Monica Olvera de la Cruz explained

Monica Olvera de la Cruz
Birth Place:Acapulco
Field:Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry
Work Institution:Northwestern University
Website:http://aztec.tech.northwestern.edu
Education:UNAM
Trinity College, Cambridge
Doctoral Advisor:Sir Sam Edwards
Known For:soft matter physics
electrolytes
Prizes:Presidential Young Investigator Award (1990)
National Academy of Sciences Cozzarelli Prize (2007)
American Physical Society Polymer Physics Prize (2017)
Doctoral Students:Anne M. Mayes

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.

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. She is currently the Director of the Center for Computation and Theory of Soft Materials (CCTSM) at Northwestern University.[4]

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,[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) and in fibers.[15] [16]

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,[17] 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.[18]

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",[19] [20] 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.[21] Additionally, when a localization-delocalization transition is accompanied with a crystal phase transition, it strongly resembles a Peierls transition.[22] This transition is also found in oppositely charged colloidal crystals,[23] 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),[24] providing a mechanism to decrease COVID 19 infection, as subsequently demonstrated experimentally.[25] [26]

Awards and honors

Policy and public service

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]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Monica Olvera de la Cruz . Nasonline.org . 2013-10-18.
  2. Web site: APS Member History. 2021-02-03. search.amphilsoc.org.
  3. Web site: NSF MRSEC Directors' Meeting March 2012 . 2022-12-08 . Directors' Meeting March 2012 . Mrsec.northwestern.edu.
  4. Web site: Center for Computation & Theory of Soft Materials Northwestern Engineering . 2022-09-15 . www.mccormick.northwestern.edu.
  5. Olvera de la Cruz . M. . Deutsch . J. M. . Edwards . S. F. . Electrophoresis in strong fields . Physical Review A . 1 March 1986 . 33 . 3 . 2047–2055 . 10.1103/physreva.33.2047 . 9896849 . 1986PhRvA..33.2047O .
  6. Maddox . John . Understanding gel electrophoresis . Nature . May 1990 . 345 . 6274 . 381 . 10.1038/345381a0 . 2342570 . 1990Natur.345..381M . 20374492 . free .
  7. González‐Mozuelos . P. . de la Cruz . M. Olvera . Ion condensation in salt‐free dilute polyelectrolyte solutions . The Journal of Chemical Physics . 22 August 1995 . 103 . 8 . 3145–3157 . 10.1063/1.470248 . 1995JChPh.103.3145G . free .
  8. de la Cruz . M. Olvera . Belloni . L. . Delsanti . M. . Dalbiez . J. P. . Spalla . O. . Drifford . M. . Precipitation of highly charged polyelectrolyte solutions in the presence of multivalent salts . The Journal of Chemical Physics . October 1995 . 103 . 13 . 5781–5791 . 10.1063/1.470459 . 1995JChPh.103.5781D .
  9. Raspaud . E. . Olvera de la Cruz . M. . Sikorav . J.-L. . Livolant . F. . Precipitation of DNA by Polyamines: A Polyelectrolyte Behavior . Biophysical Journal . January 1998 . 74 . 1 . 381–393 . 10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77795-1 . 9449338 . 1299390 . 1998BpJ....74..381R .
  10. Solis . Francisco J. . de la Cruz . Monica Olvera . Collapse of flexible polyelectrolytes in multivalent salt solutions . The Journal of Chemical Physics . 22 January 2000 . 112 . 4 . 2030–2035 . 10.1063/1.480763 . cond-mat/9908084 . 2000JChPh.112.2030S . 94408288 .
  11. Sing . Charles E. . Zwanikken . Jos W. . Olvera de la Cruz . Monica . Electrostatic control of block copolymer morphology . Nature Materials . July 2014 . 13 . 7 . 694–698 . 10.1038/nmat4001 . 24907928 . 2014NatMa..13..694S .
  12. Jadhao . Vikram . Solis . Francisco J. . de la Cruz . Monica Olvera . Simulation of Charged Systems in Heterogeneous Dielectric Media via a True Energy Functional . Physical Review Letters . 27 November 2012 . 109 . 22 . 223905 . 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.223905 . 23368123 . 2012PhRvL.109v3905J . 1208.4113 . 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. 10.1073/pnas.1302406110. 3619344. 23487798. 2013PNAS..110.5301Z. free.
  14. Vernizzi . G. . Olvera de la Cruz . M. . Faceting ionic shells into icosahedra via electrostatics . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 20 November 2007 . 104 . 47 . 18382–18386 . 10.1073/pnas.0703431104 . 18003933 . 2141786 . 2007PNAS..10418382V . free .
