Angelika Niemz, PhD

Dr. Angelika Niemz, a native of Germany, received her undergraduate degree in chemistry in 1992 at the University of Konstanz in Germany and her PhD in chemistry in 1999 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After working as a postdoctoral fellow in chemical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, she joined KGI in February 2002 as an Assistant Professor. In 2008, she became an Associate Professor. In 2009, after a six-month sabbatical where she worked for Roche Molecular Diagnostics in Switzerland, she began serving as Director of Research at KGI and was named the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor. In March 2021, she was promoted to Chair of Business and Bioengineering for the Henry E. Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences. In October 2022, she was promoted to Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor.

Niemz teaches courses on medical diagnostics, high throughput technologies, and instrumentation development at KGI. Additionally, she has taught short courses on IVD automation and nanobiotechnology at the Association for Laboratory Automation’s annual conference for seven years. She has obtained independent research funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense, and has frequently served on grant review panels. 

Niemz is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, and the Association for Laboratory Automation. Beyond her research and other scholarly activities, she obtained funding for and organized a summer undergraduate research program at KGI for the past eight years. Niemz has also coordinated K-12 outreach activities, including internship opportunities for high school teachers and students.

Vandeventer PE, Weigel KM, Salazar J, Erwin B, Irvine B, Doebler R, Nadim A, Cangelosi GA, Niemz A. “Mechanical Disruption of Lysis-Resistant Bacterial Cells by Use of a Miniature, Low-Power, Disposable Device”. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2011 Jul;49(7):2533-2539

Niemz A, Ferguson TM, Boyle DS. “Point-of-care nucleic acid testing for infectious diseases”. Trends in Biotechnology 2011 May;29(5):240-250

Tan E, Erwin B, Dames S, Ferguson T, Buechel M, Irvine B, Voelkerding K, Niemz A. “Specific versus nonspecific isothermal DNA amplification through thermophilic polymerase and nicking enzyme activities”. Biochemistry 2008 Sep 23;47(38):9987-9999

Tan E, Erwin B, Dames S, Voelkerding K, Niemz A. “Isothermal DNA amplification with gold nanosphere-based visual colorimetric readout for herpes simplex 2 virus detection”. Clinical Chemistry 2007 Nov;53(11):2017-2020

Niemz A, Bandyopadhyay K, Tan E, Cha K, Baker SM. “Fabrication of nanoporous templates from diblock copolymer thin films on alkylchlorosilane-neutralized surfaces”. Langmuir 2006 Dec 19;22(26):11092-11096

Bandyopadhyay K, Tan E, Ho L, Bundick S, Baker SM, Niemz A. “Deposition of DNA-functionalized gold nanospheres into nanoporous surfaces”. Langmuir 2006 May 23;22(11):4978-4984

Tan E, Wong J, Nguyen D, Zhang Y, Erwin B, Van Ness LK, Baker SM, Galas DJ, Niemz A. “Isothermal DNA amplification coupled with DNA nanosphere-based colorimetric detection”. Analytical Chemistry 2005 Dec 15;77(24):7984-7992

Niemz A, Tirrell DA. “Self-association and membrane-binding behavior of melittins containing trifluoroleucine”. Journal of the American Chemical Society2001 Aug 1;123(30):7407-7413

Niemz A, Rotello VM. “From enzyme to molecular device. Exploring the interdependence of redox and molecular recognition”. Accounts of Chemical Research 1999;32(1):44-52

Niemz A, Rotello VM. “Modification of spin density distribution via specific hydrogen bond interactions: An experimental, UHF, and density functional study”. Journal of the American Chemical Society 1997;119(29):6833-6836

Niemz A, Imbriglio J, Rotello VM. “Model systems for flavoenzyme activity: One- and two-electron reduction of flavins in aprotic hydrophobic environments”. Journal of the American Chemical Society 1997;119(5):892-897