Biography:Monica Olvera de la Cruz

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Short description: Soft-matter theorist
Monica Olvera de la Cruz
Monica Olvera de la Cruz.jpg
Olvera de la Cruz in 2010
Born
Acapulco
Alma materUNAM
Trinity College, Cambridge
Known forsoft matter physics
electrolytes
AwardsDavid and Lucile Packard Foundation fellowship (1989)
Alfred P. Sloan fellowship (1990)
Presidential Young Investigator Award (1990)
National Academy of Sciences Cozzarelli Prize (2007)
National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship (2010)
Miller Institute Visiting Professor (2015-16)
American Physical Society Polymer Physics Prize (2017)
Scientific career
Fieldsphysics
InstitutionsNorthwestern University
Doctoral advisorSir Sam Edwards
Doctoral studentsAnne M. Mayes
Websitehttp://aztec.tech.northwestern.edu

Monica Olvera de la Cruz is a soft-matter theorist, 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, which grew in research, funding level,[4][5] and education and outreach efforts during her tenure.[6] She is currently the Director of the Center for Computation and Theory of Soft Materials (CCTSM) at Northwestern University.[7]


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,[8][9] 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.[10][11][12][13] Her work provided a completely revised model of electrostatic effects in complex electrolytes[14] and in dielectrically heterogeneous media.[15][16]

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[17] (for which they were awarded the 2007 Cozzarelli Prize[18]) and in fibers.[19][20]

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,[21] 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.[22]

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",[23][24] 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.[25] Additionally, when a localization-delocalization transition is accompanied with a crystal phase transition, it strongly resembles a Peierls transition.[26] This transition is also found in oppositely charged colloidal crystals,[27] 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),[28] providing a mechanism to decrease COVID 19 infection, as subsequently demonstrated experimentally.[29] This work[28] has been highlighted in numerous news media around the world and listed as one of the significant scientific events in 2020 in Wikipedia.[30][circular reference]

Awards and significant honors

  • 2020 Member of the American Philosophical Society[31]
  • 2010 National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow.[32]
  • 2007 Cozzarelli Prize, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).[18]
  • 1990 National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award.[33]
  • 1989 David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship in Science and Engineering.[34]

Policy and public service

Olvera de la Cruz has served on the US Department of Energy's Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (2012-2021),[35] and the United States National Research Council (2005-2022). She serves on the advisory boards of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz[36] and the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielle de la ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris).[37] She is a Senior Editor for the journal ACS Central Science,[38] and a member of the Gordon Research Conferences' Board of Trustees.[39] She has participated in many other committees including the National Research Council Board of Physics and Astronomy (2010-2015), Committee on Societal Benefits from Condensed Matter and Materials Research, Research at the Intersection of Physical and Life Sciences (RIPLS), the Solid State Science Committee and the Committee on Key Challenge Areas for Convergence and Health; from 2010-12 she chaired the Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee. From 2005 to 2009 she was in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation, and chaired the Division of Materials Research Advisory Committee.

