Rebecca Abergel
Associate Professor, Nuclear Engineering & Chemistry
Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, College of Engineering
Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Glenn T. Seaborg Center
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 2006
B.Sc. École Normale Supérieure de Paris / Université Pierre & Marie Curie, 2002
Abergel was raised in France and graduated from the École Normale Supérieure of Paris in 2002. She conducted her graduate studies in inorganic chemistry at UC Berkeley, under the supervision of Prof. Kenneth Raymond. Her doctoral work focused on the synthesis and characterization of siderophore analogs to probe microbial iron transport systems and design new iron chelating agents. As a postdoctoral researcher with the group of Prof. Roland Strong at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, she investigated the bacteriostatic function of the innate immune protein siderocalin in binding siderophores from pathogenic microorganisms such as Bacillus anthracis, for the development of new antibiotics.
Abergel joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2009 as a Staff Scientist, where she has since been leading a large collaborative effort on the development of new drug products for the treatment of populations contaminated with heavy metals and radionuclides. One of these products was granted an Investigational New Drug status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2014 and is now in the clinic.
She joined the Nuclear Engineering Department of UC Berkeley in 2018 and became the Berkeley Lab Heavy Element Chemistry Group Leader and Glenn T. Seaborg Center Director that same year. In 2023, she joined the UC Berkeley Chemistry Department and became Associate Dean of the College of Engineering,
• Heavy element and inorganic isotope fundamental coordination and nuclear chemistry
• Fission product/transuranics/medical isotopes separation, metabolism, and toxicity Drug development for radionuclide decontamination and radiotherapy
• Radioactive waste management and nuclear fuel reprocessing
• Engineering of rare earth extraction, separation, and utilization processes
Research in Abergel’s group seeks to study the coordination features and metabolic properties of heavy element and inorganic isotope complexes formed with synthetic and biological ligands, as well as the effects of heavy element / radioisotope exposure and contamination on different biological systems. Fundamental spectroscopic characterization studies allow for exploration of the influence of f-orbital bonding on differences in lanthanide and actinide energetic and coordination features, including structural, kinetic, thermodynamic, electrochemical, magnetic, and optical properties. Our goals are to develop specific strategies for decontamination, waste management, remediation, separations, and new light conversion processes. Other applications include the development of new antimicrobial strategies that target metal ¬acquisition systems and the design of advanced alpha-immuno therapeutic and diagnostic agents with emerging medical isotopes.
• Radiation Research Society Vice-President Elect (2023)
• Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in Tech Transfer (2022)
• UC Berkeley Kenneth N. Raymond Lectureship in Inorganic Chemistry (2022)
• Bakar Faculty Fellow (2021)
• DOE Secretary of Energy Achievement Honor Award – COVID-19 Clinical Testing Teams (2020)
• DOE Secretary of Energy Achievement Honor Award – National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory (2020)
• Hellman Faculty Fellow (2020)
• AAAS Fellow (2019)
• KAIST Nuclear & Quantum Engineering Pioneer Lecturer (2019)
• ACS WCC Rising Star award (2017)
• DOE Early Career Award (2014)
• MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 – France (2014)
• Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (2013)
• Berkeley Lab Women at the Lab Award (2013)
• Radiation Research Society Junior Faculty NCRP Award (2013)
• Cooley’s Anemia Foundation Young Investigator Award (2009)
Mentored Student and Postdoc Honors and Awards
• Berkeley Lab Hoffman Fellowship – Dr. Joe Brackbill (2024)
• 16th International Conference on X-Ray Microscopy Best Poster Prize – Dr. Bianca Schacherl (2024)
• International Conference on f-Elements Best Poster Award – Megan Schiferl (2023)
• Berkeley Lab Hoffman Fellowship – Dr. Appie Peterson (2023)
• UC President’s Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Fellowship – Dr. Alexia Cosby (2023)
• UC President’s Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Fellowship – Dr. Joshua Woods (2023)
• UC President’s Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Fellowship – Dr. Jennifer Wacker (2022)
• DOE NEUP Fellowship – Jack Larrabee (2020)