The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has recognized Amir Farnoud, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio University, with the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum (NSEF) Young Investigator Award.

The award recognizes outstanding scholarship, commercialization, education or service in nanoscience and nanotechnology of professionals who are in the first 10 years of their careers. Nominated by Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Valerie Young, Farnoud was honored for his work to determine the mechanisms of interaction between engineered nanomaterials and biological membranes.

“Dr. Farnoud’s group is exploring the use of engineered nanoparticles to screen for diseases which alter the composition of the membrane surrounding red blood cells,” said Young. “This work has led to a provisional patent for using nanomaterials to screen for certain blood cancers.”

Farnoud began researching nanoparticle-cell membrane interactions at Ohio University in 2015. His work uncovering how nanoparticles disrupt cell membranes is supported by a $428,000 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and his work in developing novel screening assays for blood cancer was recently supported by a $135,000 EAGER grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Previously, Farnoud’s research group investigated the effects of nano-sized particles from e-cigarette vapor on the inner surface of the human lung.

“The previous award winners are researchers I’ve looked up to for most of my independent research career, including investigators from high profile institutions such as MIT and Harvard,” Farnoud said. “To be placed alongside these researchers as a NSEF Young Investigator Award winner is truly an honor, and a sign that my research laboratory is going in the right direction.”

As part of the award, Farnoud has been invited to present a lecture for the NSEF Division Plenary Session during the AIChE Annual Meeting in Orlando in November.