References

  1. "Monica Olvera de la Cruz". Nasonline.org. http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/2538284.html. Retrieved 2013-10-18. 
  2. "APS Member History". https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Monica+Olvera+de+la+Cruz&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced. 
  3. "Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)". Mrsec.northwestern.edu. http://mrsec.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-18. 
  4. "NSF Award Search: Award#0520513 - MRSEC: Multifunctional Nanoscale Material Structures". Nsf.gov. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0520513&HistoricalAwards=false. Retrieved 2013-10-18. 
  5. "NSF Award Search: Award#1121262 - CEMRI: Multifunctional Nanoscale Material Structures". Nsf.gov. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1121262&HistoricalAwards=false. Retrieved 2013-10-18. 
  6. "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". https://scienceforart.northwestern.edu/. 
  7. "Center for Computation & Theory of Soft Materials | Northwestern Engineering". https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/research/computation-theory-soft-materials-center/. 
  8. 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. doi:10.1103/physreva.33.2047. PMID 9896849. Bibcode1986PhRvA..33.2047O. 
  9. Maddox, John (May 1990). "Understanding gel electrophoresis". Nature 345 (6274): 381. doi:10.1038/345381a0. PMID 2342570. Bibcode1990Natur.345..381M. 
  10. 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. doi:10.1063/1.470248. Bibcode1995JChPh.103.3145G. 
  11. 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. doi:10.1063/1.470459. Bibcode1995JChPh.103.5781D. 
  12. 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. doi:10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77795-1. PMID 9449338. Bibcode1998BpJ....74..381R. 
  13. 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. doi:10.1063/1.480763. Bibcode2000JChPh.112.2030S. 
  14. 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. doi:10.1038/nmat4001. PMID 24907928. Bibcode2014NatMa..13..694S. 
  15. 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. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.223905. PMID 23368123. Bibcode2012PhRvL.109v3905J. 
  16. 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. doi:10.1073/pnas.1302406110. PMID 23487798. Bibcode2013PNAS..110.5301Z. 
  17. 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. doi:10.1073/pnas.0703431104. PMID 18003933. Bibcode2007PNAS..10418382V. 
  18. 18.0 18.1 "PNAS Announces 2007 Cozzarelli Prize Recipients" (Press release). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 13 February 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  19. 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. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.030602. PMID 17678276. Bibcode2007PhRvL..99c0602K. 
  20. 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. doi:10.1039/C0SM00706D. Bibcode2011SMat....7.1456S. 
  21. 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. doi:10.1073/pnas.1012872108. PMID 21368184. Bibcode2011PNAS..108.4292V. 
  22. Leung, Cheuk-Yui; Palmer, Liam C.; Qiao, Bao Fu; Kewalramani, Sumit; Sknepnek, Rastko; Newcomb, Christina J.; Greenfield, Megan A.; Vernizzi, Graziano et al. (21 December 2012). "Molecular Crystallization Controlled by pH Regulates Mesoscopic Membrane Morphology". ACS Nano 6 (12): 10901–10909. doi:10.1021/nn304321w. PMID 23185994. 
  23. "Martin Girard PhD Thesis". http://aztec.tech.northwestern.edu/Images/People%20slides/MartinPhDthesis.pdf. 
  24. Girard, Martin; Wang, Shunzhi; Du, Jingshan S.; Das, Anindita; Huang, Ziyin; Dravid, Vinayak P.; Lee, Byeongdu; Mirkin, Chad A. et al. (2019-06-21). "Particle analogs of electrons in colloidal crystals" (in en). Science 364 (6446): 1174–1178. doi:10.1126/science.aaw8237. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 31221857. Bibcode2019Sci...364.1174G. 
  25. Lopez-Rios, Hector; Ehlen, Ali; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2021-01-14). "Delocalization Transition in Colloidal Crystals" (in en). The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 125 (1): 1096–1106. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c09730. ISSN 1932-7447. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c09730. 
  26. Ehlen, Ali; Lopez-Rios, Hector; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2021-11-11). "Metalization of Colloidal Crystals" (in en). Physical Review Materials 5 (11): 115601. doi:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.115601. Bibcode2021PhRvM...5k5601E. https://journals.aps.org/prmaterials/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.115601. 
  27. Lin, Yange; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica (2022-09-08). "Superionic Colloidal Crystals: Ionic to Metallic Bonding Transitions" (in en). The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 126 (35): 6740–6749. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c04041. ISSN 1520-6106. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c04041. 
  28. 28.0 28.1 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. PMID 32806067. PMC 7409923. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.0c04798. 
  29. Johnson, Bryan A.; Xie, Xuping; Bailey, Adam L.; Kalveram, Birte; Lokugamage, Kumari G.; Muruato, Antonio; Zou, Jing; Zhang, Xianwen et al. (March 2021). "Loss of furin cleavage site attenuates SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis" (in en). Nature 591 (7849): 293–299. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03237-4. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 33494095. Bibcode2021Natur.591..293J. 
  30. "2020 in science". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_in_science#August. 
  31. "The American Philosophical Society Welcomes New Members for 2020". https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/american-philosophical-society-welcomes-new-members-2020. 
  32. "News Release: DOD Names 2010 National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellows". Defense.gov. 2009-03-12. http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13267. Retrieved 2013-10-18. 
  33. "NSF Award Search: Award#9057764 - Presidential Young Investigator Award". Nsf.gov. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9057764&HistoricalAwards=false. Retrieved 2013-10-18. 
  34. "Monica Olvera de la Cruz « Packard Foundation". Packard.org. http://www.packard.org/what-we-fund/conservation-and-science/packard-fellowships-for-science-and-engineering/fellowship-directory/olvera-de-la-cruz-monica/. Retrieved 2013-10-18. 
  35. "BESAC Membership| U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)". 26 August 2021. https://science.osti.gov/bes/besac/Members. 
  36. "Scientific Advisory Board". https://www.mpip-mainz.mpg.de/en/committees/sab. 
  37. "ESPCI Paris : International Scientific Committee". https://www.espci.psl.eu/en/espci-paris-psl/organization/international-scientific-committee. 
  38. "ACS Central Science". https://pubs.acs.org/page/acscii/editors.html. 
  39. "Board of Trustees". https://www.grc.org/about/grc-board-of-trustees/.