Introducing New Scientists 2016-2017

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE Introducing New Scientists 2016-2017 5 INTRODUCTION Dynamic and Diverse 6 DEPARTMENT OF BIOMOLECULAR SCIENCES Dr. Ori Avinoam The architecture of cell membranes

8 DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL REGULATION Dr. Roi Avraham The battlefield tactics of bacteria 10 DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS Dr. Gal Binyamini Transcending numbers 12 DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS Prof. Bo’az Klartag The curse of dimensionality? 14 DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Dr. Tamir Klein The secret life of trees 16 DEPARTMENT OF PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS Dr. Doron Kushnir Why do stars explode? 18 DEPARTMENT OF PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS Dr. David Mross An electron’s exotic existence 20 DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS AND INTERFACES Dr. Ulyana Shimanovich Using nature to heal nature 22 DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS AND INTERFACES Dr. Omer Yaffe Exploring new materials 24 DEPARTMENT OF CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS Dr. Binghai Yan Physics on the edge 27 New scientist funds and gifts INTRODUCTION

Dynamic and Diverse

Dear Friends,

Each year, the Weizmann Institute of Science casts a fine net to capture the best and brightest scientists and recruit them to join the Institute’s ranks of stellar faculty. We are often delighted to recruit Israeli postdoctoral fellows of great promise who return to their native soil having been enriched by their international experiences. This year, we are pleased to not only have recruited promising returning Israeli scientists, but also a fantastic set of foreign-born scientists, including Dr. David Mross, originally from Germany, and Dr. Binghai laboratory. The costs average $1 to $2 Yan, originally from China. Dr. Ulyana million, depending on the scientific field, Shimanovich, though she completed ranging from new super computers to her undergraduate studies in Israel, had support for graduate students and expert immigrated to the country as a young staff scientists. Private, philanthropic adult, from Uzbekistan. gifts are vital to helping the Institute Together with our other newest meet this tremendous annual funding recruits, rising stars all in their challenge. respective fields, these new scientists We are grateful for the generosity bring the Weizmann Institute a bold of our community of supporters the and diverse perspective on all areas of world over, who make it possible for science. Read through their profiles, the Institute to recruit and retain such and I can guarantee that you will be as a dynamic group of new scientists each impressed as I am by the extraordinary year. In so doing, our friends provide group of talented minds. our new scientists with everything they The Weizmann Institute offers each need to hit the ground running in their new scientist a commitment of three research when they arrive. As always, or more years of research funding and I’m excited to watch their progress in the new equipment to establish his or her coming years.

Sincerely,

Prof. Daniel Zajfman President, Weizmann Institute of Science

5 DR. ORI AVINOAM DEPARTMENT OF BIOMOLECULAR SCIENCES

through fusion of macrophages. However, these processes are not well understood at the molecular level. The architecture Throughout his graduate and postdoctoral research, Dr. Avinoam has aimed to identify and characterize of cell membranes molecular mechanisms that manipulate membrane shape in the worm C. elegans, in cultured cells, and in viruses, using Membrane remodeling is and innovating a variety of microscopy techniques, such as precise correlated a universal process that light and electron microscopy (CLEM), is essential for a range total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIR-FM), confocal microscopy of biological processes, and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). The combination from protein trafficking to of these different imaging techniques cell migration. Correlated across scales has led to important insights into the process by which cells fuse light and electron and membrane regions are remodeled microscopy offers a unique into transport carriers that internalize nutrients, proteins, lipids, pathogens, and visualization approach for other large cargo. Such internalization is pinpointing rare, transient, crucial for a range of cellular processes, such as intercellular communication, and as-yet-unknown neurotransmission, immune function, and drug delivery. vicissitudes of life within At the Weizmann Institute of Science, a cell, including changes Dr. Avinoam aims to cultivate a thorough in membrane shape and understanding of membrane fusion and internalization processes, focusing on Dr. composition over time. their contribution to the structure and function of muscles. Dr. Avinoam will Ori While studying membrane fusion in combine live-cell imaging with gene the course of his graduate studies, editing, screening techniques and electron Dr. Ori Avinoam became fascinated microscopy in order to understand how by the exquisite architecture of cell the unique membrane architecture of Dr. Ori AvinoamAvinoam was born in Haifa, Israel. In 2006, he earned a BSc in membranes and by the significance of muscles is established and maintained, molecular biochemistry cum laude from the Technion — Israel Institute membrane sculpting to the function of and how its perturbation leads to muscle of Technology, and earned his PhD in Biology there in 2012, studying cells and subcellular structures. Our lives diseases. Undoubtedly, his research will begin with cell fusion and membrane improve our understanding of many the mechanism by which membrane proteins enable cell-to-cell fusion. remodeling: from the fusion of an fundamental cellular and developmental A postdoctoral fellowship followed at the European Molecular Biology egg with a sperm cell, to the fusion of processes that involve changes in Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. At EMBL, he worked to develop placental cells, to the fusion of individual membrane shape and composition. the means to visualize dynamic changes in membrane architecture, so as cells into muscle fibers during embryonic to enhance his understanding of how proteins remodel the membrane. development. As adults, our bones are Having received fellowships for academic excellence in 2008, 2009, maintained by osteoclasts (multinucleated and 2011, Dr. Avinoam received an EIPOD Interdisciplinary postdoctoral cells), and foreign objects (e.g., viruses) fellowship in 2012. He has considerable teaching experience, including an are encapsulated by giant cells that form EMBL advanced course in High-Accuracy Correlated Light and Electron Microscopy: Applications at Room Temperature and in Cryo. Dr. Avinoam is a co-inventor on a pending patent related to cell-cell fusion proteins.

