Science Ministry names Gazit chief scientist

Tel Aviv University's Ehud Gazit is a world-renowned researcher in the field of nanotechnology.

By JUDY SIEGEL
EHUD GAZIT 370 (photo credit: Courtesy Sience and Technology ministry)
EHUD GAZIT 370
(photo credit: Courtesy Sience and Technology ministry)
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.