Lauren Zarzar, Ph.D.

Lauren Zarzar is an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University with appointments in the Department of Chemistry (primary) and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (courtesy). Zarzar’s research interests include responsive systems and active matter, micro-optics and laser microfabrication. Her group at Penn State studies multiphase fluids and emulsions, focusing on understanding how nonequilibrium conditions affect droplet motility and properties of liquid interfaces. Her research team is also investigating microtextured materials that generate optical interference, and structural coloration via multibounce reflection mechanisms. Additionally, Zarzar’s group has developed solvothermal laser processing methods suitable for rapid micropatterning and synthesis of inorganic composites with applications in sensing and catalysis.

The Simons Foundation Pivot Fellowship will support Zarzar’s efforts to transition into the field of bioengineering. Zarzar will pursue research at the University of Pennsylvania under the mentorship of Daniel Hammer, the Alfred G. and Meta A. Ennis Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. The overarching questions to be explored relate to the ways in which synthetic biomaterials can be tailored to interact with biological systems to improve outcomes in human health. Higher complexity biomaterials — such as those composed of sequence programmable peptides, polynucleotides or custom lipids, and which have a hierarchical structure (e.g., particles, multiphase capsules) and sense-response action — are critical for future innovations in disease monitoring and treatment. In particular, the research will focus on understanding how biopolymer “compartments” such as coacervates and polymersomes, which can be customized in both biochemistry and structure, interact with and within cells to influence biochemical pathways and states.