6 7 DR. ROI AVRAHAM DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL REGULATION

and in vivo experiments—puts all that earlier training to work.” Dr. Avraham’s research focuses on The battlefield a novel anti-infection strategy. Rather than seeking to kill bacteria, he targets the host-pathogen interactions that tactics of bacteria contribute to bacterial success. “I’m looking at intra-cellular bacteria that are engulfed by large cells of the immune system called macrophages,” In the process of he explains. “Not only do these macrophages fail to destroy pathogenic infection, bacteria use bacteria; they actually provide a safe haven in which the bacteria replicate a ‘divide and conquer’ before going on to infect other cells. In my postdoc, we discovered that in the tactic involving one earliest stage of infection, bacteria use a ‘divide-and-conquer’ strategy: they group that sacrifices split into two sub-populations, one of which is recognized and inhibited by itself, weakening the macrophages, while the other is not. This host cell population, ‘diversionary tactic’ promotes infection progress; one sub-population sacrifices so that the other itself, weakening the host cell population, so that the other can survive.” can survive. This new understanding was made possible by a “twist” on single-cell RNA analysis—a technology that mines A hundred years after the discovery of genome-wide mRNA expression data Dr. penicillin—the wonder drug that saved from a heterogeneous population of cells. countless lives from WWII until today—we Dr. Avraham’s lab is the first to apply this Roi are losing the bacterial infection battle. technique to infectious disease. Resistance is skyrocketing, and even “We’ve found that, in different vaccines are failing to prevent previously bacterial sub-populations, the cycle of controllable conditions. Dr. Roi Avraham infection does not progress in a linear AvrahamDr. Roi Avraham received his BSc in computer science in 2001 is examining host-pathogen interactions, way, but instead is arrested at different using a novel approach that draws on phases,” he says. “This has clinical and his masters in neuro-immunology in 2006, both from Tel skills picked up during an unusually wide- implications because it means that drugs Aviv University. In 2011, he completed his doctoral training at ranging academic career. designed to stop the infection process the Weizmann Institute, where he worked in the Department He earned his PhD at the Weizmann may not always work. We are looking at of Biological Regulation under the supervision of Prof. Yosef Institute and recently returned to campus this phenomenon in culture, as well as in Yarden. Dr. Avraham’s postdoctoral research, which focused on after completing a postdoctoral fellowship animal models.” host-pathogen interactions, took place at the Broad Institute, at the MIT- and Harvard-affiliated Broad Dr. Avraham says that his expertise which is associated with both MIT and Harvard University. Institute. in both cancer and infectious disease is “I studied computer science as an reflective of a worldwide trend toward Dr. Avraham was a recipient of the Eshkol Fellowship from undergraduate, neuro-immunology for closer cooperation among biomedical the Israeli Ministry of Science. His work has been supported by my masters, and did my doctorate on scientists. “Resistance—whether to the Weizmann Institute Azrieli Institute for Systems Biology, the the ‘hard-core’ biochemical processes of antibiotic medications or chemotherapy— Wolfson Family Trust, SPARC Catalytic Funding, and the Broad cancer,” Dr. Avraham says. “My current is a significant health problem. We are Institute’s partnership with the Israel Science Foundation. His focus—which combines complex genetics, better positioned to find a solution if we research has appeared in Nature Protocols, Cell, EMBO, Science computational analysis of cellular studies, face this problem together.” Signaling and other journals. Dr. Avraham is married and has three children.

