Eugenia Kumacheva facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Eugenia Kumacheva OC FRS FRSC
Kumacheva in 2016
Born	Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Canadian
Alma mater	Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology (BSc, MSc) Russian Academy of Sciences (PhD)
Awards	L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award (2008) Canada Research Chair
Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry Materials science Polymers Microfluidics Nanoscience
Institutions	University of Toronto Weizmann Institute of Science Moscow State University

Eugenia Kumacheva is a top professor of Chemistry at the University of Toronto in Canada. She is known for her amazing work in many areas of science. These include studying polymers, which are like long chains of tiny molecules, and nanoscience, which deals with super tiny materials. She also works with microfluidics, which is about controlling tiny amounts of liquids.

Professor Kumacheva won the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science in 2008. This award recognized her for creating new materials. These materials have many uses, like helping to deliver medicines directly to cancer cells. They can also store a lot of information, like on a computer disk. She has also written a book about tiny fluid systems used for making polymer particles. She is a very important researcher in Canada, holding a special title called Canada Research Chair in Advanced Polymer Materials. She is also a member of two very important science groups: the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Canada.

Early Life and Education

Eugenia Kumacheva was born in Odesa, which was part of the Soviet Union at the time. She studied at the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology and earned her first degree with high honors. After working in factories for several years, she decided to continue her studies.

In 1986, she earned her PhD in physical chemistry of polymers. This means she studied how polymers behave and what they are made of. She got this degree from the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Career and Discoveries

After finishing her PhD, Eugenia Kumacheva worked as a scientist at Moscow State University. Later, she moved to Israel to work with Professor Jacob Klein at the Weizmann Institute of Science. This was a special research position called a postdoctoral fellowship.

She then moved to Canada and joined Professor Mitch Winnik's lab at the University of Toronto. There, she studied how different types of polymers mix together. In 1996, she became a professor at the University of Toronto. By 2005, she was promoted to a Full Professor.

Professor Kumacheva has written two books and many scientific papers. Her work is highly respected, with many other scientists quoting her papers. She also holds 40 patents, which means she has invented many new things. She even started two companies, FlowJEM and KuBE Materials Solutions. She has given over 300 talks around the world.

In 2008, she was the first Canadian to win the L'Oréal-UNESCO "Women in Science" Prize. In 2016, she was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society, a very high honor for scientists. In 2017, she received the CIC medal, which is the top award for chemistry in Canada. In 2020, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. This award recognized her important work in chemistry, especially with tiny fluid systems and polymers. It also honored her efforts to support women in science.

Eugenia Kumacheva's research focuses on many exciting areas. She studies polymer science, nanoscience, microfluidics, and how different materials interact at their surfaces. She is very interested in how her research can help in biology and medicine. Recently, she started using artificial intelligence (like machine learning) to create new materials.

Her work has helped scientists understand conditions like heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots. She uses polymers and nanomaterials to model these health problems. She has also explored tiny bubbles, which are gas bubbles covered by a special material. These microbubbles can be used to find diseases or deliver medicines to specific parts of the body.

Another important part of her work is creating hydrogels. These are jelly-like materials that can support stem cells or help damaged heart tissue. They can also help stop cancer cells from spreading. Professor Kumacheva has also made big contributions to how tiny particles, called nanoparticles and microparticles, arrange themselves. She even studies nanoparticles that come from nature, like those from cellulose (which is found in plants).

Awards and Honors

Eugenia Kumacheva has received many important awards and honors:

• 1992: Minerva Foundation Fellowship (Germany)
• 1994: Imperial College London Visiting Fellowship (UK)
• 1999: Premier Research Excellence Award (Canada)
• 2000: International Chorafas Foundation Award
• 2002: Canada Research Chair in Advanced Polymer Materials/Tier 2
• 2003: Schlumberger Scholarship University of Oxford
• 2004: Clara Benson Award (CIC Award)
• 2005: Macromolecular Science and Engineer Award, Chemical Institute of Canada
• 2006: Canada Research Chair in Advanced Polymer Materials/ Tier 1
• 2007: Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC)
• 2007: E. Gordon Young Lectureship, The Chemical Institute of Canada
• 2008: L'Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Prize (Laureate for North America)
• 2009: Japan-Canada WISET lectureship, Royal Society of Canada
• 2010: Killam Research Fellowship, Canada Council for the Arts
• 2011: Distinguished Lecturer, The University of Western Ontario, Canada
• 2011: Connaught Innovation Award, Connaught Foundation
• 2012: Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany)
• 2012: Inventor of the Year, University of Toronto
• 2013: University Professor (a special title for top professors at the University of Toronto)
• 2016: Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), the British National Academy of Science
• 2017: Schmidt Lectureship, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
• 2017: Chemical Institute of Canada Medal
• 2019: 3M Lectureship
• 2019: De Gennes Prize, Royal Society of Chemistry, U.K
• 2020: Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Ontario
• 2020: Elected as an Officer of the Order of Canada
• 2021: Recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship
• 2022: D.B. Robinson Distinguished Lectureship, University of Alberta, Canada
• 2023: Henry Marshall Tory Medal (Royal Society of Canada)
• 2023: ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry (USA)

See also

In Spanish: Eugenia Kumacheva para niños