Exicure director receives research honor

SKOKIE - Chad A. Mirkin Ph.D., co-founder and director of Exicure, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Convergence Research from the National Academy of Sciences.

Mirkin was awarded for his advances in biomedicine, including spherical nucleic acid technology. The prize was presented this week at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C.

"The potential for spherical nucleic acids to impact human health continues to be validated, most recently with Chad Mirkin's receipt of the inaugural Sackler Prize," said Exicure CEO David Giljohann. "This is not only a high honor for Chad, but also a validating testament to the power and potential of the SNA platform."

The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Convergence Research recognizes significant advances in convergence research - the integration of two or more of the following disciplines: mathematics, physics, chemistry, biomedicine, biology, astronomy, earth sciences, engineering, and computational science - for achievements possible only through such integration. The inaugural prize is presented for convergence research that benefits human health.