Scientist Named Research Leader in Nanotechnology

English

Prof. Ehud Shapiro

 

Prof. Ehud Shapiro of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, has been named Research Leader in the field of Nanotechnology and Molecular Electronics within the 2004 “Scientific American 50” - the magazine’s annual list recognizing outstanding acts of leadership in science and technology from the past year - for his work on DNA-based computing machines.


Prof. Shapiro has received this recognition for the creation of biomolecular computing devices. So small that more than a trillion fit into one drop of water, these devices are made entirely of DNA and other biological molecules. A recent version was programmed by Shapiro and his research team to identify signs of specific cancers in a test tube, to diagnose the type of cancer and to release drug molecules in response. Though cancer-detecting computers are still in the very early stages, and can thus far only function in test tubes, Shapiro and his research team envision future biomolecular devices that may be injected directly into the human body to detect and prevent or cure disease.

Recently, Prof. Shapiro received the 2004 World Technology Award for Biotechnology and his PhD student Yaakov Benenson received a 100 Top Young Innovators Award from MIT’s Technology Review Magazine.

The Scientific American 50 appears in the magazine’s December issue, arriving on newsstands November 23. The complete list may also be accessed from November 8 at www.sciam.com.

Prof. Ehud Shapiro's research is supported by the M.D. Moross Institute for Cancer Research, the Samuel R. Dweck Foundation, the Dolfi and Lola Ebner Center for Biomedical Research, the Benjamin and Seema Pulier Charitable Foundation, and the Robert Rees Fund for Applied Research.
 
Additional information and images are available at http://www.weizmann.ac.il/udi
Prof. Ehud Shapiro
English
  • Awards
  • Biomolecular computer
  • Cancer
  • Ehud Shapiro
  • Molecular electronics
  • Nanotechnology

Award to Weizmann Institute Scientist

English

The World Technology Award for Biotechnology was given to the Israeli scientist for innovations in biological computing devices

 

Prof. Ehud Shapiro


Prof. Ehud Shapiro of the Weizmann Institute of Science has received the 2004 World Technology Award for Biotechnology. The award is one of 30 given yearly by the World Technology Network (WTN) to those individuals and organizations whose innovations are likely to have a major impact on the technology and society of the future.


Shapiro, who works in both the Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, and the Biological Chemistry departments of the Weizmann Institute, has been recognized for the creation of biomolecular computing devices. So small that more than a trillion fit into one drop of water, these devices are made entirely of DNA and other biological molecules. A recent version of the biomolecular computing device was programmed by Shapiro and his research team to identify signs of specific cancers in a test tube, to diagnose the type of cancer, and to release drug molecules in response. Though cancer-detecting computers are still in the very early stages, and can thus far only function in test tubes, Shapiro and his research team envision future biomolecular devices that may be injected directly into the human body to detect and prevent or cure disease.


Award winners are chosen by their peers in the WTN. The Network’s membership is made up of past and present award winners and finalists, and today comprises over 800 individuals and organizations from 50 countries. Its stated goal is to bring together the people judged the most innovative in their fields, and to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and advance the development of new ideas by having them take part in the “virtual think tank,” as well as in yearly summits, global and regional events, and publications.


Previous recipients of the World Technology Award for Biotechnology include Dr. J. Craig Venter, founder of Celera Genomics, and Dr. Leroy Hood, whose inventions made genome sequencing possible. The Weizmann Institute received a corporate World Technology Award for Health and Medicine in 2003.


Yaakov Benenson, Shapiro’s graduate student who had a key role in creating the biomolecular computers, received a 100 Top Young Innovators Award the previous week from MIT’s Technology Review Magazine.


The award was presented to Prof. Shapiro in a formal ceremony at the closing of the World Technology Summit, held in the San Francisco City Hall. The summit was held in San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel on Oct. 7-8. The WTN is supported by, among others, Nasdaq, the AAAS, Science, Fortune and Microsoft.


