CURRICULUM VITAE AND LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
•
Personal Details
Name: Hanna Rapaport
Date and place of birth: 15 Aug. 1966, Israel
Regular military service: 1988-1990
Address at work: Department of Biotechnology Engineering and the
Institute for Applied Biosciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,
Beer-Sheva, Israel
Tel:972-8-6479043, Fax: 972-8-6472983
Email: hannarap@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
• Education
B.Sc. -
M.Sc. -
Ph.D.-
1984-1988, with distinction. Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev, Department of Chemical Engineering, subject minor
Biotechnology
1990-1993. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology,
Chemical Engineering.
Name of advisor: Prof. Avraham Marmur
Title of thesis: Capillary Phenomena in the Separation of
Surfaces
1994-1998. Weizmann Institute of Science – Department of
Materials and Interfaces
Name of advisors: Prof. Meir Lahav and Prof. Leslie
Leiserowitz
Title of thesis: Structural studies of membrane active compounds in model films at Interfaces
• Employment History
Years: 1998-2001
Postdoctoral fellowship
California Institute of Technology
With Prof. David A. Tirrell

Hanna Rapaport

Awards page 2
1989- Ben-Gurion University, Department of Chemical Engineering
- Departamental award for excellence
1992- Technion Institute of Technology, Gutwiert award for excellence
1993- Technion Institute of Technology Gutwiert special award for excellence

Educational activities
(a) Research students
2002-4 – Isabel Goldberg- M.Sc. (jointly supervised with Dr. Alex Sivan)
2002-4 – Ronit Sneer – M.Sc.
(b) Bioreactors, Ben-Gurion University – 3ed year undergraduate course in
Biotechnology Engineering, starting spring semester 2003

Scientific Publications
1) Assembly of triple-stranded

-sheet peptides at interfaces
Rapaport, H., Möller, G., Knobler, C. M., Jensen, T. R., Kjaer, K., Leiserowitz, L. and Tirrell, D. A., J. Am. Chem. Soc.
124 , 9342-9343 (2002)
2) Cholesterol Monohydrate Nucleation in Ultrathin Films on Water
Rapaport, H., Kuzmenko, I., Lafont, S., Kjaer, K., Howes, P. B., Als-Nielsen, J.,
Lahav, M. and Leiserowitz, L., Biophys. J.
81 , 2729-2736 (2001)
3) Design and Characterization of Crystalline Thin Film Architectures at the Air-Liquid Intreface: Simplicity to Complexity
Kuzmenko, I., Rapaport, H., Kjaer, K., Als-Nielsen, J., Weissbuch, I., Lahav, M. and Leiserowitz L. Chem. Rev.
101 , 1659-1696 (2001)
4) Two-Dimensional Order in

-sheet Peptide Monolayers
Rapaport, H., Kjaer, K., Jensen, T. R., Leiserowitz, L. and Tirrell D. A., J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 122 , 12523-12529 (2000).
5) Crystalline Architectures at the Air-Liquid Interfaces: From Nucleation to
Engineering
Kuzmenko, I., Rapaport, H., Kjaer, K., Als-Nielsen, J., Weissbuch, I., Lahav, M. and Leiserowitz L. Soft Condensed matter: Configurations, Dynamics and
Functionality . Ed A.T. Skjeltorp and S.F. Edwards, Nato Science Series C , 552 ,
185-217 (2000) Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Hanna Rapaport page 3
6) From Nucleation to Engineering of Crystalline Architectures at Air-Liquid interfaces
Rapaport, H., Kuzmenko, I., Berfeld, M., Edgar, R., Popovits-Biro, R., Kjaer, K.,
Als-Nielsen, J., Weissbuch, I., Leiserowitz L. and Lahav M., J. Phys. Chem.
B 104 ,
1399-1428 (2000)
7) Crystalline Cyclic Peptide Nanotubes at Interfaces
Rapaport, H., Kim, H. S., Kjaer, K., Howes, P. B., Cohen, S., Als-Nielsen, J.,
Ghadiri, M. R., Leiserowitz, L. and Lahav, M., J. Am. Chem. Soc 121 , 1186-1191
(1999).
8) Crystalline Architectures at the Air-Liquid Interface: From Nucleation to
Engineering
Rapaport, H., Kuzmenko, I., Kjaer, K., Als-Nielsen, J., Weissbuch, I., Lahav, M. and Leiserowitz, L., Synchrotron Radiation News 12 , 25-33 (1999).
9) Monitoring the Nucleation of Crystalline Films of Cholesterol on Water and in the Presence of Phospholipid
Lafont, S., Rapaport, H., Somjen, G. J., Renault, A., Kjaer, K., Als-Nielsen, J.,
Leiserowitz, L. and Lahav, M., J. Phys. Chem. B.
, 102 , 761-765 (1998).
10) Structural Characterization of Valinomycin and Nonactin at the Air-Solution
Interface by Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction
Rapaport, H., Kuzmenko, I., Howes, P. B., Kjaer, K., Als-Nielsen, J., Leiserowitz,
L. and Lahav, M., J. Am. Chem. Soc ., 119 ,11211-11216 (1997).
11) Supramolecular Architectures on Liquid Surfaces. From 2-D Assemblies to 3-D
Crystals
Weissbuch, I., Popovitz-Biro, R., Kuzmenko, I., Rapaport, H., Berfeld, M., Guo, S.,
Leiserowitz, L. and Lahav M., Proceedings of Nato ARW "Current Challenges on
Large Supramolecular Assemblies" Athens, Nov. 1997.

