Lara Estroff

Lara Ann Estroff is an American materials scientist who is a professor at Cornell University. Her research considers the study and design of biomaterials.

Lara Ann Estroff
Alma mater	Swarthmore College Yale University
Scientific career
Institutions	Cornell University Harvard University Weizmann Institute of Science
Thesis	Bio-inspired supramolecular control of inorganic crystal growth (2003)
Doctoral advisor	Andrew D. Hamilton

Early life and education

Estroff was an undergraduate student at Swarthmore College, where she majored in chemistry and anthropology.^[1] As a college student, she played soccer.^[2] Estroff then worked at the Weizmann Institute of Science, alongside Lia Addadi,^[3][4] where she started investigating biomineralization and how chemical approaches could be used to solve challenges in archaeology.^{[citation needed]} Estroff returned to the United States for doctoral research, joining the laboratory of Andrew D. Hamilton where she worked on the synthesis of organic superstructures that were inspired by biology.^[5] These molecules can be used to control the growth of inorganic crystals. Estroff moved to Harvard University as an National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow with George M. Whitesides.^[6][7]

Research and career

In 2005, Estroff joined Cornell University, where she was made professor in 2019.^[6] Estroff studies biomaterials and the growth of crystals.^[8] She is particularly interested in the process of biomineralization.^[9] Estroff studies micro-calcification: small, calcium-laced deposits that are associated with the formation of some cancers, including breast tumors.^[10] She creates spatially resolved images of the composition of calcifications using tissue biopsies to better understand the chemistry within the local environment when the biocrystals started to grow.^[10]

Estroff was appointed faculty advisor for the "Women in Materials Science and Engineering" program at Cornell in 2007.^[11] She was elected Chair of the Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell in 2020.^[10]

Awards and honors

• 2006 Empire State Development's Division of Science, Technology and Innovation J.D. Watson Young Investigator Award^{[citation needed]}
• 2009 NSF Early Faculty Career Award^[12][13]

Selected publications

• J Christopher Love; Lara A Estroff; Jennah K Kriebel; Ralph G Nuzzo; George M Whitesides (1 April 2005). "Self-assembled monolayers of thiolates on metals as a form of nanotechnology". Chemical Reviews. 105 (4): 1103–1169. doi:10.1021/CR0300789. ISSN 0009-2665. PMID 15826011. Wikidata Q34410899.
• Lara A Estroff; Andrew D Hamilton (1 March 2004). "Water gelation by small organic molecules". Chemical Reviews. 104 (3): 1201–1218. doi:10.1021/CR0302049. ISSN 0009-2665. PMID 15008620. Wikidata Q34303991.
• Wei Zhang; Michael Saliba; David T Moore; et al. (30 January 2015). "Ultrasmooth organic-inorganic perovskite thin-film formation and crystallization for efficient planar heterojunction solar cells". Nature Communications. 6 (1): 6142. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.6142Z. doi:10.1038/NCOMMS7142. ISSN 2041-1723. PMID 25635571. Wikidata Q57696702.