American Chemical Society honors Sandia Labs scientist

Sandia National Laboratories materials scientist Dorina Sava Gallis has been honored by the American Chemical Society with a 2024 Women Chemists Committee Rising Star Award, recognizing her excellence in the scientific enterprise demonstrating outstanding promise for contributions to her field.

In her 14 years at Sandia, Sava Gallis has accumulated more than a dozen U.S. patents, authored or co-authored more than 60 technical publications and is recognized as a world expert in nanoporous materials, particularly in metal-organic frameworks.

Generating big ideas with the smallest of particles, Sava Gallis has found successful materials solutions in various applications, including environmental remediation, gas storage and separations, energy storage, degradation of toxic chemicals, viral detec­tion, advanced therapeutic countermea­sures and photoluminescent materials for solid-state lighting, bioimaging and anticounterfeiting.

“I’m fortunate to be involved in a lot of interesting work with MOFs — for example, bridging biology with material science,” she said. Last year, Sava Gallis led a team that invented a transparent material capable of marking authentic goods with a special pattern or signature visible only under certain kinds of light, effectively thwarting counterfeiters.

Among her many talents and successes, Sava Gallis particularly enjoys assembling research teams.

“I’m really passionate about building multidisciplinary teams to solve cutting-edge national security chal­lenges,” she said. “I enjoy thinking about which people I can collaborate with — material scientists, chemists, engineers, biologists, physicists, modelers — to create the best solutions for specific needs.”

Sava Gallis quickly acknowledged her colleagues and mentors who have contrib­uted to these successful projects.

She has also become adept at technology transfer and commercialization, developing comprehensive business plans and iden­tifying market pathways for her research programs.

“Much of our work has national security relevance, but it also holds significance for the broader material science community, and commercial potential,” Sava Gallis said.

Read the complete news release.