  15. Kohlstedt . Kevin L. . Solis . Francisco J. . Vernizzi . Graziano . de la Cruz . Monica Olvera . Spontaneous Chirality via Long-Range Electrostatic Forces . Physical Review Letters . 19 July 2007 . 99 . 3 . 030602 . 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.030602 . 17678276 . 0704.3435 . 2007PhRvL..99c0602K . 37983980 .
  16. Solis . Francisco J. . Vernizzi . Graziano . Olvera de la Cruz . Monica . Electrostatic-driven pattern formation in fibers, nanotubes and pores . Soft Matter . 2011 . 7 . 4 . 1456 . 10.1039/C0SM00706D . 2011SMat....7.1456S .
  17. Vernizzi . G. . Sknepnek . R. . Olvera de la Cruz . M. . Platonic and Archimedean geometries in multicomponent elastic membranes . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 15 March 2011 . 108 . 11 . 4292–4296 . 10.1073/pnas.1012872108 . 21368184 . 3060260 . 2011PNAS..108.4292V . free .
  18. Leung . Cheuk-Yui . Palmer . Liam C. . Qiao . Bao Fu . Kewalramani . Sumit . Sknepnek . Rastko . Newcomb . Christina J. . Greenfield . Megan A. . Vernizzi . Graziano . Stupp . Samuel I. . Michael Bedzyk . Bedzyk . Michael J. . Olvera de la Cruz . Monica . Molecular Crystallization Controlled by pH Regulates Mesoscopic Membrane Morphology . ACS Nano . 21 December 2012 . 6 . 12 . 10901–10909 . 10.1021/nn304321w . 23185994 .
  19. Web site: Martin Girard PhD Thesis.
  20. 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. en. 364. 6446. 1174–1178. 10.1126/science.aaw8237. 0036-8075. 8237478. 31221857. 2019Sci...364.1174G.
  21. Lopez-Rios. Hector. Ehlen. Ali. Olvera de la Cruz. Monica. 2021-01-14. Delocalization Transition in Colloidal Crystals. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. en. 125. 1. 1096–1106. 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c09730. 2011.01347. 226237369. 1932-7447.
  22. Ehlen. Ali. Lopez-Rios. Hector. Olvera de la Cruz. Monica. 2021-11-11. Metalization of Colloidal Crystals. Physical Review Materials. en. 5. 11. 115601. 10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.115601. 2107.03968. 2021PhRvM...5k5601E . 235765822 .
  23. Lin . Yange . Olvera de la Cruz . Monica . 2022-09-08 . Superionic Colloidal Crystals: Ionic to Metallic Bonding Transitions . The Journal of Physical Chemistry B . en . 126 . 35 . 6740–6749 . 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c04041 . 36018248 . 251842303 . 1520-6106.
  24. 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. 10.1021/acsnano.0c04798. 1936-0851. 7409923. 32806067.
  25. Web site: Mexican scientist discovers a way to stop Covid-19 from entering the human body. The Yucatan Times. August 19, 2020. November 24, 2022.
  26. 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. 10.1038/s41586-021-03237-4. 33494095. 8175039.
  27. Web site: Monica Olvera de la Cruz « Packard Foundation . Packard.org . 2013-10-18.
  28. Web site: Fellows Database . Sloan.org . 2022-11-21.
  29. Web site: NSF Award Search: Award#9057764 – Presidential Young Investigator Award . Nsf.gov . 2013-10-18.
  30. Web site: APS Fellow Archive . Aps.org . 2022-11-21.
  31. PNAS Announces 2007 Cozzarelli Prize Recipients . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 13 February 2008 . October 20, 2020 .
  32. Web site: 2010 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows . Defense.gov . 2022-11-21.
  33. Web site: Member Directory American Academy of Arts and Sciences . Amacad.org . 2022-11-21.
  34. Web site: Paradigms for Emergence of Shape and Function in Biomolecular Electrolytes for the Design of Biomimetic Materials . Defense Technical Information Center . December 4, 2015 . September 17, 2023.
  35. Web site: Member Search Results . Nasonline.org . 2022-11-21.
  36. Web site: Prize Recipient . 2023-01-09 . www.aps.org . en.
  37. Web site: The American Philosophical Society Welcomes New Members for 2020.
  38. Web site: 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 . 2023-01-09 . Noticias del Estado de Guerrero Síntesis de Guerrero . es.
  39. Web site: Monica Olvera De La Cruz (Northwestern) - Mulliken Lecture . 2023-10-31 . events.uchicago.edu . en.
  40. Web site: BESAC Membership| U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC). 26 August 2021.
  41. Web site: Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee.
  42. Web site: Former MPS Advisory Committee Members.
  43. Web site: Scientific Advisory Board.
  44. Web site: ESPCI Paris : International Scientific Committee.
  45. Web site: Editorial Board . Pnas.org . 2022-11-21.
  46. Web site: Board of Trustees.
  47. Web site: ACS Central Science.

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