More information on biomolecular computers can be viewed on Prof. Shapiro’s website http://www.weizmann.ac.il/udi. Information on the Summit can be found on the WTN website: http://www.wtn.net.


Prof. Ehud Shapiro's research is supported by the M.D. Moross Institute for Cancer Research, the Samuel R. Dweck Foundation, the Dolfi and Lola Ebner Center for Biomedical Research, the Benjamin and Seema Pulier Charitable Foundation, and the Robert Rees Fund for Applied Research.

 

Prof. Ehud Shapiro
English
  • Biological Chemistry
  • Biomolecular computer
  • Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
  • Ehud Shapiro

Weizmann Institute of Science Doctoral Candidate Yaakov Benenson Named One of the World’s Top Young Innovators

English

Benenson to be honored September 29-30 at Technology Review’s Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT

Prof. Ehud Shapiro and Yaakov Benenson
 

The Weizmann Institute of Science today announced that Yaakov Benenson, doctoral student under Prof. Ehud Shapiro of the Departments of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics and of Biological Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, has been named to the 2004 list of the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review, MIT’s Magazine of Innovation. The TR 100, chosen by the editors of Technology Review and an elite panel of judges, consists of 100 individuals under age 35 whose innovative work in technology has a profound impact on today’s world and will shape the future of the way we live and work. This year’s nominees are recognized for their contributions in transforming the nature of technology and business in industries such as biotechnology and medicine, computing, and nanotechnology. Benenson was selected from nearly 650 candidates worldwide to be among the 100 Top Young Innovators.

 

Inspired by Prof. Shapiro’s vision of a “doctor in a cell”, Benenson joined the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1999 at age 24 and began to tackle the challenges of DNA-driven computing solutions for disease diagnosis and treatment. Benenson co-invented the world's smallest biological computing device - a bio-molecular finite-state automaton made from DNA strands and DNA-manipulating enzymes. The automaton was listed in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest biological computing device - it is about a trillionth the size of a drop of water. Recently, this device was enhanced to detect and diagnose molecular symptoms of cancer in vitro and, in response, to release a drug to treat the cancer. Benenson’s breakthrough in this area of research exceeded earlier progress predictions by Shapiro and others. His efforts in the development of cutting-edge biotechnologies such as this “smart drug" have put him among the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators.

 

Shapiro states that Benenson “was a key innovator and leading experimentalist in the biological computer team, and it is very gratifying to have his contributions acknowledged by MIT’s Technology Review editors and the distinguished panel of judges for the 100 Top Young Innovators of 2004 award.”

 

“Nature invented intricate molecular tools to detect and repair malfunctions in cells and organisms. Ultimately, our research may lead to the use of biomolecular computers to supplement and enhance existing natural defenses,” says Benenson.

 

Benenson received the Wolf Foundation Prize for Excellence in Graduate Studies in 1998, and is currently on the Dean’s List of the Feinberg Graduate School at the Weizmann Institute of Science for his achievements in PhD studies and research.

 

Benenson and his innovative peers will be honored September 29 - 30 at Technology Review’s 2004 Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT. Benenson is also a candidate for “TR100 Innovator of the Year” and the “TR100 Humanitarian Award” which will be announced at the conference. The 2nd Annual conference is expected to draw 1,000 participants representing business, technology and science from over 40 countries.

Yaakov Benenson

Further information can be obtained online at: www.weizmann.ac.il/kobi/tr100 <http://www.weizmann.ac.il/kobi/tr100> or by contacting the Weizmann Institute Publications and Media Relations Department at ++972-8-934-3856.

Prof. Ehud Shapiro’s research is supported by the M.D. Moross Institute for Cancer Research, the Samuel R. Dweck Foundation, the Dolfi and Lola Ebner Center for Biomedical Research, the Benjamin and Seema Pulier Charitable Foundation, and the Robert Rees Fund for Applied Research.

