"The Brain Gain" Introducing New Young Scientists
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"The Brain Gain" Introducing New Young Scientists Talented young scientists like the new recruits proled here, with their fresh ideas and research skills, are the dynamic engines of scientic discovery and progress that enable the Weizmann Institute of Science to retain and enhance its position at the forefront of science. These high-caliber young researchers, who are recruited each year to the tenure-track faculty of the Weizmann Institute – our “brain gain,” are vital to Israel’s future, and key to the role the Weizmann Institute plays in developing Israel’s scientic brain power. They join its community of 250 principal researchers who are not only the leaders of their own labs and in their own elds, but also train more than one-quarter of Israel’s new Ph.D.’s in science and mathematics within the framework of the Institute’s graduate education programs. The Institute has set itself a mission to locate and bring back home the best and brightest young Israeli scientists, and has hired 49 new faculty members since 2005. Their recruitment entails a serious commitment and signicant expenditure to provide them with the advanced tools and nancial backing needed to launch their careers, outt their laboratories, purchase equipment, build their teams, explore new ideas, and establish collaborations. This major investment of funds and resources would not be possible without the support of many friends of the Institute from around the world. In addition, we receive signicant assistance from various programs of the Israel Science Foundation. We are extremely grateful for the vision and generosity of these supporters, which help us to ensure Israel’s and the Institute’s future success. Prof. Daniel Zajfman President Dr. Eli Arama Education Eli Arama earned his B.Sc. (1994) and M.Sc. (1996) degrees from Bar- Ilan University. His Ph.D. on Drosophila tumor suppressor genes was completed at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, in 2000. Dr. Arama conducted postdoctoral research in the genetic analysis of programmed cell death in the Drosophila at Rockefeller University in New York, and was awarded the Charles H. Revson Foundation Fellowship in Biomedical Research in 2003. Dr. Arama Dr. Arama’s research is joined the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Molecular Genetics supported by: in 2006. M.D. Moross Institute for Cancer Research Research eld Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center Dr. Eli Arama studies the interaction between apoptosis, or for Neurological Diseases Chais Family Fellows Program programmed cell death, and the processes that are essential to for New Scientists maintaining the body’s normal biological activities. Defects in the Samuel M. Soref & Helene K. mechanisms that instruct cells to die can promote the development Soref Foundation of cancer and malignant tumors if defective cells escape the signal Henry S. & Anne S. Reich to self destruct; Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and other Research Fund for Mental disorders can arise when too many cells are killed. Health Lord Mitchell, UK He is the incumbent of the Corinne S. Koshland Career Development Chair in Perpetuity Dr. Barak Dayan Education Barak Dayan completed his B.Sc. degree in physics and mathematics cum laude at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1992), within the IDF’s elite Talpiot program. He went on to complete a M.Sc. in physics cum laude at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1999), and a Ph.D. in physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2005, in Prof. Yaron Silberberg’s ultrafast optics group, where he initiated the assembly of a new quantum optics lab. Dr. Dayan conducted postdoctoral work in quantum optics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he led the eorts of the microtoroids group. He joined the Department of Chemical Physics at the Weizmann Institute in 2008. Research eld Dr. Barak Dayan devises new ways to explore and control the most promising and surprising aspects of quantum phenomena. His particular interest lies in the eld of quantum optics and quantum information science. 2 Dr. Nirit Dudovich Education After completing a B.Sc. in physics and computer science at Tel Aviv University in 1996, Nirit Dudovich studied physics at the Weizmann Institute, receiving her M.Sc. in 1999 and Ph.D. in 2004. Dr. Dudovich conducted postdoctoral research as a Fellow at the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences at the National Research Council in Ottawa, Canada. She joined the Department of Physics of Complex Systems at the Weizmann Institute in 2007. Dr. Dudovich’s research is supported by: Research eld Chais Family Fellows Program Dr. Nirit Dudovich uses super-fast pulses of laser-produced light to for New Scientists probe the basic processes within atoms and molecules. Using these Lord Sie of Brimpton ultra-short bursts of light, Dr. Dudovich and other researchers at Memorial Fund IPA Prize the Weizmann Institute hope to capture a conceptual snapshot of Estate of Julius and Hanna molecules in motion and eventually