Wikipedia

Monica Olvera de la Cruz

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.

Monica Olvera de la Cruz
Olvera de la Cruz in 2010
Born
Acapulco
EducationUNAM
Trinity College, Cambridge
Known forsoft matter physics
electrolytes
AwardsPresidential Young Investigator Award (1990)
National Academy of Sciences Cozzarelli Prize (2007)
American Physical Society Polymer Physics Prize (2017)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics, Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry
InstitutionsNorthwestern University
Doctoral advisorSir Sam Edwards
Doctoral studentsAnne M. Mayes
Websitehttp://aztec.tech.northwestern.edu

Biography edit

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 edit

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 bacterial microcompartments, including 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",[20][21] whereby small colloids become delocalized within a larger crystal structure. They noted that the transition from the localized to delocalized state is analogous to an insulator-metal transition. Recently, she and her students showed that the localization-delocalization transition is phonon-driven.[22] Additionally, when a localization-delocalization transition is accompanied with a crystal phase transition, it strongly resembles a Peierls transition.[23] This transition is also found in oppositely charged colloidal crystals,[24] resembling sublattice melting in atomic 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 edit

Policy and public service edit

Olvera de la Cruz was on the US Department of Energy's Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee from 2012–2022,[40] and has been on the United States National Research Council since 2005.[41] From 2005 to 2008, she was on the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation.[42] She is on the advisory boards of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz[43] and the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielle de la ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris).[44] She is currently on the editorial board for 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 edit

