Heather Maynard, professor of chemistry in the UCLA College, has been elected as a 2021 fellow of the American Chemical Society. The fellowship is awarded to members who have made exceptional contributions to the field and have provided volunteer service to the society.
Maynard, the Dr. Myung Ki Hong professor of polymer science, is a worldwide leader in protein-polymer conjugates, which are important therapeutics for a variety of diseases. She develops new synthetic methods to make the materials, invents new 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 which respond to disease states in the body.
Maynard is director of the NIH-funded chemistry biology interface training program and associate director for the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. She is also the co-director of the new NSF-funded BioPACIFIC materials innovation platform at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. In February 2021, Maynard was named an associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Maynard is one of 49 fellows chosen for 2021.
