Photo of Angela Marie Belcher

Angela Marie Belcher

  • National Medal of Science
  • Biological Sciences

For her innovations in nanoscience and materials science that are changing the world. Driven by designs found in nature, Angela Belcher has created novel materials to detect early signs of cancer and to store more energy in solar cells. In the fields of energy and medicine, her research has opened up new possibilities for solving the defining challenges of our time.

Angela Belcher is a biological and materials engineer with expertise in the fields of biomolecular materials, organic-inorganic interfaces and solid-state chemistry and devices. Her inspiration is the evolution of ancient organisms to make exquisite nanostructures like shells and glassy diatoms. The Belcher lab seeks to understand and harness nature’s own processes in order to design technologically important materials and devices for energy, the environment, and medicine. Using directed evolution, her lab engineers organisms to grow and assemble novel hybrid organic-inorganic electronic, magnetic, and catalytic materials. In doing so, the group capitalizes on many of the wonderful properties of biology–using only non-toxic materials, employing self-repair mechanisms, self-assembling precisely and over longer ranges, adapting& evolving to become better over time. These materials have been used in applications as varied as solar cells, batteries, medical diagnostics and basic single molecule interactions related to disease.

Dr. Belcher received her B.S. in Creative Studies and a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from UCSB.Her postdoctoral research at UCSB was in electrical engineering. She now holds the James Mason Crafts Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Engineering at MIT. She is faculty in the Department of Biological Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering and the Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research. She teaches undergraduate subjects in material sciences and biological engineering and has a passion for K-12 outreach. She has successfully translated many of the technologies to industry and the government, including Cambrios Technologies and CisionVision. The imager from CisionVision was awarded one of Time Magazine’s Inventions of the Year in 2023.

Dr. Belcher is a MacArthur Fellow, a Packard Fellow,Beckman Young Investigator, a member ofAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, the NationalAcademy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences. In 2004, she received theFourStar General Recognition Award(Army). In 2006, she was named Scientific American’s ResearchLeader of the Year. In 2009 Rolling Stone Magazine listed her as one of the top 100 people changing the country. In 2007, Time Magazine named her a “Hero” for her research related toClimate Change. In 2013, she was awarded the MIT-Lemelson Prize. In 2000, she was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE). Dr. Belcher currently serves on the National Security Commission for Emerging Biotechnologies.

Arati Prabhakar, Ph.D., Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), awards Angela Marie Belcher the National Medal of Science during an awards ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, January 3, 2025. Photo by Ryan K. Morris