Rate My Professor Jennifer Dionne

As a pioneer of nanophotonics within Engineering, Dionne develops methods to observe and control chemical and biological processes at nanometer-scale resolution, targeting global health and sustainability challenges. Her research includes culture-free pathogen detection and antibiotic susceptibility testing, amplification-free nucleic acid and protein detection and sequencing, and atomic-scale imaging of light-driven reactions. Notable publications encompass “Driving energetically unfavorable dehydrogenation dynamics with plasmonics” (Science, 2021), “High quality factor phase gradient metasurfaces” (Nature Nanotechnology, 2020), “Rapid identification of pathogenic bacteria using Raman spectroscopy and deep learning” (Nature Communications, 2019), “Nanophotonic Platforms for Chiral Sensing and Separation” (Accounts of Chemical Research, 2020), and “Atmospheric-pressure ammonia synthesis on AuRu catalysts enabled by plasmon-controlled hydrogenation and nitrogen-species desorption” (Nature Energy, 2025). Dionne has received the NSF Alan T. Waterman Award (2019), NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2019), Moore Inventor Fellowship (2018), Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2014), Sloan Research Fellowship (2015), Adolph Lomb Medal (2016), and Materials Research Society Outstanding Young Investigator Award (2017). She serves as Associate Editor of Nano Letters, collaborates with artists for science outreach, and has organized conferences including the Plasmonics/Nanophotonics Gordon Conference. Her work has appeared in NPR, The Economist, Science, Nature, and Oprah’s “50 Things that will make you say ‘Wow’!”.