text: Rebecca Abergel is a professor of nuclear engineering and of chemistry at University of California, Berkeley.  Abergel is also a senior faculty scientist in the chemical sciences division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she directs the Glenn T. Seaborg Center and leads the Heavy Element Chemistry research group. She is the recipient of several awards for her research in nuclear and inorganic chemistry.
  Her research interests include ligand design and use of spectroscopic characterization methods to study the biological coordination chemistry and toxicity mechanisms of f-elements and inorganic isotopes, especially as applied to decontamination strategies, waste management, remediation, separation, and radiopharmaceutical development.
  Abergel is known for leading the development of new drug products for the treatment of populations contaminated with heavy metals and radionuclides. Clinical development and commercialization of these products are now spearheaded by HOPO Therapeutics, which she co-founded.