  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. ^ Olvera de la Cruz, M.; Deutsch, J. M.; Edwards, S. F. (1 March 1986). "Electrophoresis in strong fields". Physical Review A. 33 (3): 2047–2055. Bibcode:1986PhRvA..33.2047O. doi:10.1103/physreva.33.2047. PMID 9896849.
  6. ^ Maddox, John (May 1990). "Understanding gel electrophoresis". Nature. 345 (6274): 381. Bibcode:1990Natur.345..381M. doi:10.1038/345381a0. PMID 2342570. S2CID 20374492.
  7. ^ González‐Mozuelos, P.; de la Cruz, M. Olvera (22 August 1995). "Ion condensation in salt‐free dilute polyelectrolyte solutions". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 103 (8): 3145–3157. Bibcode:1995JChPh.103.3145G. doi:10.1063/1.470248.
  8. ^ de la Cruz, M. Olvera; Belloni, L.; Delsanti, M.; Dalbiez, J. P.; Spalla, O.; Drifford, M. (October 1995). "Precipitation of highly charged polyelectrolyte solutions in the presence of multivalent salts". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 103 (13): 5781–5791. Bibcode:1995JChPh.103.5781D. doi:10.1063/1.470459.
  9. ^ Raspaud, E.; Olvera de la Cruz, M.; Sikorav, J.-L.; Livolant, F. (January 1998). "Precipitation of DNA by Polyamines: A Polyelectrolyte Behavior". Biophysical Journal. 74 (1): 381–393. Bibcode:1998BpJ....74..381R. doi:10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77795-1. PMC 1299390. PMID 9449338.
  10. ^ Solis, Francisco J.; de la Cruz, Monica Olvera (22 January 2000). "Collapse of flexible polyelectrolytes in multivalent salt solutions". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 112 (4): 2030–2035. arXiv:cond-mat/9908084. Bibcode:2000JChPh.112.2030S. doi:10.1063/1.480763. S2CID 94408288.
  11. ^ Sing, Charles E.; Zwanikken, Jos W.; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (July 2014). "Electrostatic control of block copolymer morphology". Nature Materials. 13 (7): 694–698. Bibcode:2014NatMa..13..694S. doi:10.1038/nmat4001. PMID 24907928.
  12. ^ Jadhao, Vikram; Solis, Francisco J.; de la Cruz, Monica Olvera (27 November 2012). "Simulation of Charged Systems in Heterogeneous Dielectric Media via a True Energy Functional". Physical Review Letters. 109 (22): 223905. arXiv:1208.4113. Bibcode:2012PhRvL.109v3905J. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.223905. PMID 23368123. S2CID 37265019.
  13. ^ Zwanikken, Jos W.; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2013-04-02). "Tunable soft structure in charged fluids confined by dielectric interfaces". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 (14): 5301–5308. Bibcode:2013PNAS..110.5301Z. doi:10.1073/pnas.1302406110. PMC 3619344. PMID 23487798.
  14. ^ Vernizzi, G.; Olvera de la Cruz, M. (20 November 2007). "Faceting ionic shells into icosahedra via electrostatics". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (47): 18382–18386. Bibcode:2007PNAS..10418382V. doi:10.1073/pnas.0703431104. PMC 2141786. 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. ^ Kohlstedt, Kevin L.; Solis, Francisco J.; Vernizzi, Graziano; de la Cruz, Monica Olvera (19 July 2007). "Spontaneous Chirality via Long-Range Electrostatic Forces". Physical Review Letters. 99 (3): 030602. arXiv:0704.3435. Bibcode:2007PhRvL..99c0602K. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.030602. PMID 17678276. S2CID 37983980.
  17. ^ Solis, Francisco J.; Vernizzi, Graziano; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2011). "Electrostatic-driven pattern formation in fibers, nanotubes and pores". Soft Matter. 7 (4): 1456. Bibcode:2011SMat....7.1456S. doi:10.1039/C0SM00706D.
  18. ^ Vernizzi, G.; Sknepnek, R.; Olvera de la Cruz, M. (15 March 2011). "Platonic and Archimedean geometries in multicomponent elastic membranes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (11): 4292–4296. Bibcode:2011PNAS..108.4292V. doi:10.1073/pnas.1012872108. PMC 3060260. PMID 21368184.
  19. ^ Leung, Cheuk-Yui; Palmer, Liam C.; Qiao, Bao Fu; Kewalramani, Sumit; Sknepnek, Rastko; Newcomb, Christina J.; Greenfield, Megan A.; Vernizzi, Graziano; Stupp, Samuel I.; Bedzyk, Michael J.; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (21 December 2012). "Molecular Crystallization Controlled by pH Regulates Mesoscopic Membrane Morphology". ACS Nano. 6 (12): 10901–10909. doi:10.1021/nn304321w. PMID 23185994.
  20. ^ "Martin Girard PhD Thesis" (PDF).
  21. ^ Girard, Martin; Wang, Shunzhi; Du, Jingshan S.; Das, Anindita; Huang, Ziyin; Dravid, Vinayak P.; Lee, Byeongdu; Mirkin, Chad A.; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2019-06-21). "Particle analogs of electrons in colloidal crystals". Science. 364 (6446): 1174–1178. Bibcode:2019Sci...364.1174G. doi:10.1126/science.aaw8237. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 8237478. PMID 31221857.
  22. ^ Lopez-Rios, Hector; Ehlen, Ali; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2021-01-14). "Delocalization Transition in Colloidal Crystals". The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 125 (1): 1096–1106. arXiv:2011.01347. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c09730. ISSN 1932-7447. S2CID 226237369.
  23. ^ Ehlen, Ali; Lopez-Rios, Hector; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2021-11-11). "Metalization of Colloidal Crystals". Physical Review Materials. 5 (11): 115601. arXiv:2107.03968. Bibcode:2021PhRvM...5k5601E. doi:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.115601. S2CID 235765822.
  24. ^ Lin, Yange; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2022-09-08). "Superionic Colloidal Crystals: Ionic to Metallic Bonding Transitions". The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 126 (35): 6740–6749. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c04041. ISSN 1520-6106. PMID 36018248. S2CID 251842303.
  25. ^ Qiao, Baofu; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2020-08-25). "Enhanced Binding of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein to Receptor by Distal Polybasic Cleavage Sites". ACS Nano. 14 (8): 10616–10623. doi:10.1021/acsnano.0c04798. ISSN 1936-0851. PMC 7409923. 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. ^ Johnson, B. A; Xie, Xuping; et al. (2021-01-25). "Loss of furin cleavage site attenuates SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis Sites". Nature. 591 (7849): 293–299. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03237-4. PMC 8175039. 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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