Because Joanna’s mother was a solid state physicist and crystallographer with a sense of humor, Joanna was almost named “Crystal”. After being given the name “Joanna”, Joanna studied chemistry and material science at Princeton University from which she graduated magna cum laude. She completed her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania where she was a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. She is currently at Stockholm University where she was a Human Frontier Science Program postdoctoral fellow. She has specialized in geometrically frustrated magnets, superconductors, protein design, and membrane protein topology. Joanna views this limmud session as the fulfillment of her mother’s prenatal wishes.
Session:
Jews on repeat: what does this title have to do with the work of 2 recent Israeli Nobel laureates?
Over the past 3 years, 2 of the Nobel prizes in chemistry have been awarded to Israeli crystallographers. We will discuss the research that lead to these awards; how the Israeli laureates have taught us about the nature of life, how they have changed what scientists perceive of as the limits of crystallography and even how they have changed the very definition of a crystal. And yes, there will be a laser demonstration.