Muhammad N. Yousaf

Biography:

Muhammad N. Yousaf grew up in Toronto, Canada.  He did all his formal education in Toronto (K-13) and studied inorganic chemistry at York University in Toronto as an undergraduate with Prof. Dennis Stynes.  He then moved to the US and pursued his PhD studies in surface chemistry and material science at the University of Chicago with Milan Mrksich followed by a cell biology postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University with Marc Kirschner.   

Dr. Yousaf has recently returned to his hometown of Toronto and his alma mater. He is currently a Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry  at York University (2012).  He previously was a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA) (2005-2012).  His research interests are in interfacing organic, bioanalytical, bioengineering and cell biology research to study fundamental cell behavior and to develop new biomaterials and tools for regenerative medicine applications. 

As a PI since 2005, he has published more than 100 original papers, proceedings and book chapters, given over 200 seminars at universities and conferences including plenary and named lectureships and has been elected to serve on 5 journal advisory and editorial boards.   His research has been highlighted multiple times in Nature, Science and Chemical and Engineering News and several print and online media circulars.  Dr. Yousaf has received several national USA awards including, a Damon Runyon Fellowship, Burroughs Wellcome Interface Career Award,  NSF CAREER award and a Canadian NSERC Discovery Accelerator Award.  Dr. Yousaf is very proud of his highschool, undergraduate and graduate students who have also received numerous national awards including, Barry Goldwater Award, Churchill Scholar (Cambridge), NSF Predoctoral Fellowship, American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship, NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, Lymphoma and Leukemia Postdoctoral Fellowship, Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellowship, High School State and National Westinghouse Awards and a Nobel Laureate Lindau Meeting award.

Muhammad N. Yousaf

Department of Chemistry                                                                                     E-mail: mnyousaf@yorku.ca , isosbestic@gmail.com

Centre for Research on Biomolecular Interactions

York University                                                                                  Telephone: (416) 736-2100 ext-77717

Toronto, ON, Canada

M3J 1P3                                                                                                                               

Research Interests:  Surface Chemistry, Nanoscience, Biomaterials, Chemical Biology, Cell Biology, Stem Cell Plasticity

2.  Education

         2004     Postdoctoral Fellow; Harvard University Medical School, Boston, MA  (Advisor: Marc W. Kirschner)

         2001     Ph.D. in Chemistry; University of Chicago, Chicago, IL  (Advisor: Prof. Milan Mrksich)

         1996     M.S. in Chemistry; University of Massachusetts, MA

         1994     B.Sc (Hon); York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

3. Professional Experience

         2016 - present   Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biology, York University

         2012 - 2015       Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry, York University

         2011 - 2012       Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biology, York University,   Toronto, Canada

         2005 - 2011       Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Carolina Center for Genome Science, Lineberger

                                     Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

         2003 - 2004       Instructor, Institute of Chemistry and Cell Biology, Harvard University, Boston, MA.

                                       2001 - 2003       Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Cell Biology, Harvard University, Boston, MA.

4.  Honors and Memberships

        2020.            Nano Ontario Nanotechnology Lifetime Achievement Award

         2012             NSERC Discovery Grant Accelerator Award

          2011             Chemical and Engineering News Highlight - C&E News 2011, 49, 36.

          2011             Chemical and Engineering News Highlight – C&E News 2011, 29, 27.

          2011             Science Magazine Highlight – Editors Choice – Science  332, 1011 (2011)

          2011             J.Am.Chem. Soc. SELECTS (special issue on biosurfaces/biomaterials) issue #11 (02/11)

 2011             Marcus Lecture  - Washington Univ. St. Louis

          2010             Editor for Journal of Biointerphases      

 2010             Editor for Methods in Molecular Biology:  Volume series on Cell Mobility

 2010             Editorial Board for Journal of Biochips and Tissue Chips

 2010             Editorial Board for Journal of Biotechnology and Biomaterials

 2010             ChemComm Emerging Investigator

 2010             Sigma Xi

          2010             National Cancer Institute (nanocancer center) Young Faculty Highlight

          2009             National Science Foundation CAREER Award 

          2008             Molecular Biosystems Emerging Investigator

          2008             Young Academic Investigators Symposium Speaker, ACS Meeting, New Orleans

          2005             Burroughs-Wellcome Faculty Focus Highlight

          2005             HHMI-Burroughs Wellcome New Faculty Lab Management

          2003             Keck-National Academy of Science Futures Initiative

          2004-2009   Burroughs-Wellcome Interface Career Award 

          2001-2004   Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Postdoctoral Fellowship

          2003             News of the Week, Chemical and Engineering News 2003, 81, 11

          2001             News of the Week, Chemical and Engineering News 2001, 79, 13

          2001             Nature News Wire March 27, 2001.

          2000             News of the Week, Science 2000, 1477

          1999             Chemical and Engineering News Highlight 1999, 77, 11

          1995-1996   John Masteracola Memorial Award for Excellence in Graduate Research