About Our Lab
Our laboratory operates at the interface of materials science and biopolymers with biology and biochemistry. ​Our goal is to introduce advanced approaches from materials chemistry and polymer science into plant research, biomedicine, and agriculture. Our core expertise lies in carbohydrates, polysaccharides, and saccharide-bearing materials (glycosides). The research in our lab is grounded in a deep understanding of the fundamentals of glycochemistry and glycobiology, enabling mechanistic insight and the rational design of advanced materials with broad scientific and practical applications.

The major research directions in our lab are as follows:
(1) Fundamental research on glycochemistry and glycobiology, aiming to understand and influence processes that occur in natural systems   
(2) Rational design of new polysaccharides and oligosaccharides to regulate important cellular processes such as growth, development, and defense. 
(3) Development of self-adjusting systems to deliver active payload across biological barriers, such as plant epidermis, human skin, and cell membranes. Such capacities offer numerous applications, among them transdermal drug delivery, foliar plant treatment, "in-cell" editing without integration into a host genome, tissue engineering, and development of new medicines.
(4) Modifying natural biopolymers to prepare bioactive gels,  films, and coatings for use in medicine, food, and agriculture. 
(5) Waste to worth: using agri-byproducts to form new materials that can serve as greener alternatives to pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, and plastic.

Our methods are developed with safety in mind and adhere to eco-friendly biocompatible materials and green chemistry protocols. We strive to implement our discoveries and maintain tight contact with farmers and industry to be updated about actual problems in the field. We have several initiatives with commercial companies on plant development,  plant nutrition, plant protection, promotion of phytonutrient production in crops, postharvest treatment,  valorization of agrifood waste, tissue engineering, and drug delivery.

The PI, Elena Poverenov 
Elena has published over 80 articles in leading international journals, among them the top journals in her research fields and multidisciplinary journals such as Nature, JACS, ACS Nano, Green Chemistry, Chemistry of Materials, Carbohydrate Polymers, Food Hydrocolloids, etc. Since 2011, she has mentored 16 MSc students (12 have already graduated), 10 PhD students (6 have graduated), and 16 postdoctoral fellows. She obtained 42 international and national grants (25 as a PI) with a total budget of ~ $11M from EU, BARD, BARD-NIFA, GFI, Israel-China, ICA, and Ministries of Health, Science, Innovation, and Agriculture. For introducing new research directions, Elena received numerous award,s among them "Awardee for Research in Food and Agriculture" from International Agropolis and Olam Foundation (2017), the prestigious Yigal Alon Prize for contribution to the Israeli Society in the Field of Food and Agricultural Research (2020) and Researcher of the Year Prize (2022). Elena was recently selected as a national nominee forthe  International Frontiers Planet Prize (2024).
 
Selected publications

1. Poverenov E..Milstein D (2006) Synthesis of the methylene arenium... JACS, IF 16, 16/179, Q1

2.  Poverenov E.. Milstein D (2008) Evidence for terminal Ptiv-oxo complex.. Nature, IF 65, 1/175, Q1

3. Poverenov E*..Bendikov M (2014) ...In memory of Prof M. Bendikov. JACS, IF 16, 16/179, Q1

4. Khaskin E ... Poverenov E* (2015) A contact active … Green Chem., IF 11, 21/171, Q1

5. Rutenberg R.. Poverenov E* (2018) Omniphilic polysac.. ACS Appl. Mat. Interf., IF 10, 18/103, Q1

6. Arnon-Rips H…Poverenov E* (2018) Review. Trends Food Sci. Techn., IF 16, 2/143, Q1

7. Arnon-Rips H..Poverenov E* Effective suppression of potato...Food hydrocolloids, IF 12, 5/391, Q1                                                             

8. Cohen Y..Poverenov E* (2021) Stimuli-free transcuticular delivery... ACS Nano, IF 18, 19/637, Q1

9. Shebis Y…Poverenov E*(2022) Facile method for... Food hydrocolloids, IF 12, 5/391, Q1                                                             

10. Sela A…Poverenov E* (2023) Solvent-free synthesis … Green Chem, IF 11, 21/171, Q1                                                      

11. Ischakov R…Poverenov E* (2023) Nucleoside-based.. ACS Appl. Mat. Interf., IF 10, 18/103, Q1

12. Ischakov R..Poverenov E* (2023) Oligochitosan oxidized nucleoside.. CarbPolym, IF 11, 3/90, Q1

13. Sela A.. Poverenov E* (2023) Carboxymethyl chitosan-quercetin… CarbPolym, IF 11, 3/90 Q1

14. Itzhakov R…Poverenov E* (2023) Nanogel particle.. ACS Nano, IF 18, 19/637 Q1

15. Gurianov Y.. Poverenov E* (2025) A step towards living materials.. Acta.Biomat IF 10, 40/448 Q1