MPI für Kohlenforschung Postfach 10 13 53 45466 Mülheim an der Ruhr

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ferdi Schüth

Geschäftsführender Direktor
Telefon (0208) 306 2372/73
Telefax (0208) 306 2995

schueth@mpi-muelheim.mpg.de

Mülheim, May 13th 2023

Endorsement letter on behalf of Prof. Dr. Maria Vallet-Regi for the “LÓreal-Unesco for
Life and Environmental Sciences International Awards 2024”

Dear Members of the Award Committee,

I have learned that Prof. Dr. Maria Vallet-Regi will be nominated by the President of the
Spanish Royal Academy of Pharmacy for the L’OReal Unesco Award 2024. I would like
to support this nomination with the highest possible emphasis. I have been vice president of
the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for six years until 2020, and in this capacity have coordinated
the nominations of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for the highest international awards. I can
safely say that Maria Vallet-Regi blends right into the list of names I have proposed for
highest ranking awards during my office term.
I have known Maria for approximately two decades, due to our common interest in
ordered mesoporous materials. While my own application focus lies more in the field of
catalysis over these materials, Maria basically single-handedly developed biomedical
applications of these types of solids. Being an inorganic chemist by training, who has
worked successfully also in classical fields in inorganic chemistry, Maria entered this
research field of ordered mesoporous materials with a true splash: in her 2001
Chem.Mater. paper, she reported on her first studies of an ordered mesoporous
material, MCM-41, for drug delivery, a true first in this field. This paper was extremely
influential and guided the work of hundreds, if not thousands of other research groups
world-wide, and has by now collected more than 2500 citations according to Google Scholar.
In the following years, she has shaped this field by expanding the scope of applications, the
scope of substrates to be used for drug delivery, understanding the governing factors
controlling drug delivery, and by summarizing and lining out development perspectives in
review articels: she is now the undisputed leader in this highly important research field. She
also opened up the use of other porous materials, such as metal organic framework (MOF)
materials for biomedical applications, and she went beyond drug delivery, pioneering
areas such as tissue engineering and bone replacement, for instance. One can safely say
that there is no other scientist world-wide with the same kind of reputation and visibility in
the field of porous materials for biomedical applications, which Maria Vallet-Regi has earned
for herself. Needless to say after this description of her most visible achievements, Maria
Vallet-Regi has received numerous awards and distinctions; it comes to no surprise, that she
has won an ERC
Max-Planck-Institut Advanced Grant,
für Kohlenforschung she is1 member of several
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz academies,
Stiftungsregister: 15.2.1-St. 103 and honorary
Rechtsfähige Stiftung D-45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr Stiftungsverzeichnis der Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf
doctorates were
Geschäftsführender Direktor: Tel.: +49 (0) 208 306-1 USt-ID: DE 120 348 810
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ferdi Schüth www.kofo.mpg.de
bestowed upon her. She is a sought after plenary speaker at big international conferences,
and also this, together with her publishing activities in scientific journals, has contributed to
shaping the field.
However, her activities do not stop in science as such: she also highly successfully
communicates science to the general public, and she is a great mentor to her students and
coworkers, many of whom have made careers in academia in other institutions, again all over
the world.
The L’Oreal-Unesco award honors women, who are true leaders in science, both in recognition
for their past scientific contributions, but also for serving as a role model for young female
researchers, who are on a career track in science. I cannot imagine a better role model than
Maria Vallet-Regi. She is active and extremely successful in a field (inorganic chemistry), which
is strongly dominated by male scientists, and she has risen to the top by a bold combination
of her experience in materials science with a new field, i.e. biomedical applications.
Her success will stimulate young women to follow her lead and try to become as successful
as she is.
I congratulate the President of the Spanish Royal Academy of Pharmacy, he selected the
perfect candidate for the award, and I support the nomination most enthusiastically. I
cannot think of a better choice for the L’Oreal-Unesco Award 2024!

Sincerely yours

(Ferdi Schüth)

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