 

 

 

 

 

Prof. Ehud Shapiro and Yaakov Benenson
English
  • Awards
  • Biomolecular computer
  • Ehud Shapiro
Yes

Cymerman-Jakubskind Prize Awarded to Weizmann Institute Mathematician

English

Prof. Shafrira Goldwasser

 

Prof. Shafrira Goldwasser of the Weizmann Institute's Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics has been awarded the 2003-2005 Cymerman-Jakubskind Prize for her influential contributions to cryptography and computational number theory. A leading figure in her field, Goldwasser has inspired the design of secure communications protocols for secure networks and computer systems.


The prize, which is awarded every three years to support the research of Weizmann Institute scientists, was established in 1978 by Richard Jakubskind in memory of his family members who were lost in the Holocaust.

Previous awards to Goldwasser include the 2001 Godel Prize for outstanding papers in the area of theoretical science, awarded jointly by the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science and the Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computing Theory of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM); the ACM/Grace Murray Hopper Award; and the RSA Award in Mathematics by RSA Security Solutions Co.
 

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,500 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.
 
Prof. Shafrira Goldwasser
English
  • Awards
  • Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
  • Cryptography
  • Shafi Goldwasser

Christopher Reeve comes to Weizmann Institute

English

"The curiosity and thirst for knowledge of the scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science bring hope for a better scientific and medical future."

 
 
“The Weizmann Institute, for me, has always been a symbol of the best in research. It was founded by a man with a true vision for all the sciences – from biology, to chemistry to mathematics, and others. On this campus, there are around 2000 people working together in different disciplines to advance science.” These were the words of Christopher Reeve to tens of journalists, who flooded him with questions. Reeve chose to open his tour of Israel with a visit to the Weizmann Institute of Science, following his long standing acquaintance with Prof. Michal Schwartz, a leading researcher in trauma and injury in the central nervous system, specifically in the spinal cord. He has met with Prof Schwartz in the past, when she came to his home, at his request, and gave him a progress report on her research. This time the wheelchair bound actor decided to return the visit and see Prof. Schwartz in the place where she carries out her research.
 
In the first part of the visit to the Weizmann Institute of Science, Reeve met with the Dean of the Faculty of Biochemistry, Prof David Mirelman, who reviewed for him the varied research activities carried out in the Institute. Afterwards, he met with Prof. Schwartz and the members of her research team. From them, he heard details of the research that has led to the development of an experimental technique for treating spinal cord injuries, which is presently being applied to humans in clinical trials. These meetings took place in the Davidson Institute for Science Education.
 
After the meetings, a press conference was held in the “Barvaz” auditorium in which Reeve described his great esteem for Israel in general, and the Weizmann Institute in particular: “Israelis are famous for their curiosity, their intellect, and their desire for knowledge, and that is very evident here, on the campus of the Weizmann Institute,” said Reeve. “But there’s also a personal aspect to my visit, because, after my injury, I had the honor of meeting Professor Michal Schwartz.  She told me about a theory she had. A lot of people thought that it was a crazy idea, but most of the great ideas that have succeeded were at one time considered to be crazy, so I was fascinated by what she had to say. I have tracked her progress over the years and her success is exemplary. I simply wanted to come here and express my gratitude and admiration. There’s a phrase in Hebrew; it says something I’ve believed ever since my injury: ‘Hakol Efshari’ – Everything is possible.”
 
Christopher Reeve Meets with Elad Wassa, who survived the May 19, 2002 terrorist attack in Netanya. Mr. Reeve is in Israel for a four-day visit.
 
 
Christopher Reeve Meets with Elad Wassa, who survived the May 19, 2002 terrorist attack in Netanya. Mr. Reeve is in Israel for a four-day visit.
English
  • Christopher Reeve
  • David Mirelman
  • Michal Schwartz
  • Spin›Spinal cord injury
Yes

Prestigious Award in Computer Science to Weizmann Institute's scientist

English

Prof. Adi Shamir, a computer scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, has been named a 2002 winner of the A.M. Turing Award, regarded in academic circles as the 'Nobel Prize' of computer science.


