Omowunmi "Wunmi" Sadik

Distinguished Professor

  • Newark NJ UNITED STATES
  • Chemistry and Environmental Science

Omowunmi Sadik applies her knowledge of surface chemistry, chemical and biological sensors in healthcare, food safety and the environment.

Contact

Spotlight

1 min

Using biosensors to detect disease, pain, pollution and weapons

Air pollution, chemical weapons, diseases, drugs and signs of life on other planets — all can be detected with biosensors.The development of high tech to do this job — when canines or conventional tests aren’t practical — is a field that spurred NJIT’s Omowunmi Sadik into action.Case in point: Sadik created a sensor that detects the novel coronavirus using the power of a smartphone — "So simple it can be 3D-printed by undergraduates," she explained — and there are even biosensors that can measure pain. The latter are especially useful for those who can't accurately communicate due to age or health.Sadik, a distinguished professor of chemistry and environmental science, leads NJIT's BioSMART Center and is a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, Royal Society of Chemistry and African Academy of Sciences. To interview her, simply click on the button below.Omowunmi's Profile

Omowunmi "Wunmi" Sadik

Social

Biography

Omowunmi Sadik seeks to develop innovative technologies for improving human health, food safety and the environment through her research into biological sensors, surface chemistry, electrochemistry and nanostructured conducting polymers.

She holds five patents for her work on biosensors and nanostructured membranes and her inventions drove changes in areas such as dentistry, pain management and counterterrorism.

At NJIT, she is a distinguished professor, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science and director of the BioSmart Center.

Sadik is also an expert on COVID-19 in the realm of handheld, point-of-care, disease-sensing devices

She joined NJIT in 2019, after 23 years at SUNY Binghamton. She's from Nigeria.

Areas of Expertise

Nanostructured Conducting Polymers
Chemical and Biological Sensors
Surface Chemistry
Electrochemistry
Biosensors

Accomplishments

Sustainable Nanotechnology Award, Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization

2019

Brian O'Connell Distinguished Fellow, University of Western Cape, South Africa

2018

Jefferson Science Fellow, U.S. Department of State

2017

Show All +

Education

University of Wollongong

Ph.D.

Chemistry

1994

University of Lagos

M.S.

Chemistry

1987

University of Lagos

B.S.

Chemistry

1985

Media Appearances

In Situ with Wunmi Sadik

Chemistry World  online

2023-07-14

The interdisciplinary innovator on moving beyond silos and communicating the real-world impact of chemistry

View More

The Connection Between Environmental Chemistry and COVID

NJ PBS: One-on-One with Steve Adubato  tv

2021-01-21

Wunmi Sadik, distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science at NJIT, discusses the development of biosensors to test COVID-19 and the importance of environmental chemistry during a pandemic.

View More

[Women’s History Month] Meet Omowunmi Sadik, inventor of biosensors that detect bombs

Face2Face Africa  online

2018-03-01

Meet Omowunmi Sadik, the inventor of microelectrode biosensors that can detect foreign materials and can be used to spot drugs or explosives.

View More

Event Appearances

SMART Biosensors: A New Modality to Objectively Quantify Pain

NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series  

2021-01-06

Articles

Mechanism of Interactions of dsDNA Binding with Apigenin and Its Sulfamate Derivatives Using Multispectroscopic, Voltammetric, and Molecular Docking Studies

ACS Omega

Simon Waihenya, Pelin Şenel, Francis J Osonga, Taner Erdoğan, Filiz Altay, Ayşegül Gölcü, Omowunmi A Sadik

2021

DNA binding investigations are critical for designing better pharmaceutical compounds since the binding of a compound to dsDNA in the minor groove is critical in drug discovery. Although only one in-vitro study on the DNA binding mode of apigenin (APG) has been conducted, there have been no electrochemical and theoretical studies reported. We hereby report the mechanism of binding interaction of APG and a new class of sulfonamide-modified flavonoids, apigenin disulfonamide (ADSAM) and apigenin trisulfonamide (ATSAM), with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

View more

Greener One-Pot Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticle Glycoconjugates Using Functionalized Sugars

ACS Agricultural Science & Technology

Idris Yazgan, Francis J Osonga, Roland M Miller, Victor M Kariuki, Jing Zhang, Jun Feng, Zakiya Skeete, Heather Crapo, Jürgen Schulte, Omowunmi A Sadik

2021

Carbohydrates have been used to decorate metallic nanoparticles to form nanoglycoconjugates. However, the synthetic conditions typically require the utilization of increased temperatures and other reagents that negatively impact the stability of the conjugates. For the first time, this study is reporting the synthesis of gold–nanoparticle glycoconjugates (AuNP-GCs) in aqueous media at ambient temperatures.

View more

Novel quercetin and apigenin-acetamide derivatives: design, synthesis, characterization, biological evaluation and molecular docking studies

RSC Advances

Daniel Isika, Mustafa Çeşme, Francis J Osonga, Omowunmi A Sadik

2020

Flavonoids exhibit essential but limited biological properties which can be enhanced through chemical modifications. In this study, we designed, synthesized and characterized two novel flavonoid derivatives, quercetin penta-acetamide (1S3) and apigenin tri-acetamide (2S3).

View more

Show All +
Powered by