Aizenberg receives Ronald Breslow Award

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - August 20, 2007 - Joanna Aizenberg, Gordon McKay Professor of Materials Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, was named the 2008 recipient of the Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry on behalf of the American Chemical Society.

The award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of biomimetic chemistry, was established on March 24, 2001 at a symposium held at Columbia University in honor of Ronald Breslow ’52, ’54, ’55.

Aizenberg's research is aimed at understanding some of the basic principles of biomineralization and the efficiency with which biology solves complex problems in the design of functional inorganic materials. She applies such biological principles to developing bio-inspired synthetic routes and nanofabrication strategies, with a particular focus on advanced materials and devices.

Aizenberg, who studies a broad range of areas, including biomimetics, self-assembly, crystal engineering, surface chemistry, nanofabrication, biomaterials, biomechanics and biooptics, is one of the pioneers of the rapidly developing field of biomimetic inorganic materials synthesis.

She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Moscow State University, awarded in 1981 and 1984, respectively, and a Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science, awarded in 1996. From 1996 to 1998 she was a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of George M. Whitesides, Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor in Harvard's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

In 1998 Aizenberg joined Bell Laboratories at Lucent Technologies as a member of the Technical Staff where she made several pioneering contributions, including developing new biomimetic approaches for the synthesis of ordered mineral films with highly controlled shapes and orientations and discovering unique optical systems formed by organisms (microlenses and optical fibers) that outshine technological analogs. In March, 2007 Aizenberg joined Harvard University.

Aizenberg will receive the Breslow Award at a ceremony held during the American Chemical Society’s 235th national meeting in New Orleans on April 8, 2008.