Program

Ms. Cathy Beck

Chair, International Board

Cathy Beck has been a part of the Weizmann community for over four decades. She is the daughter of the late Mary and Tom Beck, longstanding supporters and advocates of the Weizmann Institute from Toronto who were founding members of Weizmann Canada. With her husband, Dr. Laurence Rubin, and their children, she has continued the Beck family tradition of philanthropic support, focusing on matters close to their heart, namely sustainability and alternative energy. Ms. Beck served as Chair of Weizmann Canada for two consecutive terms, from 2010 until 2016. Under her leadership, Weizmann Canada surpassed fundraising goals, increased engagement, and spread awareness about the Weizmann Institute of Science across the country. Working hand-in-hand with the Committee's professional team, Ms. Beck helped build and expand the Canadian circle of friends of the Institute to what it is today.

Cathy Beck and her siblings dedicated part of their parents' estate to creating the Tom and Mary Beck Center for Advanced and Intelligent Materials, headed by Prof. Leeor Kronik. This Center supports groundbreaking research on innovative materials conducted with an eye towards possible applications in medicine, building materials, and alternative energy. Through their active engagement, genuine interest, and continued patronage, Cathy and her family have made a tremendous impact on countless areas of science at the Weizmann Institute throughout the years, putting their faith in the Institute's scientists and in the vast potential of basic research.

Mr. Shimshon Harel

Chair, Executive Board
Israel

Shimshon Harel is the Chair of the Executive Board of the Weizmann Institute of Science since November 2017. He has served on the Board of the Weizmann Institute since 1999, as a member of the International and the Executive Boards.

Mr. Harel was elected Chair of the Israeli Friends Association of the Weizmann Institute in January 2006, and has been active within the framework of the Association and its management for over two decades. He serves as a member of the Board of the Davidson Institute of Science Education, the Weizmann Institute’s educational arm, and on the Board of Mul Nof, the Weizmann Institute’s real estate management company.

Mr. Harel is also CEO of America Israel Investments Ltd., a company specializing in real estate investments in Israel and abroad. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of several commercial companies: Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bashan Radiators Ltd., Studio C Ltd, and Mango Ltd. He has been a Director of Jerusalem Economy Ltd. since December 2015. 

Various social causes are close to his heart. He is a member of the Friends Association of Ilan, the Chairman of the Haifa Sami Ofer Stadium, member of the Board of Directors of Haifa Economic Corporation, member of the Board of Governors of the University of Haifa, and was the Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka in Israel until December 31, 2017.

Mr. Harel holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, and a master’s degree in business administration. He and his wife Orna reside in Tel Aviv.

Prof. Serge Haroche

Co-Chair, Scientific and Academic Advisory Committee (SAAC)
France

 

Prof. Serge Haroche was born in 1944 in Casablanca, Morocco. He graduated from École Normale Supérieure (ENS), receiving his doctorate from Paris VI University in 1971 (thesis advisor: Claude Cohen-Tannoudji). After a postdoctoral visit to Stanford University in the laboratory of Arthur Schawlow (1972-1973), he became a full professor at Paris VI University in 1975, a position he held until 2001, when he was appointed Professor at Collège de France (in the chair of quantum physics).

He has been Maitre de Conference at École Polytechique (1974-1984), visiting professor at Harvard University (1981), part-time professor at Yale University (1984-1993), member of Institut Universitaire de France (1991-2000) and Chairman of the ENS Department of Physics (1994-2000). From 2012 to 2015, he served as Administrateur of Collège de France (President of the institution). Since 2015, he has been an Emeritus Professor at Collège de France. His research has mostly taken place in the Kastler Brossel Laboratory at ENS, where he now works with a team of senior coworkers, postdocs, and graduate students.

Prof. Haroche has received many prizes and awards, culminating with the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with David Wineland. Other awards include the Grand Prix Jean Ricard of the French Physical Society (1983), the Einstein Prize for Laser Science (1988), the Humboldt Award (1992), the Michelson Medal from the Franklin Institute (1993), the Tomassoni Award from La Sapienza University (Rome, 2001), the Quantum Electronics prize of the European Physical Society (2002), the Quantum Communication Award of the International Organization for Quantum Communication, Measurement and Computing (2002), the Townes Award of the Optical Society of America, the CNRS Gold Medal (2009) and the Herbert Walter Prize of the German Physical Society and the Optical Society of America.

He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States and of the Brazilian, Moroccan, Colombian, and Russian academies of sciences. He has received honorary degrees from the Universities of Patras, Montreal, Strathclyde, Bar-Ilan University, and City University of Hong Kong as well as from the Weizmann Institute of Science (2015).

Prof. Herbert Jäckle

Stand-in co-Chair, Scientific and Academic Advisory Committee (SAAC)
Germany

Dr. Herbert Jäckle is Director Emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany, and former Vice-President of the Max Planck Society (2002-2014). He studied chemistry and biology at the University of Freiburg and spent his postdoc at the University of Texas at Austin in the US. He has held positions as staff scientist at the EMBL (Heidelberg), research group leader (Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tuebingen) and professor for genetics (Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich).

Dr. Jäckle is a member of EMBO, the Academia Europaea, and German Academies of Sciences (Leopoldina and Goettingen). He has earned several scientific awards (including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, the Otto Bayer Prize, and the Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine), and serves on Advisory Boards both in academia and industry.

Using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism, Dr. Jäckle's research is focused on molecular mechanisms (biochemical pathways and regulatory networks) involved in embryonic pattern formation (segmental body organization, formation of organs). More recent work (molecular physiology) aims to understanding the genetic and molecular basis of cellular and organismal energy homeostasis. Dr. Herbert Jäckle is the author of more than 200 scientific articles.

Ms. Cathy Beck

Chair, International Board

Cathy Beck has been a part of the Weizmann community for over four decades. She is the daughter of the late Mary and Tom Beck, longstanding supporters and advocates of the Weizmann Institute from Toronto who were founding members of Weizmann Canada. With her husband, Dr. Laurence Rubin, and their children, she has continued the Beck family tradition of philanthropic support, focusing on matters close to their heart, namely sustainability and alternative energy. Ms. Beck served as Chair of Weizmann Canada for two consecutive terms, from 2010 until 2016. Under her leadership, Weizmann Canada surpassed fundraising goals, increased engagement, and spread awareness about the Weizmann Institute of Science across the country. Working hand-in-hand with the Committee's professional team, Ms. Beck helped build and expand the Canadian circle of friends of the Institute to what it is today.

