polymers that respond to disease states in the body. Current research is focused on creating responsive nanomaterials for protein delivery for diabetes, developing complex protein-polymer conjugates for enhanced pharmacokinetics, and synthesizing bioactive and degradable polymers that mimic natural molecules for use as antibiotics.