Rachel Kerry O'Reilly is a British chemist and Professor at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. She works at the interface of biology and materials, creating polymers that can mimic natural nanomaterials such as viruses and cells. She is a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) is one of the most prestigious awards conferred by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the United Kingdom. Existing Fellows include award winning scientists and Nobel prize winners. FRSC awa ...

and of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Education

O'Reilly was born in

Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) ...

and educated in a grammar school. She has dyslexia. She studied

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, working with

Brian F. G. Johnson Brian Frederick Gilbert Johnson (born 11 September 1938 in Northampton, England) is a British scientist and emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Cambridge. He was also Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge from 1999 to 2005. ...

on her Master's project, and graduated in 1999. She moved to

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

to work with Vernon C. Gibson on catalyst design, earning a PhD in 2003.

Career

O'Reilly joined

Craig Hawker Craig Jon Hawker (born 11 January 1964) is an Australian-born chemist. His research has focused on the interface between organic and polymer chemistry, with emphasis on the design, synthesis, and application of well-defined macromolecular stru ...

and Karen L. Wooley at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

. Here she demonstrated the fabrication of cross-linked polymer nanoparticles that were Click-ready. O'Reilly was awarded a 2004

Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the Great Exhibition, Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, which was held in The Crystal Palace, London. The founding Presid ...

fellowship, and took up a research fellowship at

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

, in 2005. At the

she was awarded a

Dorothy Hodgkin fellowship. She developed hollow polymeric nanocages that could selectively recognise substrates. She joined the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

in 2009 as an

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British UK Research Councils, Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical scienc ...

career-acceleration fellow. Her fellowship explored water-soluble responsive polymer scaffolds that contained domains for catalysis as well as responsive polymers that could trigger the release of catalysts into the media surrounding them. She was appointed Professor in 2012 at the age of 34. That year she was the first ever UK winner of the

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

Samsung Young Polymer Scientist prize. She appeared on Start the Week with

Andrew Marr Andrew William Stevenson Marr (born 31 July 1959) is a British journalist, author, broadcaster and presenter. Beginning his career as a political commentator at ''The Scotsman,'' he subsequently edited ''The Independent'' newspaper from 1996 to ...

in 2012, where he described her as a "a chemist who does strange things with plastics". In 2013 she was awarded the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

Hermann Mark Young Scholar award. She was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the

in 2017. Alongside her research, O'Reilly is a keen geologist and enjoys travelling to volcanoes. She became a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

in 2013 and was named as one of the

's 175's Faces of Chemistry. In 2023 she was elected an Honorary Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge.

Honours and awards

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

–

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to chemistry * 2022 –

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

* 2020 –

Corday–Morgan Prize The Corday–Morgan Medal and Prize is awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry for the most meritorious contributions to experimental chemistry, including computer simulation. The prize was established by chemist Gilbert Morgan (chemist), Gilbe ...

* 2018 – Journal of Polymer Science Innovation Award * 2016 –

Gibson-Fawcett award * 2014 –

and

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

, McBain Medal * 2013 –

Hermann Mark Young Scholar award * 2012 –

Samsung Young Polymer Scientist prize * 2012 –

Hickinbottom Award * 2008 –

Macro group UK Young Researcher medal * 2007 –

Meldola Medal and Prize The Meldola Medal and Prize was awarded annually from 1921 to 1979 by the Chemical Society and from 1980 to 2008 by the Royal Society of Chemistry to a British chemist who was under 32 years of age for promising original investigations in chemistr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Rachel Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Imperial College London 21st-century British chemists Scientists with dyslexia British scientists with disabilities Washington University in St. Louis faculty Academics of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Warwick People from Holywood, County Down