Cathy Beck and her siblings dedicated part of their parents' estate to creating the Tom and Mary Beck Center for Advanced and Intelligent Materials, headed by Prof. Leeor Kronik. This Center supports groundbreaking research on innovative materials conducted with an eye towards possible applications in medicine, building materials, and alternative energy. Through their active engagement, genuine interest, and continued patronage, Cathy and her family have made a tremendous impact on countless areas of science at the Weizmann Institute throughout the years, putting their faith in the Institute's scientists and in the vast potential of basic research.

Prof. Alon Chen

President
Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology

Prof. Alon Chen is the 11th President of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Prof. Chen was born in Israel. He studied biology, receiving his BSc, with distinction, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1995, and a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science through the direct PhD program, with distinction. During his PhD studies, Prof. Chen also received an MBA from Ben-Gurion University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California; it was there he began his research into the processes that occur in the brain and the body during stress and anxiety. He then joined the faculty of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen's research into the neurobiology of stress focuses on the mechanisms by which the brain regulates the response to stressful challenges and how this response may be linked to a number of psychiatric disorders. The long-term goal of his research is to elucidate the pathways and mechanisms by which stressors are perceived, processed and converted into neuroendocrine and behavioral responses under healthy and pathological conditions.

His lab has made significant discoveries in the field, revealing fundamental aspects of the stress response in both animals and humans, including actions that link specific stress-related genes, epigenetic mechanisms and brain circuits to anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders and metabolic syndrome.

Over the years in his various scientific and administrative leadership roles, Prof. Chen has worked extensively with scientific boards, executive boards, elected officials, alumni, donors and the community at large to advance the mission of the institutions in which he is involved.

Prof. Chen was Head of the Department of Neurobiology, and he is also Managing Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany, and serves as the Head of the Max Planck Society – Weizmann Institute of Science Laboratory for Experimental Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurogenetics. He is an adjunct professor at the Medical School of the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. He is the recipient of both the Rothschild Foundation and Fulbright fellowships. Upon his joining the Weizmann Institute, he received the Yigal Alon Fellowship.

Prof. Alon Chen is the incumbent of the Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen is married and father of two children. He has a keen interest in science education.

Mr. Jonathan Sieff

United Kingdom

With an extensive career in branding, distribution, and licensing on a global basis, Jonathan Sieff, founder and co-chairman of Global Brands Group, has an unparalleled level of experience on both the retail and promotional sectors. His achievements have included successfully bringing leading US clothing brands such as Vans and Eastpak to the UK and creating David Beckham's groundbreaking DB07 children's clothing brand at Marks & Spencer. Since forming the Global Brands Group in 2003, Sieff has overseen its development into one of the world’s leading product licensing, brand management and retail development companies and has helped to amass an impressive portfolio of licensing rights for internationally-renowned brands. Sieff has been the driving force behind the formation of a senior management team that has developed an impressive client portfolio including Marvel, Warner Brothers, FIBA and the PGA Tour. In 2006 he obtained the long-term global rights to create and produce FIFA branded merchandise in one of the largest licensing deals in sport. As part of the landmark agreement, FIFA has appointed Global Brands as both its worldwide exclusive licensing representative and store operator for FIFA branded retail destinations. Prior to Global Brands Group, Sieff was responsible for the formation of a series of other well-respected companies within the branding, distribution, and licensing sector. These included Global Inc. Limited which sold licensed clothing products to the UK and European retail market; Global Accessories Limited, which designs, manufactures, and distributes casual footwear and apparel in the UK; and Watermelon Limited, a Licensing and Design Consultancy which provides design solutions to retailers, licensors, and manufacturers. Jonathan Sieff is the great-great-grandson of Michael Marks, a founder of Marks & Spencer, and is the son of Sir David Sieff, who was a Marks & Spencer board director for 29 years until 2001.

Dame Vivien Duffield, DBE

Chair, Clore Israel Foundation
United Kingdom

Dame Vivien Duffield is the Chair of the Clore Israel Foundation and the daughter of Sir Charles Clore, one of Britain's most successful post-war businessmen and one of the most generous philanthropists of his day. Continuing this tradition, Dame Vivien grew up with a firm belief in supporting charitable endeavors. After Sir Charles' death in 1979, she assumed the Chairmanship of the Clore Foundations in Israel and in the UK. At the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Clore Israel Foundation established the Clore Garden of Science, the Clore Center for Biological Physics, and the Clore Institute for High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy. The Clore Foundation also supports the prestigious Sir Charles Clore Prize for Outstanding Appointment as Senior Scientist and the Sir Charles Clore Postdoctoral Fellowships.

In Israel, Dame Vivien served as Deputy Chair of the Board of the Weizmann Institute from 1995-2008, and currently serves as a Life Member of the Institute's International Board. She is an Honorary Fellow of the City of Jerusalem and winner of the Jerusalem Foundation's Teddy Prize. Dame Vivien has also been awarded PhD honoris causa degrees from the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In the UK, Dame Vivien is closely associated with a number of charities and, since the early 1980s, has sat on various Appeal Committees and Development Boards for the NSPCC; Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children; and the Royal Marsden, and was also a Trustee of Dulwich Picture Gallery from 1993 to 2002. She was a member of the Board of the Royal Opera House from 1990 to 2001 and is currently Chair of the Royal Opera House Endowment Fund. Dame Vivien became a Director of the South Bank Centre board in 2002, is on the Board of the World Monuments Fund in Britain and is a Governor of the Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School. In addition to the chairmanship of her foundations, Dame Vivien is also Founder and Life Patron of Eureka!, the Museum for Children in Halifax. In 2007, she was appointed Chair of the Executive Committee for the Oxford University Development Campaign. Her charitable work in the UK was recognized with the award of a CBE in 1989 and DBE in 2000. In November 2008, HRH the Prince of Wales presented Dame Vivien one of the first five Medals for Arts Philanthropy. The medal celebrates individuals who support the arts and recognizes the contribution of the most inspiring philanthropists in the UK.

Dame Vivien initiated the Jewish Community Centre in London - JW3 - and has been a major contributor to the building, which opened in September 2013.

