Matthew J. Harrington

Dr. Matthew J. Harrington is a Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Green Chemistry at McGill University, where he also co-directs the McGill Institute for Advanced Materials (MIAM). He holds a B.A. from the University of Delaware (2002) and Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara (2008), with postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (2008-2010). His Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship supported his work as Research Group Leader at MPI (2010-2017).

His research investigates nature's material fabrication strategies, focusing on:

• Structure-function relationships in protein-based materials (silk, mussel byssus)
• Bio-inspired self-healing polymers
• Multi-scale characterization via Raman spectroscopy/X-ray diffraction
• Stimuli-responsive biomaterials

The group adapts biological assembly principles for sustainable material design.

As Co-Director of MIAM, he promotes interdisciplinary materials research. He teaches CHEM 334 (Advanced Materials), covering fundamental principles of biogenic and synthetic functional materials.