Ehud Gazit

Ehud Gazit (Hebrew: אהוד גזית‎; Russian: Эхуд Газит), is an Israeli biochemist, biophysicist and nanotechnologist. He is Professor and Endowed Chair at Tel Aviv University. In 2015, he was knighted by the Italian Republic for services to science and society[1]

Prof. Ehud Gazit (2008)

Ehud Gazit is a member of the National Council for Research and Development (NCRD) (appointed in 2014). From 2012-2014 he served as the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the coordinator of the forum of Chief Scientists of the Israeli ministries. From 2008-2012 Gazit served as Tel Aviv University Vice President for Research and Development,[2] 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.[3]

Academic Background

Gazit received his B.Sc. (summa cum laude) after completing his studies at the Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Programme for Outstanding Students of Tel Aviv University, 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).[4]

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.[5] His laboratory was the first to identify aromatic dipeptides that form nanotubes and nanospheres of unique mechanical and chemical properties.[6] 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 more than 300 publications in some of the most prestigious academic journals including Science,[7] Nature Nanotechnology,[8] Nature Chemical Biology, Cell, the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Science,[9] 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)[10] 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 Hestrin 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). In 2015 he was elected as a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). In 2018 he was elected as a Foreign Fellow of The National Academy of Sciences, India. In 2019 he awarded with the Rappaport Prize for Excellence in the Field of Biomedical Research.

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,[11] 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 the 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
  • Gazit E. (2007) Plenty of Room for Biology at the Bottom: Introduction to Bionanotechnology. Imperial College Press, London, UK. ISBN 1-86094-677-1.
    • 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
  • Gazit, E., and R. Nussinov (Eds.) (2008) Nanostructure Design Protocols: Methods in Molecular Biology. Humana Press, Totowa NJ, USA. ISBN 1-934115-35-5

Notes
  1. https://en-lifesci.tau.ac.il/order-of-the-star-of-italy-2015
  2. Press Release by Tel Aviv University: http://www1.tau.ac.il/pressoffice/index.php/press/1-press/535-010608.html Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
  3. TAU Nano-Center: http://nano.tau.ac.il/staff.html Archived 2008-04-05 at the Wayback Machine
  4. MIT - people directory
  5. Press Release by Merz Pharmaceuticals: http://www.merz.com/press/press-releases/company/2007/07/10/01/ Archived 2008-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Solid Spheres: The most rigid nanoscale biological structures". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-10-08.
  7. Reches, M, & Gazit, E. (2003) Casting Metal Nanowires Within Discrete Self-Assembled Peptide Nanotubes. Science 300, 625-627. doi:10.1126/science.1082387
  8. Reches, M., & Gazit, E. (2006) Controlled Patterning of Aligned Self-Assembled Peptide Nanotubes. Nature Nanotech. 1, 195-200. doi:10.1038/nnano.2006.139
  9. 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
  10. Tel Aviv University Annual Report, 2008
  11. Nano2Life SRP description: http://www.nano2life.org/content.php?id=17 Archived 2007-09-18 at the Wayback Machine
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