Dr. Samer Gnaim

Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science

Dr. Samer Gnaim recently joined the Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science at the Weizmann Institute, where he plans to focus on developing new methods for synthesizing materials driven by electrochemistry, metal catalysis, and reagent development, and on expanding the synthetic chemistry analysis toolbox. He also strives to create a more efficient synthesis of pharmaceuticals, natural products, and agrochemicals; foster a better understanding of late-stage functionalization of bioactive molecules and therapeutic agents; and explore applications in materials, polymers, and bioorganic fields.

Throughout his scientific career, Dr. Gnaim has tackled a broad spectrum of synthetic, organic-metallic, and bioorganic chemistry challenges, and has helped develop a new tool to overcome the drug delivery limitations of untaggable bioactive molecules. He also created a new oxidative electrochemical process for carbonyl functionalities, which introduces a direct pathway for creating useful chemical building blocks by using electricity and a reagent that does not require expensive transition metals or exact quantities of materials for the reactions to succeed. His research has implications for a wide range of synthetic organic chemistry applications.

Dr. Gnaim earned his BSc in chemistry and biology in 2013 from Tel Aviv University, where he continued on a direct-to-PhD track, completing his doctoral degree in organic chemistry in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Doron Shabat. He then moved to California to pursue his postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Prof. Phil Baran at the Scripps Research Institute, where he took on the challenge of developing scalable synthetic electrochemical methods for sustainable insertion and subtraction of molecular hydrogen from organic molecules.

Dr. Gnaim was awarded the Israel Chemical Society’s Jortner Prize for Excellent Graduate student (2017), and is the recipient of the Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship (2019), the Rothschild Fellowship (2019-2020), the Israel Council for Higher Education Postdoctoral Scholarship (2019–2020), and the Sir Charles Clore Prize for Outstanding Researcher Appointed as Senior Scientist (2022).

Mr. Shaul Amsterdamski

Senior Economics Editor
KAN – Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation

Shaul Amsterdamski is a prominent Israeli journalist, who currently serves as the senior economics commentator for KAN – Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Channel 11). He previously worked for Calcalist, Israel’s most widely read financial daily newspaper, where he held a number of senior positions. His passions are macroeconomics, the Israeli pension system, personal finance, and foodtech. Mr. Amsterdamski lives in Jerusalem with his wife and two children.

Prof. Alon Chen

President
Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology

Prof. Alon Chen is the 11th President of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Prof. Chen was born in Israel. He studied biology, receiving his BSc, with distinction, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1995, and a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science through the direct PhD program, with distinction. During his PhD studies, Prof. Chen also received an MBA from Ben-Gurion University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California; it was there he began his research into the processes that occur in the brain and the body during stress and anxiety. He then joined the faculty of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen's research into the neurobiology of stress focuses on the mechanisms by which the brain regulates the response to stressful challenges and how this response may be linked to a number of psychiatric disorders. The long-term goal of his research is to elucidate the pathways and mechanisms by which stressors are perceived, processed and converted into neuroendocrine and behavioral responses under healthy and pathological conditions.

His lab has made significant discoveries in the field, revealing fundamental aspects of the stress response in both animals and humans, including actions that link specific stress-related genes, epigenetic mechanisms and brain circuits to anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders and metabolic syndrome.

Over the years in his various scientific and administrative leadership roles, Prof. Chen has worked extensively with scientific boards, executive boards, elected officials, alumni, donors and the community at large to advance the mission of the institutions in which he is involved.

Prof. Chen was Head of the Department of Neurobiology, and he is also Managing Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany, and serves as the Head of the Max Planck Society – Weizmann Institute of Science Laboratory for Experimental Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurogenetics. He is an adjunct professor at the Medical School of the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. He is the recipient of both the Rothschild Foundation and Fulbright fellowships. Upon his joining the Weizmann Institute, he received the Yigal Alon Fellowship.

Prof. Alon Chen is the incumbent of the Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen is married and father of two children. He has a keen interest in science education.

Ms. Cathy Beck

Chair, International Board

Cathy Beck has been a part of the Weizmann community for over four decades. She is the daughter of the late Mary and Tom Beck, longstanding supporters and advocates of the Weizmann Institute from Toronto who were founding members of Weizmann Canada. With her husband, Dr. Laurence Rubin, and their children, she has continued the Beck family tradition of philanthropic support, focusing on matters close to their heart, namely sustainability and alternative energy. Ms. Beck served as Chair of Weizmann Canada for two consecutive terms, from 2010 until 2016. Under her leadership, Weizmann Canada surpassed fundraising goals, increased engagement, and spread awareness about the Weizmann Institute of Science across the country. Working hand-in-hand with the Committee's professional team, Ms. Beck helped build and expand the Canadian circle of friends of the Institute to what it is today.

Cathy Beck and her siblings dedicated part of their parents' estate to creating the Tom and Mary Beck Center for Advanced and Intelligent Materials, headed by Prof. Leeor Kronik. This Center supports groundbreaking research on innovative materials conducted with an eye towards possible applications in medicine, building materials, and alternative energy. Through their active engagement, genuine interest, and continued patronage, Cathy and her family have made a tremendous impact on countless areas of science at the Weizmann Institute throughout the years, putting their faith in the Institute's scientists and in the vast potential of basic research.

Gary M. Abramson United States

Gary M. Abramson is a top real estate entrepreneur and a highly respected leader who has been a pillar of the Washington, D.C. Jewish community for decades. He began his professional career in 1969 at the Tower Companies, a three-generation family-owned real estate development business in the Washington, D.C. area. Founded by Gary’s father Albert Abramson in 1947, Tower is now the largest builder of LEED^®-certified green building properties in the D.C. metro area, and one of the pioneers of sustainable building practices in the United States. Over the years, Mr. Abramson has designed numerous office buildings, apartments, shopping centers, and mixed-use complexes, and has overseen multiple aspects of the company, including leasing, management, development, construction, architecture, design, and aesthetics. Today, he serves as a partner in the company.

Mr. Abramson received his BA (1968) in government and public administration from American University in Washington, D.C. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of American University; Former Chairman of the Heifetz International Music Institute in Virginia; a member of the Washington Advisory Board of Truist Bank; and, for the past three decades, has been actively involved with the Weizmann Institute of Science and its American Committee (ACWIS).

Mr. Abramson was first elected to the Weizmann Institute’s Board of Governors in 1988 and has been a valued contributing member ever since. In November 2018, he was appointed a Life Member of the International Board. He and his wife Pennie share a deep dedication to advancing the future of science in Israel, and lead by example through committed service and leadership on the ACWIS Board of Directors and the Weizmann Institute Board.

