Joanna Aizenberg

Joanna Aizenberg (born 1960) is a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University. She is the Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the co-director of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology and a core faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. She is a prominent figure in the field of biologically inspired materials science, having authored 90 publications and holding 25 patents.
Education.
Aizenberg received her B.S. degree in chemistry and her M.S. degree in physical chemistry from Moscow State University in 1981 and 1984 respectively, and her Ph.D. degree in structural biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1996.
Career.
She did her postdoctoral research with George Whitesides at Harvard University, investigating micro/nanofabrication and near-field optics. In 1998, she joined Bell Labs as a member of the technical staff where she has made a number of pioneering contributions, including developing new biomimetic approaches for the synthesis of ordered mineral films with highly controlled shapes and orientations, and discovering unique biological optical systems that outperform technological analogs, as well as characterizing the associated organic molecules.
In 2007, Aizenberg joined the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
The lab's research investigates a wide range of topics that include biomimetics, self-assembly, adaptive materials, crystal engineering, surface wettability, nanofabrication, biooptics, biomaterials, and biomechanics.
In 2019, Aizenberg was elected into the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to the understanding of biological systems and bioinspired materials design.