Ehud Gazit

Ehud Gazit, is an Israeli biochemist and nanotechnologist and Professor at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University (TAU). [http://www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/departments/biotech/members/gazit/gazit.html] He is also the TAU Vice President for Research and Development, [Press Release by TAU: http://www1.tau.ac.il/pressoffice/index.php/press/1-press/535-010608.html] Chair of Nano-Biology and a former member of the managing board of the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of Tel Aviv University. [TAU Nano-Center: http://nano.tau.ac.il/staff.html]

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, and his Ph.D. (with highest distinction) from the 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 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he still holds a visiting appointment. [ [http://web.mit.edu/bin/cgicso?query=Ehud+Gazit MIT - people directory ] ]

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. [Press Release by Merz Pharmaceuticals: http://www.merz.com/press/press-releases/company/2007/07/10/01/] His laboratory was the first to identified aromatic dipeptides that form nanotubes and nanospheres of unique mechanical and chemical properties. 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, [Reches, M, & Gazit, E. (2003) Casting Metal Nanowires Within Discrete Self-Assembled Peptide Nanotubes. Science 300, 625-627. DOI: 10.1126/science.1082387] Nature Nanotechnology, [Reches, M., & Gazit, E. (2006) Controlled Patterning of Aligned Self-Assembled Peptide Nanotubes. Nature Nanotech. 1, 195-200. DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2006.139] the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Science, [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] and many more.

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. Ehud’s technology transfer achievements were acknowledged by inclusion in the 40/40 list of the The Marker journal in 2007 and the 2008 list of 100 Innovations from academic Research to Real-World Application by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) [ [http://www.tau.ac.il/bog/annualreport2008.pdf Tel Aviv University Annual Report, 2008] ] .

Gazit serves as one of Strategic Research Program (SRP) Leaders of the EC Nano2Life Network of Excellence, [Nano2Life SRP description: http://www.nano2life.org/content.php?id=17] an expert of the European Observatory of Nanobiotechnology (EoN), and a resident expert in the field of NanoBiology of Science At Stake. He is on the editorial board of several journals including Journal of Bionanoscience, Nanomedicine, PLoS ONE, Amyloid and Current Chemical Biology.

Books

*Gazit E. (2007) Plenty of Room for Biology at the Bottom: Introduction to Bionanotechnolog. Imperial College Press, London, UK. ISBN 1-86094-677-1.
*Gazit, E., and R. Nussinov (Eds.) (2008) Nanostructure Design Protocols: Methods in Molecular Biology. Humana Press, Totowa NJ, USA. ISBN 1-93411-535-5

Notes

External Links

* [http://www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/departments/biotech/members/gazit/gazit.html Ehud Gazit's home page]
* [http://network.nature.com/profile/http-network-nature-comprofileehudg Ehud Gazit's profile on Nature Network]