Omowunmi Sadik

Omowunmi "Wunmi" A. Sadik (born 19 June 1964) is a Nigerian professor, chemist, and inventor working at New Jersey Institute of Technology. She has developed microelectrode biosensors for detection of drugs and explosives and is working on the development of technologies for recycling metal ions from waste, for use in environmental and industrial applications.^[1] In 2012, Sadik co-founded the non-profit Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization.^[2]

Omowunmi Sadik
Born	1964 Lagos, Nigeria
Nationality	Nigerian
Alma mater	University of Lagos, Wollongong University
Scientific career
Fields	Surface chemistry, Environmental nanotechnology
Institutions	New Jersey Institute of Technology
Notable students	Samira Musah

Early life and education

Sadik was born in 1964 in Lagos, Nigeria. Her family included a number of scientists, who supported her interests in physics, chemistry, and biology. She received her bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Lagos in 1985, and went on to receive her master's degree in chemistry in 1987. Sadik then attended Wollongong University in Australia. In 1994, she received her Ph.D. degree in chemistry from Wollongong.^[3][4]

Career

A postdoctoral fellowship from the National Research Council supported her as a researcher at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1994 to 1996.^[3] She then accepted a position as an assistant professor of chemistry at the Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York. She was promoted to associate professor in 2002, and full professor in 2005. At that time, she also became director of the Center for Advanced Sensors & Environmental Systems (CASE) at Binghamton. In 2019, Dr. Sadik moved to New Jersey Institute of Technology, has become chair of the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, and director of the NJIT BioSensors Materials for Advanced Research & Technology (The BioSMART Center).^[5] She has been visiting faculty at the Naval Research Laboratories, Cornell University, and Harvard University.^[3]

Sadik studies surface chemistry, with particular emphasis on the development of biosensors for use in environmental chemistry.^[3] She has found that conducting polymers are especially promising for use in sensing applications.^[6][7] She has developed microelectrode biosensors sensitive to trace amounts of organic materials,^[8] technology which can be used for drug and bomb detection.^[9][10] She is also studying detoxification mechanisms of wastes such as organochlorine compounds in the environment, with the purpose of developing technologies for recycling metal ions from industrial and environmental waste.^[11] In one project, microbial enzymes increased the conversion of highly toxic chromium (VI) to non-toxic chromium (III) from 40% to 98%.^[12] Sadik is credited with more than 135 peer-reviewed research papers and patent applications. She holds U.S. patents on particular types of bichair oors.^[3] In 2011, she was the chairperson of the inaugural Gordon Conference on Environmental Nanotechnology.^[13] In 2012, Sadik and Barbara Karn co-founded the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization, a non-profit, international professional society for the responsible use of nanotechnology worldwide.^[14]

Sadik is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2010) and of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (elected 2012). She is also a member of the American Chemical Society. She is involved with the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation, and was part of the National Institutes of Health Study Panel on Instrumentation and Systems Development.^[3] She is involved in international collaborations with the UNESCO International Center of Biodynamics in Bucharest, Romania, Ege University in Turkey, and the University of Fukui in Japan.^[11]

Awards

• 2000, National Research Council (NRC) COBASE fellowship^[15]
• 2001, Chancellor's Award for Research in Science and Medicine, SUNY^[11]
• 2002, Chancellor's Award for Premier Inventors, SUNY^[11]
• 2003–2004, Distinguished Radcliffe Fellowship from Harvard University^[16]
• 2005–2006, NSF Discovery Corps Senior Fellowship^[17]
• 2016, Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (NNOM)^[18][19]
• 2017, Jefferson Science Fellow^[20]
• Australian Merit Award^[3]

References

1. Woman.NG (2018-07-07). . Woman.NG. Archived from the original on 2019-09-10. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
2. "Sadik bio". sites.nationalacademies.org. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
3. "ScienceMakers : Omowunmi Sadik". The History Makers. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
4. "Omowunmi Sadik | People". people.njit.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
5. "Omowunmi Sadik | People". people.njit.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
6. Sadik, Omowunmi A. (August 1999). "Bioaffinity Sensors Based on Conducting Polymers: A Short Review". Electroanalysis. 11 (12): 839–844. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-4109(199908)11:12<839::AID-ELAN839>3.0.CO;2-1.
7. Sadik, Omowunmi A.; Brenda, Sharin; Joasil, Patrick; Lord, John (July 1999). "Electropolymerized Conducting Polymers as Glucose Sensors". Journal of Chemical Education. 76 (7): 967. Bibcode:1999JChEd..76..967S. doi:10.1021/ed076p967.
8. Sadik, Omowunmi A. (2009). "JEM Spotlight: Applications of advanced nanomaterials for environmental monitoring". Journal of Environmental Monitoring. 11 (1): 25–26. doi:10.1039/B820365M. PMID 19137135.
9. "Sadik invited to give talk at NSF biochemical terrorism workshop". Discover-e. December 7, 2001.
10. Sadik, O. A.; Zhou, A. L.; Kikandi, S.; Du, N.; Wang, Q.; Varner, K. (2009). "Sensors as tools for quantitation, nanotoxicity and nanomonitoring assessment of engineered nanomaterials". Journal of Environmental Monitoring. 11 (10): 1782–800. doi:10.1039/b912860c. PMID 19809701.
11. "Faculty Spotlight: OMOWUNMI SADIK, Ph.D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ANALYTICAL & ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY". Binghamton University. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
12. Farrington, Keith (4 March 2010). "Interview: Monitoring the environment". Highlights in Chemical Technology. Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
13. . National Nanotechnology Initiative. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
14. SNO Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (November 6, 2012). "First Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization Conference Program" (PDF). SNO Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization.
15. "Omowunmi "Wunmi" Sadik". Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Binghamton. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
16. . Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Harvard University. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
17. "NSF Announces New Discovery Corps Fellows". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
18. Katie Ellis (17 January 2017). "Sadik honored with Nigerian National Order of Merit Kudu". Binghamton University, State University of New York. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
19. Idoko, Clement (November 25, 2016). . Nigerian Tribune. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
20. "2017 Jefferson Science Fellow". The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.