Helen Tran is PMSE Committee Chair for the CME PMSE-sponsored ACS Global Outstanding Student & Mentor Awards in Polymer Science and Engineering starting on January 1, 2026, until December 31, 2028.

Helen Tran is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto, with a cross-appointment in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry (since 2021). Her research harnesses polymer chemistry to engineer advanced materials encoded with properties for self-assembly, degradability, and electronic transport. These innovations target next-generation soft, stretchable, and biodegradable electronics for applications in human health monitoring and environmental sustainability. Tran holds a B.S. in Chemistry (minor in Chemical Engineering) from the University of California, Berkeley (2009), and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Columbia University (2016), where her thesis focused on block copolymer templates for nanostructured materials. She conducted postdoctoral research as an Intelligence Community Fellow at Stanford University (2016–2020), working under Zhenan Bao on wearable electronics. Her publications have garnered over 3,300 citations (per ResearchGate). Tran’s accolades include:

Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Polymer Chemistry (2024–2029)
Chemical & Engineering News Talented 12 (2022)
Dorothy Shoichet Women Faculty in Science Award of Excellence (2021)
Connaught New Researcher Award (2021)
RSC/Polymer Chemistry Emerging Investigator honors (2025)

She is recognized for bridging molecular design with practical, bio-integrated technologies.