The couple are generous supporters of multiple Weizmann endeavors. In 2009, they established the Abramson Family Center for Young Scientists, which has provided vital support to outstanding new recruits at the Institute, and have also contributed to brain research. Mr. and Mrs. Abramson are members of the President’s Circle of the Weizmann Institute.

Most recently, the Abramson family provided the naming gift to establish the Pennie and Gary Abramson Family International Residence, a state-of-the-art building that will serve as a dormitory complex and social hub for Weizmann international students and postdoctoral fellows.

Gary and Pennie Abramson have three children and four grandchildren.

Prof. Steven Chu United States

The worldwide renaissance in atomic physics and quantum optics in recent decades can be largely attributed to the groundbreaking research of Prof. Steven Chu. His enormous contributions to the advancement and application of laser manipulation of atomic motion were recognized by the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded to him jointly with Profs. Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips, for developing laser-based methods to cool and trap atoms.

Born in 1948 in St. Louis, Missouri, Steven Chu undertook his undergraduate studies in mathematics and physics at the University of Rochester and his PhD studies in physics at the University of California, Berkeley. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Berkeley, he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories, and in 1987, became professor of physics and applied physics at Stanford University. In 2004, Prof. Chu was appointed Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and, from 2009 to 2013, served as the United States Secretary of Energy. Today, he is a professor of physics in the School of Humanities and Sciences, professor of molecular and cellular physiology in the School of Medicine, and energy science and engineering in the School of Sustainability at Stanford.

Prof. Chu pioneered the field of laser manipulation of atomic motion, culminating in the cooling of atoms to quantum degeneracy – today, one of the most dynamic and productive fields in atomic physics. His methods have revolutionized scientists’ ability to perform precision measurements and control atomic systems, thus advancing the fundamental understanding of quantum physics, the properties of matter, light-atom interactions, and new physics. Furthermore, his work has also advanced important applications in a wide range of fields, including ultra-precise measurements of gravity (in geology and mineral exploration), navigation, atomic clocks, biomedical imaging, electrochemistry, and many more. Prof. Chu has made seminal contributions to atomic physics, polymer physics, biophysics, molecular biology, medical imaging, nanoparticle synthesis, batteries, and other applications in electrochemistry.

A vocal advocate for research on renewable and sustainable energy, Prof. Chu served as Secretary of Energy in the Obama administration. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and eight foreign Academies, and has served as teacher and mentor to generations of young scientists, themselves now prominent in their respective fields.

Sandor (Sandy) Frankel United States

Sandy Frankel is a practicing attorney with over 50 years of experience, the author of several books, and a trustee of The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Mr. Frankel graduated from New York University (1964; Phi Beta Kappa) and Harvard Law School (1967). He began his legal career as a staff member of the White House Task Force on Crime, and then served as Temporary Counsel to the National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C.

After leaving Washington, he established his own legal practice as a trial lawyer in New York City. In 1990, real estate magnate and hotelier Leona Helmsley became one of his clients, and for the next 18 years Mr. Frankel handled many of her legal matters, becoming one of her most trusted advisors. She later appointed Mr. Frankel as an executor of her estate and one of five trustees of the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Since beginning active grant-making in 2008, the Helmsley Charitable Trust has committed more than $3 billion to a wide range of charitable causes to benefit humankind, focusing on health, medical research, and select place-based initiatives, including Israel. Under the visionary leadership of Mr. Frankel, the Trust's Israel program has been a pivotal benefactor of major endeavors in Israel, improving access to quality healthcare throughout the country, strengthening Israel's leadership in scientific, technological and medical research, and promoting global understanding and appreciation of Israel and its people.

The Helmsley Charitable Trust has funded numerous projects and initiatives at the Weizmann Institute of Science, including Crohn's disease research, the creation of experimental models to aid in inflammatory bowel disease therapeutics, the establishment of the Weizmann Quantum Nano-Physics Initiative and the Quantum Materials Devices Fabrication Lab, and major state-of-the-art research equipment for the study of stem cells, alternative energy, and magnetic resonance research. The Helmsley Charitable Trust was inducted into the Weizmann Institute's President's Circle in 2010.

Mr. Frankel has visited Israel frequently since his teenage years and is married to Ruthie, a native of Israel. One of his books, Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, received the Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Shalom Hanoch Israel

Composer, lyricist, and singer Shalom Hanoch is the creator of a musical oeuvre that, since the 1960s, has profoundly influenced the Israeli soundtrack, and has become a touchstone for Israeli cultural identity. 

Often called the father of Israeli rock, Shalom Hanoch was born in 1946 in Kibbutz Mishmarot in northern Israel. As a child, his musical talent was evident, as was his love for various genres from classical, to folk, to the blues. He wrote his first original song, Laila (Night) – a thoughtful, harmonically complex piece which remains popular to this day – when he was just 14, and went on to write more songs with fellow kibbutz member and musician, Meir Ariel. At the age of 18, Shalom Hanoch was recruited into Lehakat HaNachal, the Israel Defense Forces' legendary military entertainment troupe, for which he wrote a number of songs.

In the late 1960s, he began working with Arik Einstein, at the time Israel's most popular performer. This partnership gave birth to seminal recordings, including Shablul, which consisted of songs composed and written by Hanoch, and introduced Israelis to an exciting new sound influenced by Anglo-American rock 'n' roll. Additional successful albums followed, as well as a stint in London, where Mr. Hanoch was signed with a music producer and recorded an album of original songs in English alongside Elton John's backing band. In 1973, he returned to Israel, and soon co-founded the band Tamouz, a highly influential group that is widely considered Israel's first genuine rock band.

Over the five decades since, Shalom Hanoch has been extremely prolific, creating dozens of songs, including an impressive string of hits, and collaborating with a diverse range of musicians. Through poetry and song, his compositions create an uncompromising self-portrait as well as biting social commentary, while illuminating themes of love, longing, anger, and hope. He is responsible for several of the most profound and beautiful songs ever to be created here, including Ma Sheyoter Amok Yoter Kachol ("The Deeper the Bluer"), Maya, Adam Betoch Atzmo ("A Man Within Himself"), Chatuna Levana ("White Wedding"), Mehakim LeMashiach ("Waiting for the Messiah") and many others. Performed at intimate venues as well as in the large-scale rock concerts he pioneered in Israel, his songs continue to resonate in the ears and hearts of listeners around the world.

