Dr. Ada E. Yonath

Ada Yonath pioneered and is studying the structural basis of a universal and fundamental process: translating the genetic code into proteins. She is focusing on ribosomes, the cellular “factories” performing this task. Based on the universality of the ribosomes, she is exploring the origins of life as well as the ribosome’s clinical significance. Due to their fundamental function, ribosomes are targeted by many antibiotics. Thus, by investigating their action alongside the mechanisms acquiring antibiotics resistance, she is revealing novel routes for structure-based drug improvements and design. Born in Jerusalem, Ada Yonath studied at the Hebrew University, earned her Ph.D. degree from the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) and completed post- doctoral studies at Carnegie Mellon University and MIT in USA. Early in her career, Dr. Yonath established the first laboratory for protein crystallography in Israel, the only laboratory of this kind in that country for almost a decade. She then spent a sabbatical leave at Chicago University and served as a lecturer at several universities, including Valdivia in Chile. Currently Dr. Yonath is the Kimmel Professor of structural biology and the Director of the Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly at the WIS. In parallel with her work at WIS, during 1986- 2004 time frame, Dr. Yonath directed the Max-Planck-Research-Unit for Ribosome Structure in Hamburg, Germany. Dr. Yonath is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences; the American Academy of Arts & Sciences; the Israel Academy of Sciences & Humanities; the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO); the European Academy of Sciences & Art; the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina); the Korean Academy for Science & Technology; the Royal Chemical Society-UK, the International Academy of Microbiology and the International Academy of Astronautics. She holds honorary doctorates from almost all Israeli Universities; from KEK, Japan; Oslo University, Norway; Fujian University, China; NYU and Mount Sinai Universities, NYC; Hamburg University; Patras University, Greece; Oxford and Cambridge Universities, UK; and the Baptist University, Hong Kong. Dr. Yonath’s awards include the 1st European Crystallography Prize; the Israel Prize; the Paul Karrer Gold Medal; the Israel EMET Award; the Rothschild Prize; the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize of Columbia U, NY; the Paul Ehrlich-Ludwig Medal; the Linus Pauling Gold Medal; the Anfinsen Prize; the Wolf Prize; the Massry Award; the UNESCO/L’Oreal Award for Women in Science; the Albert Einstein World Award for Excellence; the Erice Peace Prize; the DESY Pin; the Exner Medal; the Indian PM Gold Medal; the President of Panama Award; the Maria Sklodowska-Curie Medal of the Polish Chemical Society; the Cite of Florence Prize; the Datta Medal; and the 2009 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

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