Jin Kim Montclare

Jin Kim Montclare is a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at New York University. She creates novel proteins that can be used in drug delivery, tissue regeneration, and medical treatment. She is a 2019 AAAS Leshner Leadership Fellow and has been inducted into the AIMBE College of Fellows.

Early life and education Montclare was born in The Bronx. She is a first-generation Korean American. She became interested in chemistry in high school. She studied at Fordham University, where she majored in chemistry and minored in philosophy. She earned her bachelor's degree in 1997. Her graduate research was supported by the National Science Foundation and Pfizer. She joined New York University in 2005, where she leads the Protein Engineering and Molecular Design Lab.

Montclare has worked with the United States Department of Defense to detoxify organophosphates, which are commonly used in pesticides and as warfare agents. She develops stable, activate fluorinated phosphotriesterase (PTE) variants by combining PTE with non-canonical amino acids. She has also developed protein-engineered hydrogels that could be used as biomimetic materials. Instead of synthetically creating polymers, Montclare uses biologically engineered proteins that can be easily controlled by external stimuli. Montclare's protein-based hydrogels can be used to direct neuronal growth for brain augmentation. The hydrogels could be used to heal wounds, sense or control the flow of fluids or deliver medicine.

Other research in the Montclare group includes the design of protein-lipid macromolecular systems that can be used to transport nanoparticles, drugs, and genes to treat a variety of medical conditions. They can form complexes with nucleic acid and small hydrophobic drugs. The lipid container permits transfection past a cell membrane, whilst the protein capsule can bind chemotherapeutic molecules.

Public engagement and advocacy Montclare has been involved with outreach programs to introduce people in K-12 Education to science studies at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. She hosts a group of high school students for research opportunities every summer as well as leading outreach programs in Brooklyn high schools. At the CIE Montclare seeks to increase the representation of women and underrepresented minority entrepreneurs, with the hope to increase their participation in STEM careers. She has written for The Huffington Post about the need for parents and adults to be more proactive in engaging their children with science. Montclare co-founded inSchoolApps, who make web-based applications for science-based applications. Montclare was featured in the Marvel Comics Unstoppable Wasp.

Awards and honours 2006 Othmer Institute Othmer Junior Fellow 2006 Wechsler Award for Excellence 2007 Air Force Research Laboratory Young Investigator Award 2010 New York University Jacobs Excellence in Education Award 2014 Distinguished Award for Excellence, Dedication to Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship 2014 Executive Leadership in Academic Technology and Engineering Fellowship 2015 Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award 2019 AIMBE College of Fellows

Patents 2008 Polymer carrier 2016 Protein engineered systems for delivery of molecules 2016 Fluorinated protein-based polymeric carriers 2017 Protein nanofibers from self-assembling pentamers 2017 Engineered fluorinated biomaterials 2017 Protein polymer gold nanoparticle hybrid materials for small molecule delivery 2017 Phosphotriesterase enzymes, methods and compositions related thereto