Prof. Nancy Hopkins United States

Born in New York City in 1943, Professor Emerita Nancy Hopkins has made prodigious contributions in basic molecular biology, the genetics of cancer viruses, and the genetics of early vertebrate development, and is a pioneer in advancing the role of women in science. She completed a PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry at Harvard University, conducted postdoctoral research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, and joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Cancer Research as an assistant professor in 1973. Currently, she is the Amgen Professor of Biology Emerita at MIT.

In her PhD research, Nancy Hopkins demonstrated that a protein coded for by a bacterial virus binds to specific DNA sequences to control gene expression – seminal experiments that left an indelible mark on scientists’ understanding of how genes are turned on and off. As a postdoctoral fellow, she changed fields to study animal cells and viruses. As a faculty member at MIT, she used genetics to map RNA tumor virus genes, identifying genes that determine host range, the type and severity of cancers mouse retroviruses cause, and the mechanisms by which they cause cancer. Later, Hopkins switched fields again and achieved unprecedented success in developing tools for zebrafish research, devising an efficient method for large-scale insertional mutagenesis and cloning hundreds of genes that play a role in creating a viable zebrafish embryo. These genes included known and novel genes that predispose zebrafish – a premier model system in vertebrate development and cancer biology – to cancer.

Prof. Hopkins has been at the forefront of an ongoing campaign to end discrimination against women in science – working to ensure that female scientists are able to advance in their careers, secure necessary resources, and receive acknowledgement for their achievements. Her tremendous efforts over the years have sparked a movement to address gender bias in science. She chaired the committee that authored the influential 1999 Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT, and was appointed Co-Chair of the first Council on Faculty Diversity at MIT in 2000. She is also the co-founder of the MIT Future Founders Initiative, launched in 2020 to increase the number of female faculty members who start biotechnology companies.

Prof. Hopkins' numerous honors and awards include membership in the US National Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Ellen Knell United States

Dr. Ellen Knell is a geneticist who specializes in cancer-risk assessment and genetic testing. She carried out her undergraduate studies in psychology and biological sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, and then went on to earn her MSc and PhD from UCLA. She worked at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, City of Hope, and has been a consultant and in private practice most of her career. 

Dr. Knell is a Board member of the Cancer Support Community in her hometown of Pasadena, California, and is active in Professional Child Development Associates, a nonprofit that provides services for children with autism spectrum disorder. She is also a past President of Southwest Chamber Music, an ensemble that won two Grammy Awards during her tenure.

Dr. Knell and her husband Harvey Knell, also a PhD honoris causa recipient, founded a philanthropic foundation, through which they have made numerous contributions in a wide range of areas, including education, arts, culture, research, and Jewish causes. The couple are also longtime members of the Weizmann family, through their dedicated service on the Institute's International Board, through generous support and advocacy, and through their visionary philanthropy as members of the President's Circle.

In 2013, they established the Knell Family Professorial Chair, whose current incumbent is Prof. Yardena Samuels in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology. They also provided funding for the development of the Weizmann UK Building for Biocomplexity Research. Most recently, they established the Knell Family Center for Microbiology, directed by Prof. Rotem Sorek, which supports a multidisciplinary group of researchers on a journey to harness the power of "good" microbial diversity to develop new medicines, understand trends in global ecology, and more.

The Knells have three sons and six grandchildren. They reside at the Blacker House in Pasadena, built in 1907 by renowned architects Greene and Greene and listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, which the Knells had completely restored while preserving the house's history and legacy.

Harvey Knell United States

Harvey Knell, a prominent business executive and influential community leader, is President of KCB Management, a family office and an investment and asset management firm he founded in 1986 in California. Previously, he served as the President and CEO of Grace Home Centers West, which operated 90 home improvement centers in the western United States, as well as at Ole's Home Centers, Inc., a major chain of home improvement centers, before it was sold to W.R. Grace.

Mr. Knell earned his MBA from Columbia University in 1968. In addition to his highly successful career in business, he has also taken on numerous charitable leadership roles. These include past President of the National Hardware and Home Center Council for the City of Hope, first General Campaign Chair of the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys Jewish Federation, President of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization Board of Trustees, past President and member of the Board of the Armory Center for the Arts, past President of the Board of the Pasadena POPS Orchestra, and founder and member of the Board of Directors of MUSE/IQUE, a performing arts group in his hometown of Pasadena, California.

A member of the Weizmann Institute’s International Board since 2014, Mr. Knell was elected as a Life Member in 2019. He is also an active member of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he is on the Board of Directors and serves as Vice Chair for Financial Resource Development. In addition, he chaired the American Committee’s 75th Anniversary 'Transforming Tomorrow' campaign in 2017.

Harvey and his wife Dr. Ellen Knell, a fellow PhD honoris causa recipient, are generous supporters of and advocates for the Weizmann Institute. They have been instrumental in expanding the Institute's circle of friends and benefactors in California and beyond. Their substantial giving is reflected in the creation of the Knell Family Professorial Chair, of which Prof. Yardena Samuels is the current incumbent, and most recently, the Knell Family Center for Microbiology, headed by Prof. Rotem Sorek. The Knells also provided funding to develop the Weizmann UK Building for Biocomplexity Research.

Keren Leibovitch Israel

Considered Israel's greatest Paralympian, Keren Leibovitch is a three-time world swimming champion, a five-time European champion, and an seven-time Paralympic medal winner, including four gold medals. She has set multiple world records and has served over the years as an eloquent and inspiring spokesperson in both Israel and around the world for athletes with disabilities, combining her exceptional physical talent with perseverance, initiative, and heart.

Ms. Leibovitch was born in Israel in 1973 and began swimming early in life. At 18, she suffered a serious spinal cord injury while training to be an officer in the Israel Defense Forces. She underwent two major back surgeries and spent three years in the hospital, but the devastating accident left her paralyzed from the waist down. Swimming became an integral part of her rehabilitation process, and Ms. Leibovitch was soon spotted by a coach who encouraged her to begin training competitively.

And so she did, going on to win three gold medals at the 1999 European Championships and three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics in backstroke and freestyle events—setting three world records in the process. In 2002 and 2003, she continued to set new world records and earned gold medals in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events at the Israeli Swimming Championships for the Handicapped. She competed again in the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens and in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, earning another gold medal, as well as two silver medals and one bronze.

