Angela Belcher

Germehausen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering

BA, Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1991
PhD, Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1997

Room 16-244A, 77 Mass. Ave.,Cambridge, MA 02139
belcher@mit.edu
Biomolecular Materials Group

Dr. Angela Belcher is a materials chemist with expertise in the fields of biomaterials, biomolecular materials, organic-inorganic interfaces and solid state chemistry. The focus of Dr. Belcher’s research is understanding and using the process by which Nature makes materials in order to design novel hybrid organic-inorganic electronic and magnetic materials on new length scales. Her research is very interdisciplinary in nature and brings together the fields of inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology and electrical engineering. Among her awards are the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (2000), and the Du Pont Young Investigators Award (1999). Her research was mentioned in a July 2001 Forbes magazine cover story on nanotechnology.

Selected Publications

“Ordering of Quantum Dots Using Genetically Engineered Viruses,” Science 296 (5569) 892–895 2002 (with others).

“Selection of Peptides with Semiconductor Binding Specificity for Directed Nanocrystal Assembly,” Nature 405 (6787) 665–668, 2000 (with others).

“Molecular Mechanistic Origin of the Toughness of Natural Adhesives, Fibres and Composites,” Nature 399 (6738) 761–763, 1999 (with others).

“First Steps in Harnessing the Potential of Biomineralization as a Route to High-Performance Composite Materials,” Acta Metal. Mater., 23 46 (3) 733-736, 1998 (with others).

2005–2006 Teaching Involvements

Fall 2005 3.901-3.902 Special Problems in Bio- and Polymeric Materials
Fall 2005 3.034 Organic and Biomaterials Chemistry
Spring 2006 BE.109 Lab. Fundamentals in Biological Engineering

In March 2008, MIT's News Office wrote about Prof. Belcher's "Eureka moment." In Nov. 2006, Prof. Belcher discussed her work with Scientific American.

Listen to Prof. Belcher's podcast on Green Nanotechnology. Professor Belcher was one of the speakers for Technology Day 2005: Bioengineering at MIT: Building Bridges Between the Sciences, Engineering and Health Care (Part One). See MIT World for her talk and more about the day's events. The Fall 2005 Spectrum reported her use of viruses to assist in fabricating nanostructures.

Her work with Cambrios Technologies has been reported by Technology Review and in the Feb. 2005 issue of Technology Insider.

Professor Belcher's MacArthur Fellowship, known as the "Genius Grant," was reported in Tech Talk and the Boston Globe.

Professor Belcher will lead the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies; the MIT News Office, the November 2003 issue of Materials Today, and the February 2004 Technology Review have further details. Tech Talk reported on seven MIT women who have been named "Top Scientists" in 2002; Professor Belcher has been named one of Popular Science magazine's "PopSci Brilliant 10." Her research was recently mentioned in Technology Insider, The MIT Report, Technology Review, and the February 12, 2004 issue of The New York Times.