Welcome to the Reineke Research Group
Members of the Reineke Group specialize in the synthetic design, chemical characterization, and biological study of novel macromolecules.

Materials chemistry is making a tremendous impact on modern medicine and biological research. We are interested in: 1) the development of novel carbohydrate-based polymers and dendrimers for the cellular delivery of RNA and DNA for research and therapeutic applications, 2) the design of glycopolymer and targeted contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging and disease diagnosis, and 3) “theranostic” agents that combine the ability to perform therapeutic delivery and diagnostic imaging. Studies in these areas are centered both on understanding the fundamental mechanisms involved in biomaterial function and applied clinical use of our compounds for advanced diagnostic and treatment strategies. Our research is highly interdisciplinary and students in the Reineke lab routinely receive training in several areas of chemistry, biology, and medicine.

We gratefully acknowledge support of our work by the following sources:
  • NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program, NIGMS
  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award Program
  • Bio-Rad, Inc. 
  • Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
  • Virginia Tech and the Department of Chemistry