Published scientific reports:
1. Two-Dimensional Crystalline Order of Ionophores at the Surface of Aqueous
Solutions.
Rapaport, H., Lahav, M., Leiserowitz, L., Als-Nielsen, J., Bouwman, W.G. and
Kjaer, K.,
Hamburg Synchrotron, HASYLAB-Annual Report Part II (1995).
2. Cyclic Peptides Forming Nanotubes at the Air-Water Interface.
Rapaport, H., Als-Nielsen, J., Howes, P., Kjaer, K., Kim, H. S., Ghadiri, M. R.,
Leiserowitz, L. and Lahav, M.,
Hamburg Synchrotron, HASYLAB-Annual Report Part II (1996).
3. I. Cholesterol Crystallization at the Air-Water Interface.
Rapaport, H., Lafont, S., Howes, P., Kjaer, K., Als-Nielsen, J., Lahav, M. and
Leiserowitz, L.,
Hamburg Synchrotron, HASYLAB-Annual Report Part II (1997).

Hanna Rapaport page 4
4. II. The Phospholipid DPPC as an Inhibitor of Cholesterol Crystallization at the
Air Water Interface.
Rapaport, H., Lafont, S., Howes, P., Kjaer, K., Als-Nielsen, J., Lahav, M. and
Leiserowitz, L.
Hamburg Synchrotron, HASYLAB-Annual Report Part II (1997).
5. The Effect of the Phospholipid DPPA on the Orientation of Peptidic Nanotubes at the Air Water Interface.
Rapaport, H., Howes, P., Kjaer, K., Als-Nielsen, J., Leiserowitz, L., Lahav, M.,
Kim, H. S., and Ghadiri, R.
Hamburg Synchrotron, HASYLAB-Annual Report Part II (1997).
6. Crystalline

-sheet Monolayers - A New Class of Ordered Molecular Templates
Rapaport, H., Kjaer, K., Jensen, T. R., Leiserowitz, L. and Tirrell, D. A.
Hamburg Synchrotron, HASYLAB-Annual Report Part II (2000).
7. Assembly of triple-stranded

-sheet peptides at interfaces
Rapaport, H., Jensen, T. R., Kjaer, K., Leiserowitz, L. and Tirrell, D. A.
To be published in Hamburg Synchrotron, HASYLAB-Annual Report Part II
(2002).
•
Lectures and Presentations at Meetings and Invited Seminars not
Followed by Published Proceedings
(a) Presentation of papers at conferences/meetings

Year: 2002
Title of paper/lecture: Design and characterization of peptide assemblies at interfaces: Towards tailoring functionalities at nanometer precision.
Name of meeting – Place: Bi-National France –Israeli Symposium on Enabling Nano- and Micro- Technologies in Biotechnology,
Institute for Apllied biosciences, Ben-Gurion University
(Oral)

Year: 2001
Title of paper/lecture: Tuning order in

-sheet self assembly ultrathin films.
Name of meeting – Place: American Peptide Society Conference in
San Diego
(Oral)

Hanna Rapaport page 5

Year: 2001
Title of paper/lecture: Crystalline

-sheet monolayers: A new class of ordered molecular templates.
Name of meeting – Place: American Chemical Society Conference in San Diego
(Oral)

Year: 2000
Title of paper/lecture: Crystalline

-sheet monolayers
Name of meeting – Place: Material Science Center 2000 Research
Conference, California Institute of Technology, CA
(Poster)

Year: 1999
Title of paper/lecture: Crystalline

-sheet peptide monolayers at interfaces.
Name of meeting – Place: the Multidisciplinary Workshop on Self-
Assembling Peptide Systems in Biology, Medicine and Engineering,
Crete, Greece
(Oral)

Year: 1996
Title of paper/lecture: Structural characterization of the ionophores valinomycin and nonactin at interfaces
Name of meeting – Place: the 11th International Symposium on
Surfactants In Solution, Jerusalem
(Oral)

Year: 1996
Title of paper/lecture: Structural characterization of the ionophores valinomycin and nonactin at interfaces
Name of meeting – Place: the Student Session of the 8th Gentner
Symposium on Chemistry of the Minerva Foundation, Mainz,
Germany
(Oral)

Hanna Rapaport page 6
(b) Seminar presentations at universities and institutions

Nov. 2002, The Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz,
Germany

May 2002, KAMAG, Israel

Apr. 2002, the lic colloquia seminar of the Leiden Institute of
Chemistry, University of Leiden, The Netherlands

Jan. 2001, Faculty of Materials Engineering, Technion -Israel
Institute of Technology, Israel.

