Weinberg Family Postdoctoral Fellowships - International Institute for Nanotechnology

Made possible through a gift from the family of Judd A. Weinberg, the Weinberg Family Postdoctoral Fellowship is awarded annually and includes a $75,000 stipend and travel funds to attend scholarly meetings.

Recipients of the fellowship are postdoctoral scholars within Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences. Responsible for the names of both the College and the fellowship, Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg were both alumni and among the University’s most generous benefactors. Judd Weinberg died in February at the age of 93. David B. Weinberg, their son and the chairman and CEO of Judd Enterprises, serves on the Executive Council of the IIN.

“The Weinberg family has a remarkable legacy of training, motivating and empowering the next generation of leaders,” said Chad Mirkin, IIN Director. “With this fellowship, they are reaching young scientists at a stage when they are beginning to realize their potential and make important, original contributions to their fields. In many ways, it’s the moment in their careers when this kind of support matters the most.”

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Mark A. Ratner Postdoctoral Fellowship

Peter Smith (2022-23)

Peter Smith joined the Mirkin Research Group at Northwestern as a postdoctoral researcher in 2020 after receiving a PhD in Chemistry from UC Berkeley and a BS from NYU.

His research focuses on developing new ultrahigh-throughput materials catalyst synthesis methods and complementary screening techniques that rely on specially designed molecular probes for rapid performance characterization. Smith uses nanolithography techniques pioneered by the Mirkin Group to create libraries with millions to billions of nanoparticles with known location, composition, and size. This work will help rapidly discover next-generation materials, such as improved electrocatalysts needed in fuel cells.

“Northwestern and the IIN provide me with an exceptional environment where I can expand on my chemistry background while exploring many new fields to develop disruptive ideas. I am honored that the Weinberg Fellowship is supporting me in pursuing these goals.”

Yuwei Gu (2021-22)

Yuwei Gu joined the Mirkin Research Group at Northwestern as a postdoctoral researcher in 2019, after obtaining his PhD in Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

His postdoctoral research is focused on developing a selective transport system that allows chemical or biological cargos of interest to pass through an environment at a controllable rate while undesired elements are rejected.

The nanotechnology-based solution that Gu has developed, which involves leveraging transient DNA-DNA interactions, is being explored for use in sustained insulin delivery. The goal is to develop a hydrogel device that incorporates a special form of insulin with potentially improved stability. The selective transport strategy will allow the insulin to be released over extended periods of time, giving doctors the ability to easily tune the rate of release.

“I feel extremely honored to receive the Weinberg Fellowship,” said Gu. “This prestigious fellowship will support my efforts to develop nanotechnology-based solutions for challenging, fundamental problems in chemistry and biology.”

Adrian Figg (2020-21)

A graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara, Adrian Figg earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Florida before coming to Northwestern’s Department of Chemistry, where he earned the inaugural Weinberg Family Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Figg’s research focused on arranging therapeutically relevant antibodies into modular nanoscale structures that are more potent and specific than monoclonal antibody treatments, which are commonly used to mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful antigens such as viruses. Nanotechnology-based therapeutic agents, the subject of Figg’s research, could target viruses like SARS-CoV-2 with far greater precision and effectiveness.

“I am honored and excited to receive the inaugural Weinberg Family Postdoctoral Fellowship,” Figg said. “This fellowship enables me to continue studying how nanotechnology can be used to design better antibody therapeutics, and the IIN provides an ideal and unique interdisciplinary atmosphere to discover these nanotechnology-based approaches to improve human health.”

After completing the fellowship, Figg became an assistant professor at Virginia Tech.