Prof. Hanna Rapaport Profile

Prof. Hanna Rapaport

Professor

Department :	Department of Biotechnology Engineering
Room :	134 בניין להנדסת ביוטכנולוגיה, ע"ש משפחת גוזיק - 42
Phone :	972-74-7795328 972-74-7795326 972-74-7795297
Email :	hannarap@bgu.ac.il
Office Hours :

Education

B.Sc. - 1984-1988, with distinction. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Chemical Engineering, subject minor Biotechnology M.Sc. - 1990-1993. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Faculty of Chemical Engineering Name of advisor: Prof. Avraham Marmur Title of thesis: Capillary Phenomena in the Separation of Surfaces Ph.D.- 1994-1998. Weizmann Institute of Science – Department of Materials and Interfaces Name of advisors: Prof. Meir Lahav and Prof. Leslie Leiserowitz Thesis: Structural studies of membrane active compounds in model films at interfaces

Research Interests

We are interested in generating functional biomaterials. We aim at acquiring control over biological molecules, to construct systems with varied biological, chemical and physical functionalities, inspired by natural biomolecules. Most of our research focuses on peptides that are designed to form self-assembled structures, from monomolecular coating films to hydrogels in context of bone tissue regeneration, drug delivery and diagnostics. Our studies are carried at various levels, from fundamental molecular structure characterizations to demonstrating the functional properties, usually following these stages:
a) Peptides are designed to form certain ordered molecular systems
b) Structural characterizations are carried by a variety of analytical techniques
c) Biological tests are performed by in-vitro cell cultures or in-vivo
Currenty studied projects:
- Peptide hydrogels for bone regeneration
- Peptide coatings for bone implants
- Peptide hydrogels for drug delivery to bone tissue
- Peptide monolayers for biosensors
- Ordered monomolecular films, design aspects and structural characterizations
- Heterogeneous mineralization of calcium/phosphate