8 9 DR. GAL BINYAMINI DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

grappling with its transcendental curves. Working with his advisor, Prof. Sergei Yakovenko, Dr. Binyamini completed his Transcending PhD thesis at the Weizmann Institute on a new aspect of the problem. Dr. Binyamini is interested in the numbers interplay of algebra and algebraic geometry with the geometry and complexity of differential equations. Differential equations in math and physics Differential equations define much of the known world. Non- linear equations begin to enter the realm in math and physics of the unsolvable, and the concept of transcendental numbers and objects leave define much of the the world of rational numbers far behind. known world. A lot of the theoretical work in this realm of mathematics involves finding Non-linear equations realistic estimates of just how complex especially difficult problems are—in terms begin to enter of the orders of magnitude of possible outcomes—and the computing power the realm of the needed to calculate them. Reasonable estimates of these parameters can unsolvable, and simplify tough problems just enough to bring them into the realm of solvable the concept of equations. The Weizmann Institute is transcendental the perfect place for Dr. Binyamini to be contemplating the mathematics of numbers and objects transcendental equations with research collaborations with Prof. Dimitry Novikov, Dr. leave the world of Prof. Yakovenko and others. Dr. Binyamini grew up in Rehovot Gal rational numbers and nearby Maskeret Batya and got his first real taste of math and computer far behind. science through the Davidson Institute of Science Education programs. At the age Dr. Gal BinyaminiBinyamini completed his BSc in mathematics and computer sciences at Like most theoretical mathematicians, of 14, he traded high school for the Open the Open University of Israel in 2004, followed by an MSc in mathematics at the Dr. Binyamini is most interested in the University, completing his BSc there a Weizmann Institute of Science in 2007. He completed his PhD at the Weizmann type of problems that can’t be answered, few years later. He has pursued advanced like the 23 then-unsolved problems mathematics ever since. Institute under Prof. Sergei Yakovenko in 2011. After a year of postdoctoral work posed by German mathematician He met his wife, Mari, while living in at the Weizmann Institute, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of David Hilbert at the Paris conference a backpacker hostel in Toronto during Toronto in the Department of Mathematics. Dr. Binyamini joined the faculty of of the International Congress of his postdoctoral stint at the University the Department of Mathematics at the Weizmann Institute in 2016. Mathematicians in 1900. In the last 116 of Toronto. They are now living on the Dr. Binyamini was recognized on the Open University President’s List four years, mathematicians have resolved, or Weizmann Institute campus with their two years in a row, was awarded a Clore Israel Foundation Scholarship from 2009 partially solved, most of the challenges young daughters. She is learning Hebrew to 2012, and an Otto Schwartz Foundation Fellowship in 2009. His postdoctoral proposed by Hilbert. while he is learning her native language, awards included a Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Banting Postdoctoral Dr. Binyamini is particularly interested Japanese. “The Weizmann Institute was in Hilbert’s 16th, one of the few problems my first choice for establishing my career, Fellowship, and the Nessyahu prize for PhDs in Mathematics in 2014. that still defies solution. He does not and living on campus in an atmosphere of Dr. Binyamini is married and has two daughters. expect to solve it, but is interested in the science and mathematics makes it even pure mathematics that is entailed when better,” he said.

10 11 PROF. BO’AZ KLARTAG DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

of the slices of the partition, being a bit thicker near the middle, is a manifestation of the curvature of the sphere. The effect The curse of gets stronger in higher dimensions. Prof. Klartag’s research show that a similar partition may be obtained for any curved dimensionality? surface, in any number of dimensions. Such partitions explain what is called the “isoperimetric inequality” in curved spaces. His research at the Weizmann Institute will Experience in two and concentrate on some of the fascinating three dimensions seems questions in high-dimensional geometry in the fields of mathematics and theoretical to indicate that—as the computer science, and on other challenges. number of dimensions Prof. Klartag’s approach builds on pioneers in number theory and the increases—the number geometry of numbers, such as the Polish-German mathematician Hermann of possible configurations Minkowski (1864–1909) who was one of grows exponentially, Albert Einstein’s teachers; and Polish mathematician Stefan Banach (1892–1945), and one quickly enters one of the founders of functional analysis the realm of enormous, and known for the concept called Banach spaces. He has been very much influenced unimaginable diversity. and inspired by two contemporary mathematicians: Charles Fefferman Prof. Bo’az Klartag struggles with (currently at Princeton) and Vitali Milman what scientists often call the “curse at Tel Aviv University. of dimensionality”: his research shows Great teachers, including two years that there are a few strong motifs in in 7th and 8th grade with the popular Prof. high-dimensional geometry, such as the Israeli mathematician and science lecturer Bo’az concentration of measure phenomena, Haim Shapira, set Prof. Klartag on a which seem to compensate for the lifelong trajectory to become a theoretical enormous diversity imposed by high mathematician. His mother recently retired dimensionality. Especially under convexity after teaching mathematics in public high Klartag and curvature assumptions, high- schools for 45 years, while his father Prof. Bo’az Klartag was born in Israel. He completed his BSc in mathematics and computer dimensionality may lead to remarkable appreciates high-level math and physics as science in 1997 and his MSc in mathematics in 2001, both summa cum laude at Tel Aviv order and simplicity in questions such an electrical engineer. University, where he also completed his PhD in mathematics, with distinction, in 2004. He as the existence of highly regular sub- Prof. Klartag says he chose to move structures in a seemingly chaotic system, to the Weizmann Institute after eight then became a member of the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study or the distribution of results along the bell years of teaching at Tel Aviv University in Princeton, New Jersey, and served as a Clay Research Fellow at the Clay Mathematics curve: the so-called “central limit theorem because it seemed like the “perfect place Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Later, he was an Assistant Professor in the for convex sets”. for contemplating the pristine beauty of Department of Mathematics at Princeton University until returning to Tel Aviv University As an example, imagine slicing the theoretical mathematics”. He finds the in 2008. He was a professor in the Department of Mathematics at Tel Aviv University, and surface of a globe into a very large, but atmosphere similar to that of the Institute joined the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Mathematics in 2016. finite number of strips going from the for Advanced Studies, where he worked Prof. Klartag won a silver medal in the International Mathematics Olympiad in Bombay North Pole to the South Pole. Each slice following a postdoctoral stint at Princeton in 1996. He was awarded Wolf fellowships, a Clore fellowship for PhD students and the of the surface of the sphere looks almost University. More importantly, the Weizmann like a single meridian, yet it is still two- Institute is gathering a critical mass of Nessyahu prize for his PhD thesis. His postgraduate work was supported by an Alon dimensional. All of these slices are a bit mathematicians and computer scientists fellowship. He won both the European Mathematical Society Prize and a Salem Prize in thicker near the equator while they are exploring the realm of high-dimensionality 2008, and the Israel Mathematical Union’s Erdös Prize in 2010. He held the Raymond and rather thin near the poles. This feature with an interdisciplinary approach. Beverly Sackler Career Development Chair at Tel Aviv University in 2009 and was elected Junior Chair of the Fondation Sciences Mathématiques de Paris for 2012–2103. Prof. Klartag is married and has three children.

