Nov 16, 2011 - Claremont, Calif. -

Shenda Baker, professor of chemistry at Harvey Mudd College, has been elected to the board of directors of the Materials Research Society for a three-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2012.

The Materials Research Society (MRS) is an organization of materials researchers from academia, industry and government that promotes communication for the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life.

In 2010, Baker was named president and chief operating officer at Synedgen, Inc., a bio-pharmaceutical company committed to developing novel therapies and products to save lives in hospitals, on the battlefield and in the home. She had previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Synedgen develops products and therapies to treat drug-resistant bacteria. It also is developing a proprietary wound decontamination rinse that targets multi-drug resistant bacteria and the thick mucus-like biofilms they form. Another Synedgen project is an oral rinse to reduce gingivitis and prevent oral plaque accumulation.

Prior to her position at Synedgen, Baker was general partner and president of BioSTAR West and director of pharmaceutical research and development at Hawaii Chitopure Inc. She continues to hold an appointment as professor of chemistry at Harvey Mudd College, where she has earned numerous grants and awards, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) Special Creativity Award from the Division of Materials Research, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the Department of Defense and the NSF CAREER Award.

Baker is a member of numerous scientific societies and organizations and served in leadership capacities for many of them, including the Materials Research Society, the Neutron Scattering Society of America, the Council on Undergraduate Research, the American Physical Society and the American Chemical Society. She is the author or co-author of more than 50 publications and is named on 20 patents.