More recently, Ms. Leibovitch set herself a new goal—to swim across the English Channel. In preparation for this feat, she started practicing Pilates, and after 10 months of intensive training saw significant improvement in some of her physical abilities: For the first time since her back injury, she was able sit up straight in her wheelchair. Today, Ms. Leibovitch is able to move around on crutches and has since opened her own Pilates studio, where she teaches individuals both with and without disabilities.

Through her work as a fitness professional and through her public advocacy and leadership, Keren Leibovitch has become an international role model for young athletes with disabilities, setting a powerful example of victory of mind over body. For her achievements and inspiration, Ms. Leibovitch was honored to light a torch on Israel’s Independence Day Ceremony in 2004 and in 2017 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Haifa.

Keren Leibovitch is a single mother of four boys (two sets of twins).

Dr. Jessica Meir United States

Dr. Jessica Meir is a comparative physiologist, NASA Astronaut, and a role model for young women worldwide aspiring to become space explorers. She was born and raised in Caribou, Maine, to Israeli and Swedish immigrants to the United States, holding a passion for space exploration since childhood.  She obtained a BA in biology magna cum laude from Brown University in 1999, and later completed an MSc in space studies from the International Space University in France (2000) and a PhD in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego (2009).

From 2000 to 2003, Dr. Meir worked for Lockheed Martin’s Human Research Facility, supporting physiology research on the space shuttle and International Space Station. During this time, she also participated in research flights on NASA's reduced gravity aircraft, and served as an aquanaut in an underwater habitat for NASA. For her PhD research (2003-2009), Dr. Meir studied the diving physiology of marine mammals and birds, focusing on oxygen depletion in diving emperor penguins (Antarctic field research) and elephant seals (northern California). She investigated the high‐flying bar-headed goose during her postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia (2009-2012), training geese to fly in a wind tunnel while obtaining various physiological measurements in reduced oxygen conditions. In 2012, she accepted a position as assistant professor at the Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Meir was selected in 2013 as one of eight members of the 21st NASA Astronaut Class, later serving as a flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expeditions 61 and 62. During these missions, which took place from September 2019 to April 2020, Dr. Meir spent a total of 205 days in space and contributed to hundreds of scientific and technological experiments.

On October 18, 2019, Dr. Meir and her fellow astronaut Christina Koch conducted maintenance outside the International Space Station – replacing an electric power controller. This event made history as it marked the first-ever all-female spacewalk, sparking a keen public debate concerning the role and visibility of women in space exploration, and inspiring a generation of young women to pursue their dream of becoming astronauts. In 2020, NASA selected Dr. Meir to participate in the Artemis Program, which will launch the first manned missions to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Among her many honors, Dr. Meir has received honorary degrees from Brown University, Bowdoin College, and the Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, in addition to professional awards from NASA and Lockheed Martin. She was also recognized as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.

Raised in a Jewish household, Dr. Meir has expressed her deep connection to Israel, where most of her father's relatives live. She chose the Israeli flag as one of the few personal items that she was allowed to take with her to the International Space Station.

Prof. Steven Chu United States

The worldwide renaissance in atomic physics and quantum optics in recent decades can be largely attributed to the groundbreaking research of Prof. Steven Chu. His enormous contributions to the advancement and application of laser manipulation of atomic motion were recognized by the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded to him jointly with Profs. Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips, for developing laser-based methods to cool and trap atoms.

Born in 1948 in St. Louis, Missouri, Steven Chu undertook his undergraduate studies in mathematics and physics at the University of Rochester and his PhD studies in physics at the University of California, Berkeley. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Berkeley, he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories, and in 1987, became professor of physics and applied physics at Stanford University. In 2004, Prof. Chu was appointed Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and, from 2009 to 2013, served as the United States Secretary of Energy. Today, he is a professor of physics in the School of Humanities and Sciences, professor of molecular and cellular physiology in the School of Medicine, and energy science and engineering in the School of Sustainability at Stanford.

Prof. Chu pioneered the field of laser manipulation of atomic motion, culminating in the cooling of atoms to quantum degeneracy – today, one of the most dynamic and productive fields in atomic physics. His methods have revolutionized scientists’ ability to perform precision measurements and control atomic systems, thus advancing the fundamental understanding of quantum physics, the properties of matter, light-atom interactions, and new physics. Furthermore, his work has also advanced important applications in a wide range of fields, including ultra-precise measurements of gravity (in geology and mineral exploration), navigation, atomic clocks, biomedical imaging, electrochemistry, and many more. Prof. Chu has made seminal contributions to atomic physics, polymer physics, biophysics, molecular biology, medical imaging, nanoparticle synthesis, batteries, and other applications in electrochemistry.

A vocal advocate for research on renewable and sustainable energy, Prof. Chu served as Secretary of Energy in the Obama administration. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and eight foreign Academies, and has served as teacher and mentor to generations of young scientists, themselves now prominent in their respective fields.

Prof. Roee Ozeri

Vice President for Development and Communications
Department of Physics of Complex Systems

Prof. Roee Ozeri works with ultra-cold ions, advancing the field of quantum computing and developing systems based on the principles of quantum mechanics. In early 2022, he and his team succeeded in building Israel's first quantum computer.  Such quantum systems have the potential to perform immense information-processing tasks that are out of the reach of regular computers. Such systems require an entirely new approach to ensuring the security of information, for example, in online banking transactions. Prof. Ozeri focuses on one of the greatest challenges in developing quantum computers: finding ways to increase the size of quantum computers to  a large scale while maintaining their high fidelity.
 
Prof. Ozeri was born in Israel. He earned a BSc in physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his MSc and PhD in physics from the Weizmann Institute of Science. He joined the Weizmann faculty after conducting postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado in the group of 2012 Nobel Laureate Prof. David Wineland.
 
Among his numerous awards and honors, Prof. Ozeri received the Rosa and Emilio Segre Research Award, the Morris L. Levinson Prize in Physics, and the prestigious Rothschild Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2019, he stepped into the role of Weizmann Institute Vice President for Development and Communications.
 
Prof. Ozeri is married to Carmit and has three children, Omer, Tamar, and Netta.  His hobbies include sea-kayaking, running, cooking, reading, and writing short stories.