12 13 DR. TAMIR KLEIN DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Dr. Klein and his colleagues infused industrially produced CO2 at the leaf canopy level high in 40-meter-tall Norway The secret Spruce trees. This CO2 has an inherently unique signature of carbon isotopes that thus serves as a marker when measuring life of trees for its presence in other trees. They were surprised to find the same isotopes present in the roots of neighboring trees of three Trees are an essential part different species that were not exposed of the puzzle of global to the CO2. Delving deeper, they identified symbiotic fungi (called mycorrhiza) climate change, and play associated with the root systems that form a key role in the global water “underground highways” for carbon and nutrient exchange between the trees. They and carbon budgets. further showed, in an article published in Dr. Tamir Klein has plans to Science in 2016, that 40 percent of the fine root carbon can be traced to these adapt greenhouses at the tree-to-tree transfer networks—a thriving Weizmann Institute to create interconnected economy. Trees are an essential part of the a never-before-attempted puzzle of global climate change, and so experimental model. he is especially interested in their role in the global water and carbon budgets. He Dr. Klein lives and breathes trees. He has plans to adapt greenhouses at the studies trees and forests with a wealth Weizmann Institute to create a never- of measurements and details that try to before-attempted experimental model. capture the whole picture of how trees He hopes to create separate growing areas process water, air, and carbon. In Israel having atmospheric conditions matching and other parts of the world where water those that existed before the Industrial is scarce, it is important to understand Revolution; present-day conditions; and how trees and ecosystems adapt to double the concentration of greenhouse Dr. drought and stress. gases we have today, to mimic what His eco-physiological research has greenhouse gases might have in store for Tamir shown that trees are remarkably diverse life on Earth 50 years from now. and extremely adaptable in how they use He will also continue experiments on the the basic building blocks of water and drought resistance mechanisms of lemon carbon. He has discovered new insights trees that he started as a researcher in the Dr. Tamir Klein was born Kleinin Eilat, Israel. He earned a BSc in Biochemistry and Food Sciences with into how trees cycle water and nutrients Soil, Water, and Environmental Sciences honors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Rehovot campus. He completed an MSc in Plant between leaves, stems, and roots—and has Institute of the Agricultural Research Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2005, followed by his PhD in Environmental Sciences even shown evidence for a certain amount Organization’s Volcani Center in 2015. He of so-called “carbon trade” between roots notes that even irrigation does not preclude in 2012. Dr. Klein worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Botany at the University of Basel, of nearby trees. the exposure of fruit trees to drought. The Switzerland, from 2013 to 2015, and as a researcher at the Agricultural Research Organization Volcani Scientists have suspected for years development of drought resistant varieties Center, Beit Dagan, in 2015 and 2016. He joined the Weizmann Institute in 2016. that trees share certain nutrients through of lemons, almonds, olives, and other tree Dr. Klein is currently the editor of two journals, the Journal of Plant Hydraulics, and iForest, Journal intertwining root systems, and have crops common to Israel would allow them of Biogeosciences and Forestry. He was awarded the Karshon Foundation Scholarship in Forest measured the transport of some elements to grow in even drier areas. Research in 2011, and the Rieger Foundation Scholarship in Environmental Sciences in 2012. In 2013, on a small scale in lab experiments. Dr. Klein will conduct these lab his presentation was selected as the best scientific talk in the International Symposium on Wood During his postdoctoral fellowship at the experiments in tandem with field studies Structure in Plant Biology and Ecology in Naples, Italy. He was awarded the Dov Elad Memorial Prize University of Basel, Dr. Klein conducted focused on the water and carbon relations whole-tree measurements as part of a of trees under wet and drought conditions. at the Weizmann Institute for best PhD thesis in 2013. Dr. Klein was a lecturer and course developer in study which led to the first quantification His research will provide insights on the the Department of Science Teaching’s Environmental Sciences and Sustainability Metrics Course for of the surprisingly large extent of the physiology and control of growth, drought high school students and high school teachers during his years as a student at the Weizmann Institute, transfer of carbon and nutrients between resistance mechanisms, and the below- as well as teaching English and Mathematics through the Davidson Institute for Science Education. mature trees of different species. ground collaboration among trees. He is divorced and has two children.

