Ehud Gazit

Prof. Ehud Gazit

Ehud Gazit (Hebrew: אהוד גזית; Russian: Эхуд Газит), is an Israeli biochemist, biophysicist and nanotechnologist. He is Professor and the incumbent of the Chair for Nano-Biology at Tel Aviv University. From 2012-2014 he also served as the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). From 2008-2012 Gazit served as Tel Aviv University Vice President for Research and Development,[1] and the Chairman of the board of directors of Ramot Ltd, the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University. Prior to his appointment as Vice President, Gazit served in different academic and administrative positions at Tel Aviv University, including the Head of The Chemistry-Biology double major track, a member of the University Committee for Appointments and Promotions, the Head of the Academic Committee of the Ilona Rich Institute for Nano-Biology and Nano-Biotechnology, and a member of the managing board of the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.[2]

Academic Background

Gazit received his B.Sc. (summa cum laude) after completing his studies at the Special Program for Outstanding Students of Tel Aviv University (Currently the Adi Lautman program), and his Ph.D. (with highest distinction) as a Clore Fellow at the Department of Membrane Research and Biophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science in 1997. For his Ph.D. work, he received the John F. Kennedy Award in 1996. He has been a faculty member at Tel Aviv University since 2000, after completing his postdoctoral studies as a European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he also had held a visiting appointment (2002–2011).[3]

Research

Gazit's research focused on the study of biomolecular self-assembly. His work resulted in the identification of minimal recognition elements that facilitate the assembly of amyloid fibrils and identified novel ways to inhibit this process.[4] His laboratory was the first to identify aromatic dipeptides that form nanotubes and nanospheres of unique mechanical and chemical properties. [5] The applications of these nano-assemblies for ultra-sensitive biosensors applications, energy-storage devices, and the fabrication of metallic nanowires were demonstrated. His work was published in some of the most prestigious academic journals including Science,[6] Nature Nanotechnology,[7] Nature Chemical Biology, Cell, the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Science,[8] and many more. He is also the inventor of few tens of patent applications.

Honors

Gazit had received numerous awards and honors including Landau Research Award, Dan David Scholarship Award and Prize for excellence in research from the Research Council of Tel Aviv university. Gazit's technology transfer achievements was acknowledged by inclusion in the 2008 list of 100 Innovations from academic Research to Real-World Application by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM)[9] and in a list of 100 Technology Offers stemming from EU Biotechnology RTD results of three Research Framework Programmes (FP5, FP4, and FP3). In 2009 he received the Herstin Award for a leading scientist under the age of 44. In 2012 he was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC).

Public Service

Gazit served and serves at various positions related to science and technology at the national and international level. From 2003-2009 he served on the International Relations Committee of the Biophysical Society. He also served as one of Strategic Research Program (SRP) Leaders of the EC Nano2Life Network of Excellence,[10] an expert of the European Observatory of Nanobiotechnology (EoN), and a resident expert in the field of NanoBiology of Science At Stake. He is or was on the editorial board of several journals including Journal of Bionanoscience, Nanomedicine, PLoS ONE, Amyloid, Journal of Peptide Science and Current Chemical Biology.

He is a member of the Executive Council of University Ltd (Hebrew: אוניברסיטה בעם), member of the UK-Israel Life Science Council, member of the Public council of the program for implantation of science in government initiated by the Israel Society for Ecology and Environmental Studies, Member of the board of trustees of the Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation, and member of the steering committee of Yuval Ne’eman workshop for science, technology and security. He was a member (and chairman from 2008–2011) of executive board, The Interdisciplinary Center for Technology Analysis & Forecasting.

Books

Translated also to Russian and edited: Gazit E. (2011) Nanobiotehnologiya. (Neobyatnye perspektivy razvitiya Russian: Газит E. (2011) Нанобиотехнология: необъятные перспективы развития). ISBN 5-91522-227-7

Notes

  1. ↑ Press Release by Tel Aviv University: http://www1.tau.ac.il/pressoffice/index.php/press/1-press/535-010608.html
  2. ↑ TAU Nano-Center: http://nano.tau.ac.il/staff.html
  3. ↑ MIT - people directory
  4. ↑ Press Release by Merz Pharmaceuticals: http://www.merz.com/press/press-releases/company/2007/07/10/01/
  5. ↑ Solid Spheres: The most rigid nanoscale biological structures
  6. ↑ Reches, M, & Gazit, E. (2003) Casting Metal Nanowires Within Discrete Self-Assembled Peptide Nanotubes. Science 300, 625-627. doi:10.1126/science.1082387
  7. ↑ Reches, M., & Gazit, E. (2006) Controlled Patterning of Aligned Self-Assembled Peptide Nanotubes. Nature Nanotech. 1, 195-200. doi:10.1038/nnano.2006.139
  8. ↑ Tsai, H-H., Reches, M., Tsai, C-J., Gunasekaran, K., Gazit, E. & Nussinov, R. (2005) Energy Landscape of Amyloidogenic Peptide Oligomerization by Parallel-tempering Molecular Dynamics Simulation: Significant Role of Asn Ladder. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102 , 8174-8179. doi:10.1073/pnas.0408653102
  9. ↑ Tel Aviv University Annual Report, 2008
  10. ↑ Nano2Life SRP description: http://www.nano2life.org/content.php?id=17

External links