Monica Olvera de la Cruz Biography
Monica de la Cruz is an American soft-matter theorist, the Lawyer Taylor Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Chemistry, and by courtesy Professor of Physics and Astronomy and of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Age
Monica has not disclosed her age.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Height
Monica stand at a height of 5 feet and 10 inches tall.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Education
Olvera de la Cruz attained her B.A. in Physics from the UNAM, Mexico, in 1981, and her Ph.D. in Physics from Cambridge University, UK, in 1985.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Nationality
She is an American Mexican.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Parents
Olvera de la Cruz seems to keep her personal and professional life apart, because of that, she has not disclosed the parents’ names.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Siblings
Olvera de la Cruz lives a low profile life, due to that, she has not revealed the siblings’ details.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Husband
Olvera de la Cruz is married to her husband Michael J. Bedzyk.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Children
Olvera de la Cruz and her husband Michael J. Bedzyk have a daughter, Ana Jimena Pavlovitch-Bedzyk.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Soft Matter Theorist
Monica directed the Northwestern Materials Research Center from 2006–2013, which grew in research, funding level, and education and outreach efforts during her tenure. She is currently the Director of the Center for Computation and Theory of Soft Materials (CCTSM) at Northwestern University.
Olvera de la Cruz has developed novel methods to analyze complex systems, and in particular molecular electrolytes. She explained the limitations associated with separating long DNA chains via gel electrophoresis dynamics, which was of great importance to the Human Genome Project.
Monica discovered that counterions induce the precipitation of strongly charged polyelectrolytes by including electrostatic correlations in the analysis. Her work provided a completely revised model of electrostatic effects in complex electrolytes and in dielectrically heterogeneous media.
Olvera de la Cruz and Qiao found that the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) to the human cell receptor hACE2 can be strongly decreased by mutating or blocking the polybasic cleavage site (known as the furin cleavage site), providing a mechanism to decrease COVID 19 infection.
Monica has served on the US Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (2012-2021), and the United States National Research Council (2005-2022). She serves on the advisory boards of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz and the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielle de la ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris). She is a Senior Editor for the journal ACS Central Science, and a member of the Gordon Research Conferences’ Board of Trustees.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Salary
Monica earns an estimated annual salary of USD 300,000.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Net Worth
Monica’s net worth is estimated to be USD 5 million.
Monica Olvera de la Cruz Instagram
Monica De La Cruz(@monicaa_delacruzz)
