She is a Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University whose research focuses on developing novel polymers and nanostructured materials.
Wooley is internationally recognized as a leader in the area of multifunctional macromolecules (polymers and related materials).
Wooley also was affiliated with the Department of Radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine through a joint appointment granted in 2007 as part of her active collaborations in the area of radiotherapeutics with the late Michael Welch (1939–2012).
Wooley's research team is engaged in creative approaches to materials for nanomedicine applications, degradable polymers from natural resources, coatings for marine antifouling, advanced photoresist materials for the microelectronics industry, hybrid magnetic nanomaterials for environmental remediation, and other projects of fundamental and applied nature.
[5] Wooley, alongside the team at Teysha, has been working to develop biodegradable plastics from biomass stock.