The Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research recognizes outstanding accomplishments in fundamental or applied chemical engineering research, with particular attention to research conducted during the past decade.
The recipient of the 2026 Alpha Chi Sigma Award is Dr. Samir Mitragotri, Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. He is being recognized “for invention and translation of novel drug delivery systems and for leadership at the interface of chemical engineering and biomedicine.”
Mitragotri and the other 2026 Institute and Board of Directors’ Award recipients will be honored at the 2026 AIChE Annual Meeting, taking place November 8–12 in Minneapolis.
Mitragotri earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in India in 1992 and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1996. After completing his doctorate, he co-founded Sontra Medical before beginning his academic career at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He joined Harvard University in 2017.
About Mitragotri and his work
Mitragotri’s research focuses on overcoming the biological barriers that make it difficult to deliver medicines where they are needed. His work has led to new approaches for transdermal, oral, and targeted drug delivery, including technologies designed to provide painless alternatives to injections. A defining feature of Mitragotri’s career has been his ability to translate fundamental research into technologies with clinical and commercial potential.
His early research demonstrated how low-frequency ultrasound could help deliver proteins through the skin. He later developed high-throughput methods for identifying transdermal formulations, pulsed microjet injectors, and ionic liquid-based systems for delivering therapeutics through the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and directly into tumors.
Mitragotri has also helped establish how the shape and physical properties of polymer particles affect their behavior in the body. His group developed particles that mimic the size, shape, and mechanical properties of red blood cells and investigated how particle geometry influences phagocytosis, circulation, and targeting.
More recently, his research has explored cellular “hitchhiking” and “backpacking,” in which nano- or microparticles attach to cells such as red blood cells, macrophages, neutrophils, natural killer cells, and T cells to transport therapeutics through the body. These approaches build on his earlier research into particle design and biological interactions.
Mitragotri has mentored more than 150 students and researchers, many of whom now hold leadership roles in academia and industry. He also served as the founding editor-in-chief of AIChE and the Society for Biological Engineering’s journal Bioengineering & Translational Medicine, helping to establish a publication focused on the connection between engineering research, clinical practice, and commercial healthcare products.
His previous AIChE honors include the 2005 Allan P. Colburn Award, the 2015 Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering, the 2020 Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award, and the 2023 Doing a World of Good Medal. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Inventors, The World Academy of Sciences, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Read about the other recipients of the 2026 AIChE Institute and Board of Directors’ Awards.
