Materials Research Society-National Science Foundation PREM Research Scholars Summit—Lunch Break with NSF Program Directors

Tuesday, April 11
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Marriott, Lower B2 Level, Nob Hill

Germano Iannacchione
National Science Foundation

Germano Iannacchione is the Division Director for the Division of Materials Research (DMR) at the National Science Foundation. He holds a PhD degree in Physics from Kent State University and held post-doctoral research appointments in Physics at Kent State University and in Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2023, Iannacchione joined the NSF as Division Director from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), where he has held a primary appointment in Physics since 1998. At WPI, Iannacchione served as Department Head of Physics from 2006-2016, and as the founding Director of the Nuclear Science and Engineering program and the Masters of Science in Physics for Educators program from 2012-2017. Iannacchione previously served as the NSF Program Director in Condensed Matter Physics from 2017-2020 and in Biomaterials from 2018-2019.

Iannacchione’s research has primarily focused on phases and phase transitions in soft-condensed matter, specifically liquid crystals, polymers, and biomolecules in pure and composite systems, and Dr. Iannacchione is well-known for his work on the effect of quenched random disorder on phase transitions and their critical behavior, which has provided the foundation for the general understanding of disordered systems in condensed matter. Iannacchione has published 113 peer-reviewed articles in physics and materials journals and six book chapters. 

Iannacchione is a lifetime member of the American Physical Society and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society, as well as a full member of the International Liquid Crystal Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Debasis Majumdar
National Science Foundation

Debasis Majumdar is a Program Director in the Division of Materials Research (DMR) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) at NSF. Debasis currently co-manages the PREM program within DMR. Prior to DMR, Debasis was a Program Director in the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) in the Engineering (ENG) Directorate, managing the IUCRC and the SBIR/STTR programs. Debasis joined NSF with 31 years of industrial experience working for Eastman Kodak Company and Saint-Gobain. In that capacity, he was engaged in applied research, new product development and commercialization, manufacturing excellence, technology transfer and intellectual property development and management. His research expertise includes advanced materials and functional coatings for a variety of applications in imaging, display, and life sciences. He is a co-inventor of 115 US patents and a co-author of 31 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. Debasis holds a PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University and a B Tech degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. 

Shadi Mamaghani
National Science Foundation

Shadi Mamaghani is a PREM Program Director in the Division of Materials Research at the National Science Foundation. Prior to PREM, Shadi managed the biomaterials portfolio. She joined NSF as AAAS Science Policy Fellow where she led the development of multiple partnerships with the National Institutes of Health and led an effort to develop the 2021 National Bioeconomy Roadmap on intersections of Materials Research and Synthetic Biology in collaboration with the Engineering Biology Research Consortium. Prior to NSF, Shadi was a Program Director at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the National Institutes of Health, where she developed and managed the ImmunoEngineering program. Shadi also served as a Senior Scientific Advisor to the NIBIB Director. Shadi is a cancer biologist by training and received her PhD in cancer biology from the University of Toronto, Canada. She brings her knowledge of policy-making, biomaterials, synthetic biology, and biotechnology to the PREM team.