Dr. Serge Rosenblum

Rabbi Dr. Roger Herst Career Development Chair
Department of Condensed Matter Physics

Physicist Dr. Serge Rosenblum uses circuits made of superconducting materials to develop the elementary building blocks for quantum computers. These computers may eventually achieve exponentially improved performance compared to today's computers. His team develops new strategies for fault-tolerant quantum operations and quantum error correction, which are necessary to enable quantum computers to operate despite noise and imperfections. These advances helped him develop what is currently the world's longest-lived superconducting quantum bit.

Dr. Rosenblum was born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium, and moved to Israel for higher education in 2004. In 2010, he received his MSc in quantum optics at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Rosenblum earned his PhD at the Weizmann Institute in 2014, where he performed research in Prof. Barak Dayan's lab in the Department of Chemical and Biological Physics. In 2015, he joined Prof. Robert J. Schoelkopf's lab at Yale University as a postdoctoral fellow, and in 2019 was recruited to the faculty of the Weizmann Institute's Department of Condensed Matter Physics. He is the inaugural incumbent of the Rabbi Dr. Roger Herst Career Development Chair.

Dr. Rosenblum received an ERC Starting Grant given to promising early-career researchers in 2022, the Quantum Science and Technology Fellowship for New Faculty in 2020, the Alon Fellowship for Outstanding Young Scientists in 2020, and the John F. Kennedy Excellence Award for PhDs at the Weizmann Institute in 2015. 

He is passionate about Roman history and speaks six languages (so far).

Prof. Roee Ozeri

Vice President for Development and Communications
Department of Physics of Complex Systems

Prof. Roee Ozeri works with ultra-cold ions, advancing the field of quantum computing and developing systems based on the principles of quantum mechanics. In early 2022, he and his team succeeded in building Israel's first quantum computer.  Such quantum systems have the potential to perform immense information-processing tasks that are out of the reach of regular computers. Such systems require an entirely new approach to ensuring the security of information, for example, in online banking transactions. Prof. Ozeri focuses on one of the greatest challenges in developing quantum computers: finding ways to increase the size of quantum computers to  a large scale while maintaining their high fidelity.
 
Prof. Ozeri was born in Israel. He earned a BSc in physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his MSc and PhD in physics from the Weizmann Institute of Science. He joined the Weizmann faculty after conducting postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado in the group of 2012 Nobel Laureate Prof. David Wineland.
 
Among his numerous awards and honors, Prof. Ozeri received the Rosa and Emilio Segre Research Award, the Morris L. Levinson Prize in Physics, and the prestigious Rothschild Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2019, he stepped into the role of Weizmann Institute Vice President for Development and Communications.
 
Prof. Ozeri is married to Carmit and has three children, Omer, Tamar, and Netta.  His hobbies include sea-kayaking, running, cooking, reading, and writing short stories.

Prof. Shahal Ilani

Department of Condensed Matter Physics

Prof. Shahal Ilani's research focuses on the imaging of electronic phenomena in quantum materials. His lab developed the world's most sensitive scanning detector of electrical charge, capable of measuring a tiny fraction of the charge of a single electron. This tool allows them to image how electrons order and flow inside materials, and discover new quantum mechanical phenomena with fundamental implications. For example, the Ilani lab demonstrated that electrons can attract each other using only their inherent repulsion, solving a 50-year-old physics mystery. They were the first to visualize that electrons can flow like water, opening the way for more efficient electronics. They also provided the first images of a quantum crystal of electrons, a novel state-of-matter predicted 100 years ago, but one that had eluded discovery until then.

Prof. Ilani completed his BSc in mathematics and physics with honors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1992. While serving in the Israel Defense Forces' RAFAEL research program until 2001, he went on to complete an MSc, also with honors, in physics at the Racah Institute of Physics at Hebrew University in 1997. He completed a PhD in physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2003 and conducted postdoctoral work in the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics at Cornell University. He joined the Weizmann Institute in 2008, and became an associate professor in 2014.

Prof. Ilani's academic awards include the Helen and Martin Kimmel Award for Innovative Investigation (2022); the André Deloro Prize for Scientific Research (2018); the Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research and the Weizmann Institute's Morris L. Levinson Prize in Physics (2014); an Alon Fellowship (2009-2011); a Rothschild Fellowship (2003-2004); the Chorafas Foundation Award for outstanding PhD from the Swiss Scientific Academies (2002); and a VATAT Scholarship from the Israel Ministry of Science (2001-2003).

Dr. Merav Parter

Dr. A. Edward Friedmann Career Development Chair in Mathematics
Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics

As a scholar of theoretical computer science, Dr. Merav Parter focuses her research on the theory of distributed computing (TDC) and algorithms for distributed networks. She is pursuing both theoretical and applied aspects of TDC in four areas: wireless computational geometry and applications; structures, models, and algorithms for fault tolerance; distributed computation for massive networks and datasets; and, bio-inspired distributed algorithms—that is, learning how to solve distributed problems faster and understand the computational power of the biological systems (e.g., ant behavior in a colony and the activity of neural circuits in the brain). Her goal is to deepen the connections between distributed computing and other subareas both within and beyond theory—applying the power of TDC to economics, sociology, neuroscience, and animal science.

Dr. Parter earned her BSc in bioinformatics summa cum laude from Bar-Ilan University in 2005. She earned her MSc in bioinformatics (2008) and her PhD in computer science (2014) from the Weizmann Institute of Science, under the guidance of Prof. Uri Alon and Prof. David Peleg, respectively, focusing on the topology of wireless communication. Following a brief postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Peleg at Weizmann, she she shifted to a second postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She joined the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2017 and is the incumbent of the Dr. A. Edward Friedmann Career Development Chair in Mathematics.

Dr. Parter has received numerous awards both for her research and communication skills, including the André Deloro Prize for Scientific Research (2022), the Krill Prize for Scientific Excellence (2021), the Sir Charles Clore Prize for Outstanding Appointment as Senior Scientist (2017), the Israel National Postdoctoral Award for Advancing Women in Science (2015); the Dmitri Chorafas Prize (2015); a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015); and the Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015), among many other prizes for academic excellence. In 2019 she was listed in the Marker’s list of 40 under 40 rising stars and she received an ERC Starting Grant for the period 2020-2025.