of electron orbits. Rosen Charles and Julia Wolf Philanthropic Fund Wolfson Family Charitable Trust Dr. Nir Friedman Education Nir Friedman completed a B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics in 1989 in the IDF’s Talpiot program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received his M.Sc. in physics at Tel Aviv University in 1996. He completed a Ph.D. under the guidance of Prof. Nir Davidson in the Department of Physics of Complex Systems at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2001. He continued at the Weizmann Institute as a postdoctoral fellow for two years in the Department of Dr. Friedman’s research Physics of Complex Systems. Dr. Friedman then found his interests is supported by: being drawn to the ultimate in complex systems – living cells and Sir Charles Clore Research Prize organisms. He went on to spend four years as a postdoctoral fellow Crown Endowment Fund for in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard Immunological Research University. Dr. Friedman joined the Weizmann Institute’s Department Abisch-Frenkel Foundation for of Immunology in 2007. the Promotion of Life Sciences Research eld Dr. Nir Friedman plans to build special micro-uidic devices to study how cells in the immune system communicate by means of exchanging proteins. These micro-uidic devices, which are essentially a lab-on-a-chip, enable him to study this exchange on a single cell level. His research combines advanced nano-fabrication, state-of-the-art imaging, full-edged biological manipulation of single cells, and advanced mathematical approaches to study the immune system. 3 Dr. Avishay Gal-Yam Education Avishay Gal-Yam completed his B.Sc. magna cum laude in physics and mathematics at Tel Aviv University in 1996. Upon completing his Ph.D. in physics and astronomy at Tel Aviv University in 2003, Dr. Gal- Yam received NASA’s prestigious Hubble postdoctoral fellowship – which included research time on the Hubble space telescope – and chose the California Institute of Technology as his host institution. Dr. Gal-Yam joined the Department of Condensed Matter Physics at the Dr. Gal-Yam’s research is Weizmann Institute in 2007. supported by: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Research eld Center for Astrophysics Dr. Avishay Gal-Yam’s research focuses on identifying the progenitors Peter and Patricia Gruber of supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, and illuminating the physical Awards William Z. & Eda Bess Novick processes that determine these explosions. His leadership in a New Scientists Fund worldwide observation project for supernovae led to the rst real- Legacy Heritage Fund time recording of a star in the process of exploding. Dr. Lilach Gilboa Education Lilach Gilboa earned an M.Sc. degree summa cum laude in biochemistry from Tel Aviv University’s Interdisciplinary Program for Fostering Excellence in 1993, completing a Ph.D. with distinction in Neurobiochemistry in 1999. After conducting postdoctoral research at New York University’s School of Medicine for eight years, she returned to Israel and joined the sta of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Biological Regulation in 2007. Dr. Gilboa’s research is supported by: Research eld Helen and Martin Kimmel Dr. Lilach Gilboa studies stem cells found in the ovary of adult fruit Institute for Stem Cell Research ies (Drosophila melanogaster), which produce eggs continually Willner Family Center for throughout their lifetime. The many genetic tools available for Vascular Biology Abisch-Frenkel Foundation for Drosophila research have made the adult ovary a leading system the Promotion of Life Sciences in understanding the principles of stem cell biology. She has Abraham and Sonia Rochlin developed a number of new tools and techniques for probing stem Foundation cell development and dierentiation. 4 Dr. Shahal Ilani Education Shahal Ilani completed his B.Sc. in mathematics and physics with honors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in I992. He went on to complete an M.Sc. in Physics at the Racah Institute of Physics at Hebrew University in 1997, while serving in the Israel Defense Forces’ RAFAEL research program. He spent 1995 as a visiting scientist at Northwestern University in Illinois. Dr. Ilani completed a Ph.D. in Physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2003, and was part Dr. Ilani’s research is of the Weizmann Institute research team that built scanning single supported by the Willner electron transistors in the Braun Submicron Center on campus. From Family Leadership Institute for the Weizmann Institute of 2004 until joining the Department of Condensed Matter Physics in Science 2008, Dr. Ilani conducted postdoctoral work in the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics at Cornell University. Research eld Dr. Shahal Ilani is devising new ways to discover the innermost secrets of quantum phenomena. To study the physics of single electrons in action, he has helped create incredibly small electronic devices – such as single electron transistors and capacitators – made out of single carbon nanotubes suspended between two materials that form the gateways.