Shamir shares the award with Ronald L. Rivest of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Leonard M. Adleman of the University of Southern California. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) will present the award to them in June.

While working at M.I.T. in 1977, the three scientists developed an algorithm that was later called RSA (the acronym for their last names). Used worldwide to secure Internet, banking and credit card transactions, the RSA algorithm allows for the delivery of encrypted codes and their decryption between parties that have never previously been in contact. The time needed to crack some versions of the method, which is based on the multiplication of two very large prime numbers and the difficulty in deducing those prime numbers from their product, is estimated at millions of years.

Among the numerous applications of this research are smart cards, regularly installed in household television sets to ensure that only subscribers receive TV satellite broadcasts. The smart card also allows the company activating the satellite to charge its customers only for programs viewed by them.

Shamir began his acquaintance with the Weizmann Institute as a teenager participating in its youth activities. He later earned his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees at the Weizmann Institute of Science and went to M.I.T., where he spent three years, from 1977 to 1980. He then returned to the Weizmann Institute, publishing numerous articles and receiving several prestigious awards, including ACM's Kannelakis Award, the Erdos Prize of the Israel Mathematical Society, the IEEE's W.R.G. Baker Prize, the UAP Scientific Prize, The Vatican's PIUS XI Gold Medal and the IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award.

 
Second Winner at Weizmann, Third in Israel
 
The A.M. Turing Award was conferred on Prof. Amir Pnueli, also a Weizmann Institute computer scientist, in 1996 for his contributions to program and systems verification. Prof. Michael Rabin from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Harvard University received the award in 1976 for his research on nondeterministic machines. The award has been presented annually since 1966 to individuals who have made contributions of 'lasting and major technical importance' in the field of computer science.
 
The English mathematician Alan Turing, for whom the prize is named, is known, among other things, for the system he developed (called 'Bomba'), which succeeded in cracking the German coding system 'Engima' during World War II.  Many historians believe that this work actually decided the Battle of the Atlantic in favor of the Allies.

 
Prof. Shamir's research is supported by Mr. Mickey Cohen, Director of Technologies, SoftChip Technologies (3000) Ltd., Mr. Junichi Hattori, Executive Vice President, SII-Seiko Instruments Inc., Mr. Takeo Hiyama, President/CEO, Abit Corp., and Ms. Yuko Ishida, Preisdent/CEO, Japan Datacom.
 
 
Prof. Shamir is the incumbent of the Paul & Marlene Borman Professorial Chair of Applied Mathematics

 

The Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's foremost centers of scientific research and graduate study. Its 2,500 scientists, students, technicians, and engineers pursue basic research in the quest for knowledge and the enhancement of humanity. New ways of fighting disease and hunger, protecting the environment, and harnessing alternative sources of energy are high priorities at Weizmann.
 
CONTACT: Yivsam Azgad, Tel: 972-8-934-3852/56 or yivsam.azgad@weizmann.ac.il
 
 
Prof. Adi Shamir
English
  • Adi Shamir
  • Algorithm
  • Amir Pnueli
  • Awards
  • Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
  • RSA algorithm

Prize to Weizmann Institute Professor for Landmark Work in Stem Cell Transplantation

English
Prof. Yair Reisner
 
Prof. Yair Reisner of the Institute's Immunology Department will be awarded the Daniele Chianelli Prize on December 15, 2002, commemorating his work of over 20 years on incompatible stem cell transplantation.

Bone marrow or stem cell tranplantation is a crucial part of the therapeutic strategy aimed at saving the lives of people with leukemia, malignant lymphoma, multiple myeloma and congenital blood disorders, such as thalassemia or severe immune deficiencies.

