Ricardo Javier Vázquez Receives a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from NIH

Professor Ricardo Javier Vázquez was recently awarded a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). More about this exciting award can be found here.

Dr. Vázquez was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where he conducted his undergraduate studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (UPRRP). After graduating from the UPRRP with a degree in chemistry, Dr. Vázquez attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, for his doctoral studies under the guidance of Prof. Theodore Goodson III. His research involved using time-resolved spectroscopy and non-linear optics to probe important properties in organic semiconductors with optoelectronic applications. Following his doctoral studies, Dr. Vázquez joined Professor Guillermo C. Bazan at the National University of Singapore for his postdoctoral studies. While there, he worked with water-soluble organic semiconductors for energy storage, bioimaging, biocatalysis, and bioelectronics applications. For his independent career at IU Chemistry, Ricardo will work in the interface of organic materials and biology to address problems regarding precision in life science, green-energy production and storage, and environmental remediation.