Photo of Paula T. Hammond

Paula T. Hammond

  • National Medal of Technology and Innovation
  • Engineering

For groundbreaking research in nanoscale engineering. Paula Hammond pioneered novel materials that have revolutionized how we deliver cancer drugs to cancer patients and how we store solar energy. An inventor and mentor, Paula Hammond has paved the way for a more diverse, inclusive scientific workforce that taps into the full talents of our nation.

Professor Paula T. Hammond is Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. She is Vice Provost for Faculty and was the Department Head of Chemical Engineering. She investigates electrostatic polymer systems for the delivery of drugs to specific parts of the body, including thin film coatings to release proteins that regenerate bone, dressings that release RNA to assist in wound healing, and her current primary area of work on nanoparticles that can bind to tumors specifically to treat cancer. She has had a particular focus on the development of new therapies for ovarian cancer that arm the immune system to help address both primary and recurrent tumors.

Professor Paula Hammond was elected into the National Academy of Science in 2019, the National Academy of Engineering in 2017, the National Academy of Medicine in 2016, and the 2013 Class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also a member of the National Academy of Inventors. She received the Margaret H. Rousseau Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement by a Woman Chemical Engineer, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry from the Franklin Institute and the 2025 Othmer Gold Medal. She has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Moderna Therapeutics and is currently a member of the Board of Alector Therapeutics and the Board of Sail Biomedicines, a Flagship company. In 2021, Professor Hammond was selected to become a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

Arati Prabhakar, Ph.D., Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), awards Paula T. Hammond the National Medal of Technology and Innovation during an awards ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, January 3, 2025. Photo by Ryan K. Morris