Jan. 2001, Applied Chemistry Division, Casali Institute, Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Dec. 2000, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Technion -Israel
Institute of Technology, Israel.

Dec. 2000, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev, Israel.

Aug. 1998, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev, Israel.
• Research Grants

2002-2005, Israel Science Foundation (Bikura)
Subject: Heterogenenous nucleation and metal recognition by artificial peptides at interfaces.
3 years – $41,000/year-123,000$ total

2002 – Israel Science Foundation, Large Equipment for young faculty. For the purchase of Thin Film X-ray Diffractometer.
$100,000 (ISF) matched by $100,000 by the Ben-Gurion University.

2002-2006, United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation
(with Prof. David A. Tirrell)
Subject: Structural insights on polypeptide assemblies at interfaces towards engineering of biological activity
4 years – $30,000/year – ~$120,000 total

Hanna Rapaport page 7
•
Synopsis of research, including reference to publications and grants in above publication lists
The primary goal of my Ph.D. project was the study membrane active compounds’ crystallization in phospholipid films. For the first time, GIXD characterizations have been applied on compounds appreciably more complex in structure, than linear amphiphilic molecules, previously studied by this method.
Among the studied systems were natural ionophores (10), artificial ion channels (7) and cholesterol (9).
•
Present research activities
General interest: Design and characterization of biomaterials at interfaces.
Artificial proteins and peptides are designed to assume certain conformations and assemble into ordered structures, at interfaces. Recently it was shown (1) that, two-dimensional crystalline lattice is formed by a specific family of peptides composed of alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic amino acids (1,4).
A central goal of our studies at present is to acquire more knowledge on how specific amino acid sequences affect the formation of secondary structure motifs such as helices, strands and loops, at different interfaces and environments. These systems are also utilized as molecular templates onto which functional groups ( i.e
. metal binding groups, nucleating sites) may be situated at sub nanometer spatial precision.
The studies are supported by comprehensive thin film structural characterization.

Short description of a few currently studied subjects:
1. Design and characterization of parallel

-sheet assemblies at interfaces.
The assembly of

-strand peptides in a parallel fashion occurs frequently in nature; the antiparallel

-sheet form is however, energetically more favorable. Here, we exploit various structural motifs that may induce the formation of parallel

-sheet assemblies at interfaces.

Hanna Rapaport page 8
2. Design and characterization of ordered peptide assemblies on metal surfaces

-sheet amphiphilic peptides provide molecular scaffold that may be decorated by various amino acid side chains. Here, peptides are designed to adsorb onto metal and metal oxide materials in a specific manner. These systems are developed towards improved integration and biocompatibility of materials, mostly metals, used in implant devices and for possible applications in biosensors and nanotechnology.
3. Induced nucleation of minerals, mainly hydroxyapatite, through designed peptide assemblies.
Ordered

-sheet assemblies, forming monolayers at interfaces, have the potential to induce heterogeneous nucleation at either the hydrophilic or ydrophobic face of the sheet that is contact with a solution containing a crystallizing material. Sets of artificial peptides are designed with various functional groups (hydrophilic, anionic or cationic amino acid side chains), at different spatial distributions numbers and sizes in order to get structural insight onto early stages of bone forming mineral crystallization.
4. Design of helix forming and membrane active peptides.
(In collaboration with Prof. D. A. Tirrell, California Institute of Technology, CA)
The structural principles for obtaining ordered helical structures at interfaces are being explored. Helical peptides that have also membrane adsorption, lyses and antibacterial activities are designed. Recombinant DNA methods will be used to obtain large artificial proteins incorporating the structural design elements.
5. Structural characterization of cholesterol nucleation at interfaces.
(In collaboration with Prof. Leslie Leiserowitz, The Weizmann Institute of Science,
Israel)
Here we are studying the correlation between the recently discovered twodimensional crystalline rectangular-phase of cholesterol (2,9) to the known threedimensional monohydrate phase. We also study the effect of phsopholipids, cholesterol derivatives, and mode of crystallization on early crystalline forms of cholesterol.

Hanna Rapaport page 9
Experimental and set-up in laboratory:
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Computer assisted molecular design using Cerius 2, Insight II and more.
Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and structural characterization aiming at molecular level description of crystalline thin films’ structures, using also synchrotron X-ray diffraction facilities.
Atomic force microscope (AFM).
Langmuir trough.
Thin film X-ray diffractometer (in process of purchasing)