Reisner's research, conducted in collaboration with a team led by Prof. Massimo Martelli of Italy's Perugia University has revolutionized transplantation therapy, enabling the transplant of partially matched stem cells in leukemia patients. Until recently, stem cell transplantations could only succeed if a full match existed between the donor and recipient. Patients having no donor among their siblings had to search the general population, but for roughly half of them a donor was found too late or not at all.

The new approach by Reisner and Martelli, known as incompatible or haploidentical stem cell transplant requires that only three of six immunological markers be matched. Such a match is always present between parents and children, and there is a 75% chance of finding it among siblings. If the search includes the extended family, more than 95% of patients can find a donor.

The achievements of the Perugia team and Prof. Reisner have aroused great interest in the scientific community. The researchers have made numerous presentations at international conferences and workshops and have published in leading scientific journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Science, Blood and Immunology Today. Nearly 150 patients throughout Europe have been treated using this approach, yielding significant success rates. The transplant procedure is well tolerated even in patients that are at high risk due to toxicity, advanced age, and disease stage (at least 50% of patients were transplanted in relapse of a leukemia that was resistant to all drugs).

The first mismatched transplant was attempted in 1993, in a 20-year-old factory worker from northern Italy, who had suffered from acute myeloid leukemia for a year, and had no matched donor in the family. As there was no time to search for an unrelated donor, physicians intended to perform an autologous transplant (using the patient's own stem cells), but by the time the transplant was ready, the patient's disease had relapsed. He underwent additional chemotherapy but failed to respond. By that time, his leukemia had progressed to a critical stage and infiltrated his liver and spleen. At the family's request, the Perugia team attempted a haploidentical transplant, using the patient's father as a donor.
 
Following a successful recovery, the patient was able to resume his normal life style and returned to his job at the factory, where he still works today.

Given the success of this first transplant the team attempted the second two months later in May 1993. This 36 year old businessman had been suffering from acute myeloid leukemia for almost 2 years, had no compatible family donor and had even been refused an unrelated donor from the international donor registries because his disease was so advanced that his condition left little room for hope. His elderly mother, who was almost 70 years old, volunteered to act as incompatible donor. Today he is in perfectly good health and has continued his successful career as an entrepreneur.

Encouraged by their success with their first two patients, the Perugia physicians went on to perform haploidentical transplants in other leukemia patients, performing nearly 150 mismatched transplants by autumn 2002.

Some of the patients who have been cured will present their stories at the upcoming award ceremony.

Prof. Reisner's research is supported by the Gabrielle Rich Leukemia Research Foundation, Switzerland; the M.D. Moross Institute for Cancer Research; the UBS Optimus Foundation, Switzerland; Mrs. Erica Drake, New York; the Ligue Nationale Francaise Contre Le Cancer, France; Mrs. Renee Companez, Australia; and Stanley A. Lewis, New York, NY. He holds the Henry H. Drake Professorial Chair in Immunology.
 

The Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's foremost centers of scientific research and graduate study. Its 2,500 scientists, students, technicians, and engineers pursue basic research in the quest for knowledge and the enhancement of humanity. New ways of fighting disease and hunger, protecting the environment, and harnessing alternative sources of energy are high priorities at Weizmann.
 
Prof. Yair Reisner
English
  • Immunology
  • Leukemia
  • Multiple myeloma
  • Stem cell transplantation
  • Yair Reisner

Genes, Neurons, and The Internet Found to Have Organizing Principles – Some Identical

English

Dr. Uri Alon

 

How do 30,000 genes in our DNA work together to form a large part of who we are? How do one hundred billion neurons operate in our brain?  The huge number of factors involved makes such complex networks hard to crack. Now, a study published in the October 25 issue of Science uncovers a strategy for finding the organizing principles of virtually any network – from neural networks to ecological food webs or the Internet.


