Recent Course X grad named one of Forbes magazine's '30 Under 30'

Pedro Valencia, who earned his PhD in chemical engineering at MIT in November, was named in Forbes magazine's 2012 list of the top 30 rising stars in science and health.

Valencia was cited for figuring out "how to more quickly synthesize nanoparticles that can be used to make drugs more effective and less toxic and to put multiple drugs inside the same nanotech medicine. This has resulted in many top-notch scientific publications and the formation of a start-up, Blend Therapeutics."

Valencia, a former student of Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor, earned his BS in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007, and was at the top of his class. He completed his MS in chemical engineering practice at MIT in 2009.

Valencia was the recipient of the NSF Graduate Fellowship. He was co-advised by Professor Langer and Dr. Omid Farokhzad of the Brigham Women's Hospital - Harvard Medical School.