Joseph Cotruvo

About

Joseph Cotruvo is a Professor of Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University, affiliated with the Department of Chemistry. His research employs biochemistry and chemical biology to understand metal selectivity in biological systems. His work focuses on how bacteria selectively acquire and utilize lanthanides, with applications in designing biotechnologies for rare earth detection, recovery, and separations. Additionally, he develops and applies new tools to study the roles of transition metals, particularly iron and manganese, in infectious and neurodegenerative diseases. Cotruvo's contributions include elucidating the chemistry of lanthanides in biology, exploring protein-based mechanisms for metal recognition, and advancing technologies for metal separation and environmental mobility of actinides. His research aims to deepen understanding of metal utilization in biological systems and to develop innovative solutions for metal-related challenges.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Crystallography
• Stereochemistry
• Chromatography
• Physical chemistry
• Mineralogy
• Materials science
• Chemical engineering
• Inorganic chemistry

Selected publications

• Bridging Hydrometallurgy and Biochemistry: A Protein-Based Process for Recovery and Separation of Rare Earth Elements

  ACS Central Science · 2021 · 187 citations

  The extraction and subsequent separation of individual rare earth elements (REEs) from REE-bearing feedstocks represent a challenging yet essential task for the growth and sustainability of renewable energy technologies. As an important step toward overcoming the technical and environmental limitations of current REE processing methods, we demonstrate a biobased, all-aqueous REE extraction and separation scheme using the REE-selective lanmodulin protein. Lanmodulin was conjugated onto porous sup…

  DOI

• Enhanced rare-earth separation with a metal-sensitive lanmodulin dimer

  Nature · 2023 · 177 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  . Here we characterize a new LanM, from Hansschlegelia quercus (Hans-LanM), with an oligomeric state sensitive to rare-earth ionic radius, the lanthanum(III)-induced dimer being >100-fold tighter than the dysprosium(III)-induced dimer. X-ray crystal structures illustrate how picometre-scale differences in radius between lanthanum(III) and dysprosium(III) are propagated to Hans-LanM's quaternary structure through a carboxylate shift that rearranges a second-sphere hydrogen-bonding network. Compar…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Selective and Efficient Biomacromolecular Extraction of Rare-Earth Elements using Lanmodulin

  Inorganic Chemistry · 2020 · 158 citations

  Lanmodulin (LanM) is a recently discovered protein that undergoes a large conformational change in response to rare-earth elements (REEs). Here, we use multiple physicochemical methods to demonstrate that LanM is the most selective macromolecule for REEs characterized to date and even outperforms many synthetic chelators. Moreover, LanM exhibits metal-binding properties and structural stability unseen in most other metalloproteins. LanM retains REE binding down to pH ≈ 2.5, and LanM-REE complexe…

  DOI

• <scp>EPA</scp> 's Unprecedented Interim Drinking Water Health Advisories for <scp>PFOA</scp> and <scp>PFOS</scp>

  Ground Water · 2023-02-20 · 59 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent and widely distributed in the environment from commercial products and waste process residues, including in surface waters usually at low parts per trillion (ppt) levels. Groundwaters near contaminated locations can have higher parts per trillion or parts per billion (ppb) concentrations. Interim EPA Drinking Water Health Advisories (HAs) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) that were originally 70 ppt…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Engineering lanmodulin's selectivity for actinides over lanthanides by controlling solvent coordination and second-sphere interactions

  Chemical Science · 2022-01-01 · 49 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  lanthanides. This study not only clarifies the essential role of coordinated solvent for LanM's physiological function and separation applications, but it also demonstrates that LanM's preference for actinides over lanthanides can be further improved. More broadly, it demonstrates how biomolecular scaffolds possess an expanded repertoire of tunable interactions compared to most small-molecule ligands - providing an avenue for high-performance LanM-based actinide/lanthanide separation methods and…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: CAS: Understanding the Coordination Chemistry of Lanthanide-binding Proteins for Rare Earth Element Sensing, Capture, and Recycling

  NSF · $810k · 2020–2026

Frequent coauthors

• Joseph A. Mattocks

  Pennsylvania State University

  21 shared

• Allegra T. Aron

  University of California, San Diego

  14 shared

• Karla M. Ramos‐Torres

  Harvard University

  13 shared

• JoAnne Stubbe

  13 shared

• Richard J. Bull

  13 shared

• Christopher J. Chang

  Colorado State University

  12 shared

• Gauthier J.‐P. Deblonde

  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  10 shared

• S. L. Eustis

  9 shared

Labs

• Cotruvo GroupPI

Education

• Ph.D., Biological Chemistry, Chemistry

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  2012

• A.B., Chemistry

  Princeton University

  2006

Awards & honors

• Mildred Cohn Young Investigator Award, ASBMB (2026)
• Blavatnik National Awards Finalist (2025)
• Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SBIC) Early Caree…
• Faculty Scholar Medal in the Life and Health Sciences, Penn…
• Blavatnik National Awards Finalist (2024)

Similar researchers at Pennsylvania State University

• Ayusman Senh-96
• Carsten Krebsh-83
• Raymond Schaakh-80