# Joanna Aizenberg Group Leader ![Joanna Aizenberg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6296/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/aizenberg/files/joanna_aizenberg_0.jpg?itok=NalQIrcE) smartphone [(617) 495-3558]() email **Affiliations** - - Director of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology - - Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science in the [School of Engineering and Applied Science](http://www.seas.harvard.edu/directory/jaiz) - - Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology](http://www.chem.harvard.edu/) - - Founding Core Faculty and Platform Leader of the [Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering](http://wyss.harvard.edu/) - - Faculty Associate, Harvard University Center for the Environment - - Participant, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center - - Participant, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center - - Faculty Affiliate, BASF Advanced Research Initiative at Harvard Joanna Aizenberg pursues a broad range of research interests that include biomineralization, biomimetics, self-assembly, crystal engineering, surface chemistry, nanofabrication, biomaterials, biomechanics and biooptics. She received the B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1981, the M.S. degree in Physical Chemistry in 1984 from Moscow State University, and the Ph.D. degree in Structural Biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1996. She then went to Harvard University where she did postdoctoral research with George Whitesides on micro/nanofabrication and near-field optics. In 1998 Aizenberg joined Bell Labs as a member of the Technical Staff where she has 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, and characterized the associated organic molecules. In 2007 Aizenberg joined the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Professor Aizenberg's research is aimed at understanding some of the basic principles of biomineralization and the economy with which biology solves complex problems in the design of functional inorganic materials. She then uses biological principles as guidance in developing new, bio-inspired synthetic routes and nanofabrication strategies that would lead to advanced materials and devices. Aizenberg is one of the pioneers of this rapidly developing field of biomimetic inorganic materials synthesis. "In the course of evolution, Nature has developed strategies that endow biological processes with exquisite selectivity and specificity, and produce superior materials and structures," says Aizenberg. "This is wonderfully exemplified in the realm of inorganic materials formation by organisms, so-called 'biomineralization'. Learning from and mastering Nature's concepts not only satisfies humankind's insatiable curiosity for understanding the world around us, but also promises to drive a paradigm shift in modern materials science and technology." **Positions & Employment** **Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences** - 2007-Present: Faculty Member **Bell Laboratories, Lucent Techologies** - 1998-2007: Researcher, Nanotechnology Research Department **Harvard University, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology** - 1996-1998: Postdoctoral Associate with Professor George M. Whitesides **Brookhaven National Laboratory, National Synchrotron Light Source** - 1993-1995: Visiting Scientist **Moscow Institute of Geology, Moscow, USSR** - 1986-1991: Researcher **Institute of Mining and Raw Materials, Moscow, USSR** - 1984-1985: Chemist **Education** - - B.S., 1981, Chemistry, Moscow State University - - M.S., 1984, Physical Chemistry, Moscow State University - - Ph.D., 1996, Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science **Other Experience** - - Director of Science Programs, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, 2010-2013 - - Member of the Board of Directors of the Materials Research Society (MRS) - - Member of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies - - Member of the Advisory Board of Langmuir and Chemistry of Materials **Awards and Honors** Sort 2017 Elected External Member of the Max Planck Society 2017 Fred Kavli Innovations in Chemistry Award from American Chemical Society 2017 Hinshelwood Lecturer 2017, University of Oxford, UK 2017 Havinga Medal, Leiden University, The Netherlands 2017 2017 MRS Medal for outstanding recent discovery or advancement of a materials-related field 2016 Elected into the American Philosophical Society 2016 Honorary Doctorate and Professorship, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands 2016 Tech-Connect National Innovation Award for Liquid-Gated Membranes Technology 2016 IChemE Global Award finalist 2016 Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lectureship, UIUC 2016 Marple Schweitzer Lectureship, Northwestern University 2016 Closs Lectureship, University of Chicago 2016 Kreidl Memorial Lectureship, Albuquerque, NM 2016 Dow Lectureship in Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley 2015 George Ledlie Prize for the most valuable contribution to science, Harvard University 2015 SLIPS Technology is one of the 5 Best Technologies showcased by ARPA-E at Capitol Hill 2015 Nippon Sheet Glass Lectureship in Materials Science and Engineering, UCLA 2015 Lord Lewis Lectureship 2015, University of Cambridge, UK 2014 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, April 2014 2014 Materials Research Society Fellow, February 2014 2014 Alexander M. Cruickshank Award Lectureship, Biointerface Science Gordon Research Conference, June 2014 2013 R&D 100 Award for Top Technology and Innovation in 2013 2013 Fellow of the American Physical Society, March 2013 2013 Hood Fellowship, University of Auckland, NZ, February 2013 2012 R&D 100 Award for Top Technology and Innovation in 2012 2012 Karcher & Barton distinguished lectureship, U Oklahoma, November 2012 2012 Franklin Award Lectureship, RiceUniversity, January 2012 2011 Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award Lectureship, University of Zurich, October 2011 2011 The 2011 Sproull Lecturer, Cornell University 2011 Dow Foundation Distinguished Lecturer, University of California, Santa Barbara 2011 WISEST Visiting Scholar, University of Illinois - Chicago 2011 Etter Memorial Lectureship in Chemistry, University of Minnesota, 2011 The Woodward Lecturer in the Chemical Sciences, Harvard University 2011 Distinguished Herbert Morawetz Lectureship, NYU-Poly 2010 W. J. Chute Distinguished Lectureship in Chemistry, Dalhousie University 2010 Molecular Foundry Distinguished Lectureship, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, Berkeley 2010 The Eastman Chemical Company Award Lectureship, Goodyear Polymer Center, University of Akron 2010 Distinguished Lectureship at the Bio-X "Frontiers in Interdisciplinary Biosciences" series at Stanford University 2010 Jerome B. Cohen Distinguished Lectureship, Northwestern University 2010 Distinguished Naff Lectureship, University of Kentucky 2008 Ronald Breslow Award for the Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry, ACS 2007 Industrial Innovation Award, American Chemical Society 2006 Outstanding Women Scientists Award, Indiana University 2005 Lucent Chairman’s Award 2005 Pedersen Award Lecture, DuPont 2004 ACS PROGRESS Lectureship Award, University of Wisconsin at Madison 2003 Distinguished Women Scientists Lectureship, University of Texas at Austin 2001 New Investigator Award in Chemistry and Biology of Mineralized Tissues 1999 Arthur K. Doolittle Award of the American Chemical Society (ACS) 1995 Award of the Max-Planck Society in Biology and Materials Science, Germany [View publications in the Aizenberg group](/publications/affiliated-authors/joanna-aizenberg) - ## Member Role [Group Leader](/member-role/group-leader) - ## Member Status [Current Member](/member-status/current-member)