Mariia Rodionova is a PhD student in the Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science at the Weizmann Institute, researching the self-assembly of silk protein under the guidance of Dr. Ulyana Shimanovich. She has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Southwestern State University of Kursk, Russia and MSc in Applied Math and Physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
Her research focuses on understanding the evolutionary aspects of protein silk fiber’s structure, comparison of self-assembling behavior of natural and artificial silks, natural silk-spinning mechanisms, and developing sustainable methods to take advantage of these characteristics to fabricate new and improved materials. Specifically, her work involves producing artificial fibers from aqueous silk protein reconstituted from industrial waste, such as damaged silkworm cocoons, while mimicking the mechanical properties of natural silk fibers.