Founding Director of the BCDD
The Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology
The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences
Email: ehudg@post.tau.ac.il
Website: https://www.gazitlab.sites.tau.ac.il/
Dr. Ehud Gazit is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology and the Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering (affiliated). He is also the incumbent of the Chair for Biotechnology of Neurodegenerative Diseases at Tel Aviv University. He Joined the Tel Aviv University in 2000 after completing his postdoctoral studies as a European Molecular Biology Organization and Human Frontiers Science Program (EMBO) fellow at MIT where he also had held a visiting appointment (2002–2011).
Gazit is a member of the National Council for Research and Development (appointed in 2014). From 2012-2014, he served as the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). From 2008-2012 he served as Tel Aviv University Vice President for Research and Development, 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.
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. His laboratory was the first to identify 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, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Chemical Biology, Cell, the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Science, and many more. He is also the inventor of more than 100 of patents.
Prof. Gazit had received numerous awards and honors including the Landau Research Award, Dan David Scholarship Award and Prize for excellence in research from the Research Council of Tel Aviv university. In 2009, he received the Hestrin Award for a leading scientist under the age of 44. In 2012 Prof. Gazit was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). In 2015 he was awarded with the Kadar Family Prize and elected as a member in the European Molecular Organization (EMBO).
