“I am grateful to be part of a field where precise structural insight continues to drive progress”

I am truly honored to receive the Struchkov Prize from the International Union of Crystallography. In my research, I have used a combination of X-ray and electron diffraction techniques, working to uncover structural details in both long-used pharmaceutical compounds, pigments, and new crystalline materials, often trying to connect these, at times disparate, topics.

Aside from compositions and structural motifs, a central theme of my work has been connecting structure across length scales: from periodic arrangements to local structures, and the corresponding changes in macroscopic properties of a given system. Recently, I have studied how the thermal responses of porous nanocrystals differ from those of larger crystals and the microscopic origin of these effects.

Crystallography is an incredibly powerful tool that is continuously evolving. It unlocks the possibility of determining structures at an atomic level, giving us an understanding of why molecules and materials behave as they do and how we can design better ones. I am grateful to be part of a field where precise structural insight continues to drive progress in chemistry and materials science.