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). As an undergraduate, she attended the University of Pennsylvania and earned a B.A. in chemistry from the College of Arts and Sciences and a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School. She then completed a Ph.D. in chemistry at Harvard University and served as a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Chemistry at MIT. Zarzar’s research interests include responsive systems and active matter, micro-optics and laser micro-fabrication. Her group at Penn State studies multiphase fluids and emulsions, focusing on understanding how non-equilibrium conditions affect droplet motility and properties of liquid interfaces. Her research team also is investigating microtextured materials that generate optical interference and structural coloration via multi-bounce reflection mechanisms. Additionally, Zarzar’s group has developed solvothermal laser processing methods suitable for rapid micro-patterning and synthesis of inorganic composites with applications in sensing and catalysis. Zarzar and her team have been recognized with awards including a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, Sloan Research Fellowship, Camille-Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Marion Milligan Mason Award for Women in the Chemical Sciences (AAAS), Unilever Award from the American Chemical Society Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry, and a 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award.

Research Blurb

Lauren Zarzar’s current research expertise lies in the areas of colloidal materials chemistry, micro-optics and laser processing; the Simons Foundation Pivot Fellowship will support her 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.