A team headed by Dr. Uri Alon, of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Molecular Cell Biology Department has found several such organizational patterns – which they call 'network motifs' – underlying genetic, neural, technological, and food networks. The mathematical technique was first proposed by Alon earlier this year (published in Nature Genetics) and has now been shown to be applicable in a wide range of systems.
 
In developing the technique, Alon surmised that patterns serving an important function in nature might recur more often than in randomized networks. This in mind, he devised an algorithm that enabled him to analyze the plentiful scientific findings examining key networks in some well-researched organisms. Alon noticed that some patterns in the networks were inexplicably more repetitive than they would be in randomized networks. This handful of patterns was singled out as a potential bundle of network motifs.

Surprisingly, the team found two identical motifs in genetic and neural systems. 'Apparently both information-processing systems employ similar strategies,' says Alon. 'The motifs shared by neural and genetic networks may serve to filter noise or allow for complex activation of neurons or genes.'

Exposing the 'wiring' of such networks can thus help scientists classify systems generically (just as lions and mice both belong to the same 'class,' neural and genetic systems could be classified in the same generic category if they have many motifs in common).  This would function as more than just an organizing principle: 'One might be able to learn about the neural system by studying the genetic system, which is usually more accessible,' says Alon.

The team studied seven different ecosystems and found motifs relating to food webs. One recurring pattern shows that different species of prey of a given predator often compete over a shared food resource. This food resource is not shared by the predator.
 
Alon’s method detects network motifs on the basis of their frequency. Any patterns that are functionally important but not statistically significant will not be picked up by this method. But it’s an important step forward in exposing the backbones of complicated systems.
 
What could this pristine territory offer to humankind? The dream, says Alon, is to detect and understand the fundamental laws governing our bodies, rendering the workings of a cell fully evident and the means of repairing it clear cut. One day in the distant future, scientists hope, doctors’ work will be comparable to that of present-day electronic engineers. They will analyze blueprints of malfunctioning cells and then set to work to put them back in shape.
 
Alon’s research team at Weizmann included students Ron Milo, Shalev Itzkovitz, Nadav Kashatan, and Shai Shen-Orr.
 
Donor Support for Dr. Uri Alon: James and Ilene Nathan Charitable Directed Fund, Mrs. Harry M. Ringel Memorial Foundation, Charpak-Vered Visiting Fellowship, Ottawa, Canada, Yad Hanadiv, Clore Center for Biological Physics, Yad Abraham Center for Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy, Rita Markus Foundation Inc. and Minerva Stiftung Gesellschaft fuer die Forschung m.b.H.
 
Dr. Alon is the incumbent of the Carl & Frances Korn Career Development Chair in the Life Sciences.
 
 
The Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world’s foremost centers of scientific research and graduate study. Its 2,500 scientists, students, technicians, and engineers pursue basic research in the quest for knowledge and the enhancement of humanity. New ways of fighting disease and hunger, protecting the environment, and harnessing alternative sources of energy are high priorities at Weizmann.
 
 
 
 
Dr. Uri Alon
English
  • Molecular Cell Biology
  • Nerve network
  • Uri Alon

New President of the Weizmann Institute of Science

English

The Board of Governors of the Weizmann Institute of Science has elected Prof. Ilan Chet to the position of Institute President. Prof. Chet will assume presidential responsibilities on December 1, 2001, with the conclusion of Prof. Haim Harari's 13-year term in office.


Prof. Chet was born in Haifa in 1939. He completed his doctoral work in microbiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture, in Rehovot.


Prof. Chet's research deals with the biological control of plant disease using environment-friendly microorganisms, focusing on the basic, applied, and biotechnological aspects of this field. Chet has published more than 330 articles in international scientific journals, edited three books in his field, and holds 30 patents. He has trained about 30 Ph.D. and 50 M.Sc. students.


Between 1983 and 1986, Prof. Chet served as the Founding Director of the Otto Warburg Minerva Center for Agricultural Biotechnology, and between 1986 and 1989 he served as Dean of the Hebrew University's Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot. For the past ten years Prof. Chet served as Vice President for Research and Development of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.


