Addadi returned to the Weizmann Institute of Science as an associate professor in 1988.[4] She was promoted to full professor in 1993 and head of the Structural Biology in 1994. She works on ordered crystal arrays and mineralized tissues. She has investigated the relationship between acidic proteins with biominerals including calcite and apatite.[4][10] She demonstrated that macromolecules in the shells of mollusks determine the polymorphism of aragonite and calcite.[11] She went on to establish the role of amorphous calcium carbonate in biomineralization.[12] Addadi identified that mollusks build their shells using hydrophobic silk gels, aspartic acid, acid-rich proteins, and an amorphous precursor.[13]
Addadi is interested in how macromolecules nucleate oriented growth and how morphology changes through interactions with surfaces.[4] Addadi looks at the structures of crystal protein composites. She demonstrated that protein intercalation into the lattice can change the texture and mechanical properties of the material.[4] She showed that immunoglobulins and serum albumins can selectively adhere to the surfaces of crystals and nucleate further crystal growth.[4][14] This can help too understand how diseases such as gout, osteoarthritis, and atherosclerosis form crystals in body fluids.[4][8] Addadi studies the formation pathways of these mineralized tissues in foraminifera and zebrafish bone.[2] She was the first woman to win the ETH Zurich prelog prize in 1989.[15] She was appointed dean of the faculty of chemistry in 2001.[5]
Her work has considered molecular recognition at crystal interfaces.[4] When introduced to an organism, crystals appear as highly structured, repetitive macromolecular substrates.[5] She studies monoclonal antibodies that are sensitive to specific crystalline organisations.[5] She also investigates cross-talk between crystals and the biological environments they exist in.
^Aizenberg, Joanna; Hanson, Jonathan; Koetzle, Thomas F.; Leiserowitz, Leslie; Weiner, Stephen; Addadi, Lia (1995). "Biologically Induced Reduction in Symmetry: A Study of Crystal Texture of Calcitic Sponge Spicules". Chemistry - A European Journal. 1 (7): 414–422. doi:10.1002/chem.19950010705. ISSN0947-6539.
^Nudelman, Fabio; Gotliv, Bat Ami; Addadi, Lia; Weiner, Steve (February 2006). "Mollusk shell formation: Mapping the distribution of organic matrix components underlying a single aragonitic tablet in nacre". Journal of Structural Biology. 153 (2): 176–187. doi:10.1016/j.jsb.2005.09.009. PMID16413789.
^Addadi, Lia; Joester, Derk; Nudelman, Fabio; Weiner, Steve (2006). "Mollusk Shell Formation: A Source of New Concepts for Understanding Biomineralization Processes". Chemistry – A European Journal. 12 (4): 980–987. doi:10.1002/chem.200500980. ISSN1521-3765. PMID16315200.
^Geiger, Benjamin; Addadi, Lia; Bershadsky, Alexander; Safran, Sam; Mahalu, Diana; Sabanay, Ilana; Tzur, Gila; Goichberg, Polina; Riveline, Daniel (2001). "Force and focal adhesion assembly: a close relationship studied using elastic micropatterned substrates". Nature Cell Biology. 3 (5): 466–472. doi:10.1038/35074532. ISSN1476-4679. PMID11331874. S2CID20724861.
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