Adapting and unraveling life-inspired materials

Dr. Ulyana Shimanovich of the Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science was named one of nine winners of the FEBS Excellence Award for 2021—a new and highly competitive program that supports research in molecular life sciences. Administered by the Federation of European Biochemical Societies, the FEBS Excellence Awards provides a three years fund to early-career scientists. Dr. Shimanovich and her group investigate how biological materials in living systems—such as the tough, elastic fibrils spun by arthropods and silkworms, or the amyloid protein fibers that accumulate to form plaques in brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease—grow, develop, and adapt. By utilizing natural building blocks in biomaterial synthesis experiments, such as proteins, peptides, and whole complexes, Dr. Shimanovich aims to unravel the fundamental processes leading either to proper function, or to failure and dysfunction. She uses techniques and technologies ranging from protein chemistry and microfluidics, to microscopy and spectroscopy.

Dr. Ulyana Shimanovich is supported by Peter and Patricia Gruber Award, Perlman Family Foundation Founded by Anita and Louis Perlman C-AIM Young Scientist Fund and Schwartz/Reisman Collaborative Science Program