Dr. Younan Xia stands as a preeminent leader in nanomaterials science with transformative contributions spanning chemistry, engineering, and medicine. He currently serves as the Brock Family Chair and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar at the Georgia Institute of Technology, holding joint appointments in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. His distinguished academic journey began with a B.S. in chemical physics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1987, followed by an M.S. in inorganic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania under Professor Alan G. MacDiarmid in 1993, and culminated with a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Harvard University under Professor George M. Whitesides in 1996. Dr. Xia's career trajectory includes significant leadership positions, starting as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Washington in 1997, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2002 and Full Professor in 2004, before becoming the James M. McKelvey Professor at Washington University in St. Louis in 2007.
Dr. Xia's groundbreaking research has revolutionized the field of nanomaterial synthesis, particularly through his innovative approaches to controlling the properties of nanocrystals for diverse applications. His laboratory pioneered numerous nanomaterials with precisely engineered properties that have enabled significant advances in plasmonics, electronics, photonics, photovoltaics, and display technologies, while also creating novel platforms for catalysis, energy conversion, and medical applications. His work on understanding how atoms collect into small clusters that eventually form nanocrystals has provided fundamental insights that allow for unprecedented manipulation of nanomaterial properties and structures. With an impressive h-index of 222, Dr. Xia's research has achieved extraordinary impact across multiple disciplines, with his methodologies being widely adopted by researchers worldwide to develop solutions for pressing challenges in nanomedicine and regenerative medicine.
Beyond his research achievements, Dr. Xia has profoundly shaped the scientific community through extensive service and mentorship, having served as associate editor of Nano Letters for 17 years from 2002 to 2019 and currently serving as Editor-in-Chief of Materials and Interfaces. He maintains influential positions on the advisory boards of numerous prestigious journals including Advanced Healthcare Materials, Accounts of Materials Research, and Chemical Reviews, demonstrating his leadership in defining the discourse of materials science. Dr. Xia's laboratory continues to push the boundaries of nanomaterial synthesis, with recent work focusing on developing next-generation nanomaterials for targeted therapeutic applications and advanced energy systems. As a respected mentor and scientific leader, he cultivates the next generation of researchers while maintaining his position at the forefront of innovation, ensuring his continued influence on the trajectory of materials science and biomedical engineering for years to come.
