Prof. Ehud Gazit Ph.D. FRSC FNASc OSSI

Ehud Gazit is a Professor and Endowed Chair at both the Faculties of Life Sciences and Engineering of Tel Aviv University (dual appointment) and a member of the Executive Council of the University (elected by the University Senate in 2017 and for a second term in 2021). Gazit is also the founding director of the BLAVATNIK CENTER for Drug Development. From 2012-2014 he served as the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the coordinator of the forum of Chief Scientists of the Israeli ministries. From 2008-2012 Gazit 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. In 2015, he was knighted by the Italian Republic for his service to science and society. He was recently named as the 2023 International Solvay Chair in Chemistry, the first Israeli to be appointed to this prestigious position, previously held by 15 of the top scientists in the world, including three Nobel Laureates.
Gazit received his B.Sc. (summa cum laude) after completing his studies at the Special Program for Outstanding Students of Tel Aviv University (Currently the “Adi Lautman Program”), and his Ph.D. (with highest distinction) as a Clore Fellow at the Department of Membrane Research and Biophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science in 1997. For his Ph.D. work, he received the John F. Kennedy Award. He has been a faculty member at Tel Aviv University since 2000, after completing his postdoctoral studies as a European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he also had held a visiting appointment (2002–2011). He also had a visiting appointment at St John’s College, Cambridge University, UK (2016), a Senior Visiting Professor appointment at Fudan University, China (2018-2019) and a Guest Professor appointment at Umeå University, Sweden (2019-2021).
Gazit had published more than 300 peer-reviewed publications in top journals including Science, Cell, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Physics, Nature Catalysis, Nature Materials, and Nature Chemical Biology, He is a very prolific inventor with over 100 patents including 50 granted US patents and many pending applications. His technology was licensed to several companies in Israel, US and Germany. He is a co-founder of Galimedix Therapeutics and member of the scientific advisory boards of Starget Pharma and EasyFix. His technology transfer achievements were acknowledged by inclusion in the list of 100 Innovations from academic Research to Real-World Application by the Association of University Technology Managers and in a list of 100 Technology Offers stemming from EU Research Programmes.
Gazit served and serves in various positions related to science and technology at the national and international levels. From 2003-2009 he served on the International Relations Committee of the Biophysical Society. He also served as a member of the Nominating Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and was a member and chairman of The Interdisciplinary Center for Technology Analysis & Forecasting (2008-2011). He was also a member of Israel National Council for Research and Development (2014-2019) and the Head of the Laura Schwartz-Kipp Institute for Biotechnology (2016-2021). He is currently a member of the UK-Israel Science Council and Head of the Steering Committee of The Dead Sea Research Institute.
He delivered more than 300 invited presentations including opening lectures, keynote presentations and named lectures such as the Thomas McMahon Lectureship at Harvard University and EMBO Keynote Lecture at BioMAT 2017. Gazit had received numerous awards and honors including Dan David Scholarship Award, Hestrin Award for Young Scientists, Research Prize Award Named After “Teva” Founders, Rappaport Prize for Excellence in Biomedical Research, Changjiang Scholar Award, Landau Prize in Sciences and Arts in the Field of Healthy Aging, and Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, USA and a foreign fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc), and a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).