Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Angelica Elkan immigrated to Israel with her family at the age of five. She grew up in a rural town near Jerusalem and attended Boyer High School. Since she was fascinated by chemistry from the time she was very young, no one was surprised when she chose the subject for her academic studies— or when she won the Rector’s or Dean’s prize for outstanding undergraduate students at Bar-Ilan University every single year of her BSc studies.

After graduating summa cum laude, Angelica went to the Hebrew University for her MSc, joining the lab of Prof. Itamar Willner. Her research there, centered on bio-sensing and bio-electronics, included the development of an optical sensor for cysteine/cystine in urine, and a hybrid anode composed of semiconducting nanoparticles and catalytic DNA, fueled solely by glucose. Since she began her MSc, Angelica has contributed to eight papers published in international journals and was the first author of two of them.

Angelica is currently pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Boris Rybtchinski at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Her research focuses on creating novel hybrid materials based on organic nanocrystals and  carbon materials (nanotubes, graphene, etc.), targeting novel  opto-electronic and alternative energy systems.