14 15 DR. DORON KUSHNIR DEPARTMENT OF PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS

As a theoretical astrophysicist, Dr. Kushnir has challenged the conventional theory with an alternative explanation Why do stars that both explains the successful explosions and appears to better fit the data. With several colleagues, including explode? Dr. Boaz Katz in the Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, they have advanced a theory that Type Ia explosions occur when two white dwarf Supernovae are not stars collide directly with each other. Dr. Katz (then at the Institute for just beautiful cosmic Advanced Study at Princeton) and another fireworks. Many researcher were working on the erratic orbits of exoplanets—planets orbiting of the elements stars outside our solar system. They noticed that these orbits often put stars that are essential and their planets on collision courses. To find out what might happen when the two for life—such as white dwarf stars collide, they approached Dr. Kushnir, who had been working on calcium and iron— fundamental questions concerning the explosion mechanisms of supernovae. have been produced He was one of only a few scientists who and distributed by had the tools to calculate whether such collisions would actually end in the giant supernovae, the blasts that result in a supernova. Together they put together theoretical powerful explosion and computer models of what would happen. Dr. Kushnir’s new model Dr. of stars. suggested that such a collision would most likely lead to an explosion and that, prior Doron Supernovae are useful for astronomers to ignition, a significant fraction of the and astrophysicists, who use the so- mass of the stars is highly compressed, called “Type Ia supernovae” as a basic reaching the density required for efficient reference unit for measuring distances production of radioactive nickel in the Born in Israel,Kushnir Dr. Doron Kushnir completed his BSc in mathematics and physics in the universe. That’s because they detonation wave that follows. summa cum laude at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2000 while serving are particularly bright and have highly Their theory solves several problems in the elite IDF Talpiot program. He completed his MSc in physics there, also homogenous emission properties. Thus, with the conventional explanation. First, summa cum laude, in 2004. Dr. Kushnir earned his PhD in the Department of by comparing the relative brightness and only extremely massive, dense, and rare Particle Physics and Astrophysics at the Weizmann Institute in 2011, working emission properties of different Type white dwarfs could have led to such with Prof. Eli Waxman. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Ia supernovae, scientists can estimate explosions using the conventional model. relative distances on cosmological scales. Their collision theory allowed the more Advanced Study at Princeton University from 2012 until joining the faculty of A Type Ia supernova is likely the common, less massive, white dwarf stars the Weizmann Institute in 2016. outcome of thermonuclear explosions to produce a Type Ia explosion, due to the Dr. Kushnir’s awards and professional honors include The Hebrew University of a white dwarf star. However, the pre-ignition. The new model also explained Dean’s list in 1998 and 1999, the Dostrovsky Prize for Outstanding PhD exact mechanism leading to white dwarf the masses of radioactive nickel observed Thesis at the Weizmann Institute in 2011, and an Institute for Advanced Study explosion is a long-standing open question in the aftermath of Type Ia supernovae postdoctoral fellowship in astrophysics in 2012. He was also awarded 4 million in astrophysics. and other observations. CPU hours on one of the most powerful computers in the world through a competition sponsored by the National Science Foundation Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (ESEDE) program. He also received a John N. Bahcall Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study. He is married and has two children.

16 17 DR. DAVID MROSS DEPARTMENT OF PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS

An electron’s exotic existence

severe constraints from electric repulsion. The life of a little To accommodate strong interactions, electrons must act collectively and may electron, bound in a form phases of matter very different from those of familiar metals or insulators. crystal, is packed with Dr. Mross conducts research in the field of condensed material physics, an outsized amount which focuses on the collective behavior of many-particle systems, usually at low of excitement. temperatures. He focuses on systems where constraints on the motion of Because electrons electrons are imposed by symmetries and/or topology. Satisfying the demands interact, all sorts of of these constraints, as well as of strong interactions, requires the electrons to “be complex behaviors creative” and move in unusual collective formations, which can result in truly can emerge. New exotic phenomena. For instance, electrons kinds of behaviors may get stripped of their charges, but otherwise maintain their integrity. Dr. are constantly being In addition to their direct application in solid state systems, such novel phases David discovered by theory feature surprising connections to seemingly unrelated areas of physics. For or experiment. example, Dr. Mross recently discovered a precise relationship between the MrossDr. David Mross received a diploma in physics at the University As a theoretical physicist, Dr. Mross surfaces of topological insulators and of Bonn, Germany, in cooperation with the University of studies exotic phases of matter that quantum field theories studied in particle Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2008. He received a PhD in physics are formed by electrons in solid state physics, and he is very excited about systems. While the familiar phases of further exploring these connections. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2013, and classical materials—solid, liquid, and gas Dr. Mross is also interested in exploring served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physics —each have a limited set of predictable phase transitions in metals that have and the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM) attributes, different arrangements of been cooled to absolute zero (metallic at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. electrons in quantum systems can lead quantum criticality) and high-temperature Dr. Mross graduated from The University of Bonn with to phases of matter with a range of superconductors. distinction. Among his academic and professional honors are properties, such as superconductors, a Masters Fellowship from the Carl Duisberg Foundation, an magnets, or topological insulators (in which electrons can only move on the MIT Presidential Fellowship in 2008, and the Harry Kendall surface of the material; the interior is Teaching Award at MIT in both 2011 and 2012, a Kavli Institute insulated). This rich variety emerges for Theoretical Physics (KITP) Graduate Fellowship in 2012, and because, unlike atoms in a gas, electrons an IQIM Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2013. cannot move freely; they are subject to When not studying physics, Dr. Mross enjoys cycling around town or in the mountains.