Prof. Chet's national and international fame is exemplified by his rich list of academic appointments, prizes, and awards such as the Israel Prize (1996) and the Wolf Prize (1998). He was a visiting professor at Harvard, Cornell, and Rutgers Universities in the United States and at the University of Goettingen and Lund University in Europe. He served as senior scientist at DuPont, Delaware, USA, and is a member of the scientific advisory committees of both the European Union and NATO.


Prof. Chet received an honorary doctorate from Sweden's Lund University in 1991 and the Max-Planck Award for Distinguished Research in 1994. His numerous prizes include the Rothschild Prize in Agriculture (1990) and the Japanese Arima Prize for Applied Microbiology (1996). Prof. Chet has been a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities since 1998.

 


For additional information and a photo, please contact the Spokesman's Office of the Weizmann Institute of Science, at tel. 972-8-9343856.


The Weizmann Institute of Science is a major center of scientific research and graduate study located in Rehovot, Israel. Its 2,500 scientists, students and support staff are engaged in more than 1,000 research projects across the spectrum of contemporary science.

 
English
  • Haim Harari
  • Institute President
  • Plant disease

The Nominating Committee of the Weizmann Institute has Recommended to the Board of Governors to Elect Prof. Ilan Chet for the Position of Institute President

English
Mr. Gershon Kekst of New York, Chairman of the Weizmann Institute's Board of Governors, speaking in the name of the Institute's Nominating Committee, announced the candidacy of Prof. Ilan Chet for the position of Institute President.
 
The Nominating Committee's recommendation marks the end of a year-long process, which included a search committee made up of members of the Board of Governors from Israel and abroad, and leading scientists from the Institute and abroad. The search committee recommended Prof. Chet by a large majority, and their recommendation was accepted yesterday by the Institute's Nominating Committee, headed by Mr. Gershon Kekst. The Chairman of the Board of Governors informed the Institute's Executive Council of this decision in its meeting today.

The Nominating Committee's acceptance represents a recommendation to the Board of Governors to elect the President during its annual meeting in November 2001. The president will assume his responsibilities on December 1, 2001 with the culmination of a 13-year term held by Institute President, Prof. Haim Harari.

Prof. Ilan Chet was born in Haifa in 1939. He completed his doctoral work in Microbiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot.

Prof. Chet's research deals with the biological control of plant disease using environment-friendly microorganisms, focusing on the basic, applied, and biotechnological aspects of this field. Chet has published over 330 articles in international scientific journals, edited three books in his field, and holds 30 patents. He has trained about 30 Ph.D. and 50 M.Sc. students.

Between 1983 and 1986, Prof. Chet served as the Founding Director of the Otto Warburg Minerva Center for Agricultural Biotechnology, and between 1986 and 1989 he served as Dean of the Hebrew University Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot.

For the last ten years Prof. Chet has served as Vice President for Research and Development of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His national and international fame is exemplified by his rich list of academic appointments, prizes, and awards. He served as visiting professor at the universities of Harvard, Cornell, and Rutgers in the United States and at Goettingen and Lund University in Europe. He served as senior scientist in Dupont Co., Delaware, USA, and is a member of the scientific advisory committees of both the European Union and NATO.

Prof. Chet was awarded an honorary doctorate from Sweden's Lund University in 1991 and the Max-Planck Award for Distinguished Research in 1994. His numerous prizes include the Rothschild Prize in Agriculture (1990), the Japanese Arima Prize for Applied Microbiology (1996), the Israel Prize (1996), and the Wolf Prize (1998). He has been a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities since 1998.

The Weizmann Institute of Science is a major center of scientific research and graduate study located in Rehovot, Israel. Its 2,500 scientists, students and support staff are engaged in more than 1,000 research projects across the spectrum of contemporary science.
English
  • Institute President

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