Dr. Ludmila Buzhansky in 2002 completed her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry within Tel Aviv University’s School of Chemistry. She then joined the FP5 Chemag-EU international multidisciplinary consortium as a post-doc research fellow in the Chemistry Department at Bar-Ilan University. For three years, working with Prof. Jean-Paul Lellouche, Dr. Buzhansky focused her research on developing and commercializing functional bionanomaterials for applications in biology, health, and diagnostics. In 2006 Dr. Buzhansky was appointed to head the chemistry laboratory at Scent Detection Technologies Ltd., a nanotech startup that developed an artificial-nose-like device. At SDT she supervised organic and analytical chemistry and electrochemistry units.
The following year Dr. Buzhansky was engaged by Prof. Ehud Gazit to set up, build and lead the organic synthetic chemistry lab at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology within the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University. Dr. Buzhansky led a broad range of projects, including three major industry- and EU-funded projects: (i) Development of Alzheimer's disease therapeutics (QSAR-based design, synthesis and assay of new lead compound analogs). The program was funded by Merz Pharma GmbH; (ii) Design and synthesis of a library of tumor-selective analogs of a native somatostatin for active therapeutic and diagnostic targeting, in frame of SaveMe, a large-scale international collaborative consortium, recognized by the Seventh Framework Program as a Success Story project. (iii) Design of a synthetic scheme and accomplishment of total synthesis of 9-cis beta-carotene, novel therapeutic molecules for neuroretinal-degeneration diseases. The project, a collaboration with Dr. Ygal Rotenstreich at the Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger Eye Institute of Sheba Medical Center within Tel Hashomer Hospital, was the winning program within the National Network of Excellence in Neuroscience, established and funded by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