18 19 DR. ULYANA SHIMANOVICH DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS AND INTERFACES

Traditionally, amyloids have been thought of as purely “bad” because they form toxic plaques or bundles in the brain. Using nature to However, Dr. Shimanovich’s research on the biophysical and biochemical properties of amyloids has shown that heal nature they have positive properties. Her current goal is to discover the mechanisms for creating useful protein fibrils and for breaking down harmful ones, and how to Dr. Shimanovich is correlate the structure and functionality of various nano-scale protein fibrils like fascinated by the amyloids, and control their formation. Doing so, she believes, will be a major ultra-fine fibers step towards designing new nano-scale formed by proteins, therapeutic agents such as micro-reactors to encapsulate time-release medications, ranging from the or nanofibrils with antibacterial properties to resist infection. tough, elastic fibrils Her approach utilizes nature to fix nature. Dr. Shimanovich uses protein spun by silkworms pulled directly out of the silk glands of live silkworms and spiders. She uses to the sticky plaques these fibers to control the self-assembly processes of the pathological amyloid comprised of amyloid proteins—actually changing the cell’s morphology and thus converting them protein fibers that into functional biomaterials. In this way, the silk is used to heal the cell instead of affect the brains of using chemical compounds that may cause deleterious effects on surrounding cells. those with advanced “The silk is a natural resource that, Dr. essentially, gives new life to a damaged Ulyana Alzheimer’s and cell,” she says. Her research has implications for diagnostics, the design Parkinson’s diseases. of new compounds for targeted therapeutic approaches, and materials ShimanovichBorn in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dr. Shimanovich moved to Israel at the age of 20. science more broadly. Dr. Shimanovich is part of the Weizmann She completed a BSc in pharmaceutical chemistry at Bar-Ilan University. She Institute’s efforts to expand its research completed her MSc and PhD in chemistry at Bar-Ilan University, and in 2012 in nanobiology and materials science. This accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Cambridge. In 2016, Dr. includes a new building for advanced and Shimanovich joined the Weizmann Institute of Science. intelligent materials and an expansive new Her academic and professional honors include RC Scheme award from research umbrella in materials science, University of Cambridge (2015) and she is an elected CRA Fellow of St John’s which will leverage the Institute’s strength College, Cambridge (2015). She was awarded several prizes for women in science in this burgeoning and important area. Applications of nanobiology include and an award from the Israel Science Education Foundation and several prizes for fluorescent biological labels, drug and publications in the field of nanotechnology from BINA, the Nanocenter of Bar-Ilan gene delivery, detection of proteins and University (2009–2013). She won a Fulbright Ilan-Ramon Post-Doctoral Fellowship pathogens, probing DNA structure, tumor from the United States-Israel Educational Foundation (2012) as well as a Fulbright destruction, and tissue engineering. Fellowship (which she declined in order to accept a fellowship at Cambridge). She has several joint patents and pending applications for innovations in nanoscience and nanomedicine.

20 21 DR. OMER YAFFE DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS AND INTERFACES

with highly irregular surfaces, conventional tools of measuring and observing electron transport are rendered ineffective when Exploring new studying them. Dr. Yaffe has a new approach for these new materials. He is combining materials spectroscopic (that is, how light interacts with matter) and electron transport measurements to study the interplay The structure and properties between the structural dynamics and the electronic functions of soft semiconductors. of soft semiconductors are This combination represents a foundational step in improving our understanding of soft fundamentally different semiconductor science, and could lead to from those of inorganic the development of novel devices that are based on these relatively new materials. semiconductors, and In his doctoral work at the Weizmann scientists are only just Institute, Dr. Yaffe studied how charge carriers transport electrons across hybrid beginning to unlock their organic-inorganic interfaces, and explored chemical and physical new methods to “tune” the electronic properties of inorganic semiconductor secrets by understanding surfaces for possible nanoelectronic electron transport, or applications. At Columbia University, he specialized in optical micro-spectroscopy how electrons move and harnessed a method for detecting low- frequency properties of molecules (their from orbitals to atoms vibration or rotation). That is, he developed to molecules. Electron a method for studying the ‘molecular transport mechanisms fingerprint’ of hybrid perovskite crystals, a promising new material being tested for Dr. are critical for evaluating low-cost, highly efficient solar cells. Capitalizing on recent advances in laser Omer the potential of these filtering and spectroscopy, Dr. Yaffe is new materials for use in developing a new experimental approach to spatially map the structural differences nanoelectronics or other and dynamics and the electronic properties YaffeBorn in the U.S., Dr. Omer Yaffe completed a dual BSc in of soft semiconductors, while measuring manufacturing applications. their electron mobility. He plans to employ chemistry and chemical engineering at Ben Gurion University this approach on a variety of organic in 2005, and earned his MSc summa cum laude in chemical Dr. Omer Yaffe studies the electronic and hybrid semiconductor types, such engineering there in 2007. Dr. Yaffe completed his PhD in and structural properties of “soft” as molecular crystals, hybrid perovskite the Department of Materials and Interfaces at the Weizmann semiconductors. Unlike conventional halides, and conjugated polymers. He hopes Institute of Science in 2012, where he studied under Prof. David semiconductors such as silicon, which are to discover how these weak solids transport Cahen. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the electrons, in order to design new organic held together by more stable electron Columbia University Energy Frontier Research Center. In 2016, bonds, soft semiconductors are made semiconductors and devices with improved he joined the Weizmann Institute. of organic materials that are held electronics and performance. together by weak atomic forces. Soft Dr. Yaffe is an alumnus of the Azrieli Fellows Program semiconductors are promising materials (2009–2012). He received the John F. Kennedy Prize from the for the solar cells, electronic displays, and Weizmann Institute in 2014 and the Marie Curie International bright-light–emitting diodes of the future. Outgoing Fellowship in 2013. In 2015, he gave an invited talk at However, because these materials are, the University of Chicago “Rising Stars” chemistry symposium. by nature, disordered and amorphous,

