Vilmalí López-Mejías is currently a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Río Piedras. Dr. López received her Bachelor’s degree (Chemistry) from the UPR, Río Piedras (2006), and her Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2008, and 2011, respectively. Prior to moving back to Puerto Rico, she held a Postdoctoral Research Associate (Chemical Engineering) position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as part of the MIT-Novartis Center for Continuous Manufacturing (2011-2013).

She currently holds the record for the most polymorphic pharmaceutical substance known; all nine polymorphs were discovered using polymer surfaces. She became interested in the field of materials sciences, after participating of various undergraduate research experiences at her home institution, the UPR, Rio Piedras, nationally (Kansas University) and abroad (Nagoya University).

Her interest in materials sciences started very early on as her father is also a Chemist. He instilled in her the knowledge and appreciation for all fields of chemical sciences but particularly, materials sciences. Her research interest lie in the fundamental understanding and control of polymorphism using surfaces to promote selective crystallization process for compound of industrial relevance.

She expects her discoveries to help to lay the foundation for improving crystallization process for materials, and lead to the development of better processes and products.