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| Name |
Addadi, Lia |
| Location
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Weizmann Institute of Science |
| Primary Field
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Chemistry |
 Election Citation
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Through ingenious experiments, Addadi has revealed in exquisite stereochemical detail the molecular workings of biomineralization, and, more generally, shown how molecules, including antibodies, recognize surfaces, creating function on them.
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Research Interests
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Lia Addadi's laboratory is interested in a wide range of questions related to the formation of crystals and other aggregated phases deposited in organisms, either fulfilling a physiological function, or pathologically induced. We study the interactions and cross talk between the crystals and the biological environment, spanning several orders of magnitude from the molecular level to the cell and tissue level. We aim at unraveling the strategies and design principles of the mineralized tissues, investigating them from their formation pathways (in foraminifera, sea urchin spicules and zebrafish bone) to the architecture (in dinoflagellates and mollusk shells) and finally to structure-function relations. We are currently particularly interested in how organisms manipulate light through complex crystalline architectures in plant leaves, in fish scales, crustacean cuticles and invertebrate eyes. Discovering similar pathways in widely different organisms raises fascinating questions about how common solutions have evolved. Relevant to atherosclerosis, we study how cholesterol crystals nucleate and grow from lipid bilayers and cell membranes, developing into atherosclerotic plaques. Relevant to osteoporosis, we investigate how osteoclasts recognize, adhere to and resorb bone.
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