22 23 DR. BINGHAI YAN DEPARTMENT OF CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS

the fact that electrons on the surface of a crystal, or the edges of an interface, behave quite differently from those in the Physics on bulk of the material. Topological materials are generally insulating in the bulk state, but metallic on the edge their surfaces. It is the change in topology that occurs at the interface between the bulk of the material and the “normal” world that surrounds it that makes these Topological surfaces materials and states behave differently promise great potential than conventional materials. These new materials offer unique opportunities to for a new generation of enrich new areas in quantum physics and electronics and quantum to inspire technological advances beyond imagination. computation. It is the Working with scientists at the Max change in topology— Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Dr. Yan has already the special physical discovered a new class of topological properties of the surface insulators. As a theoretician, he works in close collaboration with materials of a material—that makes scientists and keeps up to date with the sophisticated techniques for materials these materials and states synthesis and device fabrication. In behave differently than particular, he is interested in topological systems exhibiting the spin-orbit coupling the substance of the effect. He envisions spin-orbit coupling materials themselves. systems that can, perhaps, create an experimentally feasible interface with a superconductor—which may lead to Dr. Dr. Binghai Yan is driven by the desire realizing one of the components needed to unveil the beauty of physics in real for topological quantum computers. Binghai materials. He starts from the pristine Dr. Yan paid his first visit to the realm of pure theory, using theoretical Weizmann Institute in 2014 and calculations—based on the physical enjoyed his experience. “The openness, properties of atoms and molecules—to collaborations, free discussions, and Born in the YanPeoples’ Republic of China, Dr. Binghai Yan completed his BSc reveal new functionalities of known pursuit of excellence made me feel very at Xi’an Jiaotong University in Xi’an, China in 2003. He earned a PhD in materials and to design new materials much at home,” he said. During that visit, physics at the Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, in 2008. He worked with desired physical properties. These so- he also launched a new collaboration called ab-initio methods play a significant with Dr. Haim Biedenkopf of the same as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bremen, Germany, from role in helping scientists explore the new department. 2008 to 2012, except for nine months as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford realm of topological materials that has Many visits later, he is now becoming University in California in 2010 and 2011. Since 2012, Dr. Yan has worked at become the hottest topic in condensed the first Chinese-born faculty member the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany, matter physics in the last 10 years. at the Weizmann Institute, far from his where he heads a lab specializing in topological insulators. He joins the Topological materials and topological family home in Shandong Province in Weizmann Institute of Science in January 2017. states involve a kind of order that is eastern China. Close ties between the Dr. Yan was awarded a Humboldt Fellowship by Humboldt Foundation substantively different than conventional Weizmann Institute and the Max Planck in Germany in 2008. He was awarded the ARCHES Prize by the Minerva bulk materials. In regular materials, Institute will enable him to keep working electrons travel in an ordered lattice of with his many colleagues in Germany. Foundation of Germany in 2013 and a research award by German-Israeli atoms and molecules and form a state His wife, Huanhuan Wang, will work Foundation in 2016. that can be either metallic or insulating. toward completing her PhD in oceanic and He is married and has two children. Topological materials take advantage of environmental science at the Institute.

24 25 New scientist funds and gifts Endowments and Centers Ordered alphabetically The Weizmann Institute of Science has received • The Abramson Family Center for Young Scientists • Ruth and Herman Albert Scholars Program for New Scientists substantial gifts for the benefit of new scientists from • A.M.N. Fund for the Promotion of Science, Culture and Arts in Israel the following individuals, families and funds, and wishes • The Asher and Jeannette Alhadeff Research Award to express its appreciation to them: • The Applebaum Foundation • Appleton Family Trust • Estate of David Arthur Barton • Froma & Andrew Benerofe New Scientist Fund • Irma & Jacques Ber-Lehmsdorf Foundation • Estate of (Shlomo) Stanislav & Sabine Bierzwinsky • Frances Brody Young Scientists Fund • Raymond Burton Endowment for Prizes • The Sir Charles Clore Research Prize • Crown Endowment Fund for Immunology Research • Cymerman-Jakubskind Prize • Estate of Ernst and Anni Deutsch • Rena Dweck New Scientist Endowment • The Enoch Foundation • Eranda Foundation • Estelle Funk Biomedical Research Fund • Fusfeld Research Fund • Peter and Patricia Gruber Awards • The Harmstieg New Scientists Fund • IPA Prize for a Promising New Scientist • Susan and Dan Kane • Marlene and Bruce Kanter • The Late Sanford Kaplan • The Koret Foundation • The Larson Charitable Foundation • Katy and Gary Leff • Judith Marks • Rina Mayer • Ernst Nathan Biomedical Fund • The Jordan and Jean Nerenberg Family Foundation Young Scientist Endowed Fund • William Z. & Eda Bess Novick New Scientists Fund • Estate of Paul Ourieff • Estate of Victor Pastor • Rayne Foundation • Robert Rees Applied Research Fund • Abraham and Sonia Rochlin Foundation • Lois Rosen • Hana and Julius Rosen Fund • Cathy and Louis Rosenmayer • Rosenzweig-Coopersmith Foundation • Alice Schwarz-Gardos New Scientist Fund • The Lord Sieff of Brimpton Memorial Fund • Soref New Scientists Start up Fund • The Charles and David Wolfson Charitable Trust

