Monica Olvera de la Cruz

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Monica Olvera de la Cruz
Sir Sam Edwards
Doctoral studentsAnne M. Mayes
Websitehttp://aztec.tech.northwestern.edu

Monica Olvera de la Cruz is a Mexican born, American and French soft-matter theorist who is the Lawyer Taylor Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Chemistry, and by courtesy Professor of Physics and Astronomy and of Chemical and Biological Engineering, at Northwestern University.

Biography

Olvera de la Cruz obtained her B.A. in Physics from the UNAM, Mexico, in 1981, and her Ph.D. in Physics from

Cambridge University, UK, in 1985. She has been a faculty member at Northwestern University since 1986. From 1995–97, she worked as a Senior Staff Scientist at the Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique, Centre de’Etude, Saclay, France. Olvera de la Cruz is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences[1] as well as the American Philosophical Society[2] and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Physical Society
.

She directed the Northwestern Materials Research Center[3] from 2006–2013. She is currently the Director of the Center for Computation and Theory of Soft Materials (CCTSM) at Northwestern University.[4]

Research

Olvera de la Cruz has developed novel methods to analyze complex systems, and in particular molecular electrolytes. She explained the limitations associated with separating long DNA chains via gel electrophoresis dynamics,[5][6] which was of great importance to the Human Genome Project.

Olvera de la Cruz discovered that counterions induce the precipitation of strongly charged polyelectrolytes by including electrostatic correlations in the analysis.[7][8][9][10] Her work provided a completely revised model of electrostatic effects in complex electrolytes[11] and in dielectrically heterogeneous media.[12][13]

She has described the emergence of shape and patterns in membranes and in multicomponent complex mixtures. She and her students and postdocs discovered that electrostatics leads to spontaneous symmetry breaking in ionic membranes such as viral

capsids[14] (for which they were awarded the 2007 Cozzarelli Prize[15]) and in fibers.[16][17]

They also demonstrated the spontaneous emergence of various regular and irregular polyhedral geometries in closed membranes with non-homogeneous elastic properties such as

carboxysomes,[18] via a mechanism that explains observed shapes in crystalline shells formed by more than one component such as archaea and organelle wall envelopes as well as in ionic vesicles.[19]

By simulating crystals of DNA functionalized nanoparticles with complementary linkers containing both small and large nanoparticles, the Olvera de la Cruz group discovered colloidal crystal “metallicity",

superionics
.

Olvera de la Cruz and Qiao found that the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) to the human cell receptor hACE2 can be strongly decreased by mutating or blocking the polybasic cleavage site (known as the furin cleavage site),[25] providing a mechanism to decrease COVID 19 infection, as subsequently demonstrated experimentally.[26][27]

Awards and honors

Policy and public service

Olvera de la Cruz was on the

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,[45] and is a member of the Gordon Research Conferences' Board of Trustees.[46] She has been a Senior Editor for the journal ACS Central Science (2015–2022).[47]

References

  1. ^ "Monica Olvera de la Cruz". Nasonline.org. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  2. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  3. ^ "NSF MRSEC Directors' Meeting March 2012". Directors' Meeting March 2012. Mrsec.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  4. ^ "Center for Computation & Theory of Soft Materials | Northwestern Engineering". www.mccormick.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  5. PMID 9896849
    .
  6. S2CID 20374492
    .
  7. doi:10.1063/1.470248
    .
  8. doi:10.1063/1.470459
    .
  9. PMID 9449338
    .
  10. S2CID 94408288
    .
  11. PMID 24907928
    .
  12. S2CID 37265019
    .
  13. PMID 23487798
    .
  14. PMID 18003933
    .
  15. ^ a b "PNAS Announces 2007 Cozzarelli Prize Recipients" (Press release). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 13 February 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  16. S2CID 37983980
    .
  17. doi:10.1039/C0SM00706D
    .
  18. PMID 21368184
    .
  19. PMID 23185994
    .
  20. ^ "Martin Girard PhD Thesis" (PDF).
  21. PMID 31221857
    .
  22. S2CID 226237369
    .
  23. S2CID 235765822
    .
  24. S2CID 251842303
    .
  25. PMID 32806067
    .
  26. ^ "Mexican scientist discovers a way to stop Covid-19 from entering the human body". The Yucatan Times. August 19, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  27. PMID 33494095
    .
  28. ^ "Monica Olvera de la Cruz « Packard Foundation". Packard.org. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  29. ^ "Fellows Database". Sloan.org. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  30. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#9057764 – Presidential Young Investigator Award". Nsf.gov. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  31. ^ "APS Fellow Archive". Aps.org. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  32. ^ "2010 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows". Defense.gov. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  33. ^ "Member Directory American Academy of Arts and Sciences". Amacad.org. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  34. ^ "Paradigms for Emergence of Shape and Function in Biomolecular Electrolytes for the Design of Biomimetic Materials" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. December 4, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  35. ^ "Member Search Results". Nasonline.org. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  36. ^ "Prize Recipient". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  37. ^ "The American Philosophical Society Welcomes New Members for 2020".
  38. ^ Orellana, Ochoa (2020-10-27). "Los guerrerenses no nos rendimos y asumimos el compromiso con la Nación de seguir siendo ejemplo de fortaleza y unidad": HAF". Noticias del Estado de Guerrero | Síntesis de Guerrero (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  39. ^ "Monica Olvera De La Cruz (Northwestern) - Mulliken Lecture". events.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  40. ^ "BESAC Membership| U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)". 26 August 2021.
  41. ^ "Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee".
  42. ^ "Former MPS Advisory Committee Members".
  43. ^ "Scientific Advisory Board".
  44. ^ "ESPCI Paris : International Scientific Committee".
  45. ^ "Editorial Board". Pnas.org. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  46. ^ "Board of Trustees".
  47. ^ "ACS Central Science".
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