Prof. Ehud Gazit was named chief scientist of the Science and Technology
Ministry on Tuesday by its Minister Daniel Herschkowitz.
A world-renowned
researcher in the field of nanotechnology, Gazit was until recently Tel Aviv
University’s deputy president for research and development and chairman of the
board of the university’s technology transfer company Ramot.
The
44-year-old researcher earned his bachelor’s degree at TAU and his doctorate
from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. When he returned from his
postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000, he was
named to TAU’s biotechnology molecular biology department. Six years later, he
was made a full professor.
Gazit has published about 140 scientific
articles in prestigious journals, especially in chemical and biological
nanotechnology. His research has been quoted an average of 1,000 times a
year. He also has dozens of applied patents for his discoveries connected to
Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes, as well as nanotechnology
discoveries related to energy.
Gazit has received many prizes and awards,
including the Dan David Prize, Landau Prize and the citation for excellent
research of TAU’s scientific council.
He has also advised the defense
minister on research and development in the security field and is a member of
the MIT Enterprise Forum.
Herschkowitz congratulated Gazit, saying he was
proud to bring to the ministry an outstanding scientist who is highly involved
in academia and the connection between it and the application of scientific
research.
Gazit thanked the minister and said it was a privilege for him
to serve in the public post and contribute to Israeli science and technology. He
will replace the outgoing chief scientist, Prof. Danny Weiss, who concluded his
sabbatical year in the post and is returning to his research at the Technion-
Israel Institute of Technology.
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