26 27 Career Development Chairs

Ordered alphabetically • The Joseph and Celia Reskin Career Development Chair • The Ernst and Kaethe Ascher Career Development Chair • The Louis and Ida Rich Career Development Chair • The Enid Barden and Aaron J. Jade President’s Development Chair for New Scientists in • The Philip Harris and Gerald Ronson Career Development Chair Memory of Cantor John Y. Jade • The Aser Rothstein Career Development Chair • The Beracha Foundation Career Development Chair • The Helena Rubinstein Career Development Chair • The Leonard and Carol Berall Career Development Chair • The Martha S. Sagon Career Development Chair • The Miriam Berman Presidential Development Chair • The Rowland and Sylvia Schaefer Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Jenna and Julia Birnbach Family Career Development Chair • The Lewis and Alice Schimberg New Scientist Chair • The Elaine Blond Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Sara Lee Schupf Family Chair • The Adolfo and Evelyn Blum Career Development Chair of Cancer Research in Perpetuity • The Skirball Chair in New Scientists • The Anna and Maurice Boukstein Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Benjamin H. Swig and Jack D. Weiler Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Roel C. Buck Career Development Chair • The Sygnet Career Development Chair for Bioinformatics • The Delta Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Tauro Career Development Chair in Biomedical Research • The Aryeh and Ido Dissentshik Career Development Chair • The Shlomo and Michla Tomarin Career Development Chair • The Dr. Victor L. Ehrlich Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Morris and Ida Wolf Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Abraham and Jennie Fialkow Career Development Chair • The Dr. Celia Zwillenberg-Fridman and Dr. Lutz Zwillenberg Career Development Chair • The Alan and Laraine Fischer Career Development Chair • The Judith and Martin Freedman Career Development Chair • The Dr. A. Edward Friedmann Career Development Chair in Mathematics • The Samuel and Isabelle Friedman Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Edith and Nathan Goldenberg Career Development Chair • The Rina Gudinski Career Development Chair • The Madeleine Haas Russell Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Walter and Elise Haas Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Frances Hersh and Max Hersh Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Henry Kaplan Career Development Chair of Cancer Research in Perpetuity • The Joyce Eisenberg Keefer and Mel Keefer Career Development Chair for New Scientists • The Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Career Development Chair • The Carl and Frances Korn Career Development Chair in the Life Sciences • The Corinne S. Koshland Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Dr. Daniel E. Koshland Career Development Chair • The Jacob and Alphonse Laniado Career Development Chair of Industrial and Energy Research in Perpetuity • The Ruth and Louis Leland Career Development Chair • The Dewey David Stone and Harry Levine Career Development Chair • The Alvin and Gertrude Levine Carrer Development Chair • The Lillian and George Lyttle Career Development Chair • The Robert Edward and Roselyn Rich Manson Career Development Chair in Perpetuity • The Monroy-Marks Career Development Chair • The Gertrude and Philip Nollman Career Development Chair • The William Z. and Eda Bess Novick Career Development Chair • The Leah Omenn Career Development Chair • The Friends of Linda and Richard Price Career Development Chair • The Recanati Career Development Chair of Cancer Research in Perpetuity • The Pauline Recanati Career Development Chair • The Recanati Career Development Chair of Energy Research in Perpetuity

28 29 General Support Scientist-specific funding

Ordered alphabetically • Robert H. and Mary Jane Asher Roi Avraham • The Berlin Family Foundation • Estate of David Turner • Blythe Brenden-Mann New Scientist Fund • Carolito Stiftung Doron Kushnir • Clore Israel Foundation • The Abramson Family Center for Young Scientists • The Fabrikant-Morse Families Research Fund for Humanity • Ilan Gluzman Omer Yaffe • Paul Goldensohn • The Benoziyo Fund for the Advancement of Science • The Gurwin Family Fund for Scientific Research • The Larson Charitable Foundation • The Laura Gurwin Flug Family Fund • Carolito Stiftung • Iancoviv and Fallmann families • Kahn Foundation • Fondazione Henry Krenter • Alan I. Leshner • Estate of David Levidow • Estate of David Levinson • Charles Milgrom • Monroy-Marks Career Development and Staff Scientist Start Up Fund • Cherna and Irving Moskowitz New Scientist Fund • Hilda Namm • The Henry S. and Anne Reich Family Foundation • Rising Tide Foundation • Hanna and Julius Rosen Fund • Vera and John L. Schwartz, M.D. • The Late Rudolfine Steindling • Sam Switzer • Estate of David Turner • Zumbi Stiftung

30 31 Introducing New Scientists 2016-2017 is published by the Department of Resource Development at the Weizmann Institute of Science P.O. Box 26, Rehovot, Israel 76100 Tel: 972 8 934 4582 e-mail: [email protected]

Design and production: Dina Shoham Design

Photography: Itai Belson and Ohad Herches of the Weizmann Institute Photo lab