Prof. Eran Hornstein

Head, Department of Molecular Neuroscience
Mondry Family Professorial Chair
Department of Molecular Genetics

Prof. Eran Hornstein's research focuses on microRNA molecules, genetic material that represents one of the most exciting new fields of study in biology. Discovered as recently as the 1990s and endowed with the ability to switch off numerous genes, microRNAs can provide scientists with entirely new tools for regulating gene activity, both in research and in the treatment of several diseases. Prof. Hornstein studies the role of microRNAs in human disease, with his primary focus on the role of microRNAs in neurodegeneration, including such diseases as ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), and in diabetes.

Born in Jerusalem, he received a BSc degree in 1997, and PhD and MD degrees (2003) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and its teaching hospital, Hadassah Medical School. He then spent three years conducting postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School's Department of Genetics before joining the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2006. He is the head of the Dr. Sydney Brenner Laboratory, an appointment made by Nobel Laureate Prof. Brenner himself. Prof. Hornstein is the Founding Head of the Department of Molecular Neuroscience, heads the Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Neurological Diseases at Weizmann Institute of Science, and is the incumbent of the Mondry Family Professorial Chair.

In 2014, he received the Israel Endocrinology Society's Hans Lindner Award and was recipient of a consolidator grant program from the European Research Council (ERC). He was awarded the Teva Young Investigator Award (2012) and a Young Investigator Award from the D-Cure Diabetes Association in 2010. In 2009, he was elected a board member of the Genetics Society of Israel and served on the board for three years. He also received the Sir Charles Clore Prize for Outstanding Appointment as Senior Scientist and the Senta Foulkes Award, both in 2006, the Dorot and Bikura Postdoctoral Fellowships (2003-2005), and the Hebrew University award an outstanding MD thesis (2000). He also received awards from both the Zuker and Wolf Foundations that year.

Prof. Igor Ulitsky

Department of Immunology and Regenerative Biology

Prof. Igor Ulitsky earned a BSc in computer science and life sciences (2004) and a PhD in computation science (2009) at Tel Aviv University. He studied as a postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts,  and joined the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Biological Regulation in 2013 (now the Department of Immunology and Regenerative Biology).  

Most known biological functions are carried out by proteins, but the DNA sequences encoding them account for less than two percent of the human genome. Long stretches of DNA located between the protein-coding genes were typically assumed to have limited function, and were referred to as junk DNA. However, recent studies found that these intergenic regions are not inert, but rather persistently transcribed into different classes of RNA molecules including long non-coding RNAs, or lncRNAs. Their levels vary greatly across tissues and variations in the expression and integrity of lncRNAs have been associated with a number of human diseases, including cancer and neurological disorders. Taking an interdisciplinary approach that combines experimental and computational tools, Prof. Ulitsky’s goal is to understand their biology and address challenges instrumental for future diagnostic or therapeutic uses of lincRNAs.

Prof. Ulitsky has earned a number of academic honors, including the Meitner Humboldt Research Award (2021), Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in Israel in Life Sciences (2020), RNA Society Early Career Award (2020), ERC starting and consolidator grants (2015 and 2020), James Heineman Research Award (2018), an EMBO Young Investigator Award (2016), an Alon Fellowship (2014), and the EMBO Long Term Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010-2011). He also received the Legacy Heritage Fund Stem Cells Research Fellowship (2009), and the Wolf Prize for Outstanding PhD Students (2008). He is the former incumbent of the Sygnet Career Development Chair for Bioinformatics.

Prof. Ulitsky is married with four children.

Dr. Monika Witzenberger

Postdoctoral fellow
Lab of Prof. Schraga Schwartz
Department of Molecular Genetics

Dr. Monika Witzenberger earned her BSc and MSc in molecular biotechnology from the University of Heidelberg, with research visits to the University of Cambridge and Tel Aviv University. Thereafter, she completed her PhD at the Helmholtz Center in Munich and Ulm University, under the supervision of Prof. Dierk Niessing. She focused on elucidating the role of RNA modification enzymes in Huntington’s disease pathology, a devastating and inherited neurodegenerative disease with no approved cure on the market. During her PhD, she established one particular RNA modification enzyme as a potential novel drug target for Huntington’s disease and characterized the underexplored enzyme using X-ray crystallography, proteomics, and RNA biochemistry tools. Moreover, she contributed to a patent application and the setup of a drug screening platform to identify new drug candidates. 

Currently, she works as a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Schraga Schwartz’s lab in the Department of Molecular Genetics. New sequencing technologies developed in Prof. Schwartz’s lab contributed to a leap forward in the detection and mapping of RNA modifications in human cells, as well as driving forward knowledge about their role in health and disease. Dr. Witzenberger focuses on resolving the working principles of the enzymatic machinery that installs RNA modifications by combining transcriptomic and structural biology techniques. She hopes to leverage these findings to develop biotechnological tools or therapeutic approaches.

Outside the lab, she volunteers for an NGO that aims to connect young researchers and professionals with current leaders in the biotech industry. 

Prof. Alon Chen

President
Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology

Prof. Alon Chen is the 11th President of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Prof. Chen was born in Israel. He studied biology, receiving his BSc, with distinction, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1995, and a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science through the direct PhD program, with distinction. During his PhD studies, Prof. Chen also received an MBA from Ben-Gurion University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California; it was there he began his research into the processes that occur in the brain and the body during stress and anxiety. He then joined the faculty of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen's research into the neurobiology of stress focuses on the mechanisms by which the brain regulates the response to stressful challenges and how this response may be linked to a number of psychiatric disorders. The long-term goal of his research is to elucidate the pathways and mechanisms by which stressors are perceived, processed and converted into neuroendocrine and behavioral responses under healthy and pathological conditions.

His lab has made significant discoveries in the field, revealing fundamental aspects of the stress response in both animals and humans, including actions that link specific stress-related genes, epigenetic mechanisms and brain circuits to anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders and metabolic syndrome.

Over the years in his various scientific and administrative leadership roles, Prof. Chen has worked extensively with scientific boards, executive boards, elected officials, alumni, donors and the community at large to advance the mission of the institutions in which he is involved.

Prof. Chen was Head of the Department of Neurobiology, and he is also Managing Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany, and serves as the Head of the Max Planck Society – Weizmann Institute of Science Laboratory for Experimental Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurogenetics. He is an adjunct professor at the Medical School of the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. He is the recipient of both the Rothschild Foundation and Fulbright fellowships. Upon his joining the Weizmann Institute, he received the Yigal Alon Fellowship.

Prof. Alon Chen is the incumbent of the Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen is married and father of two children. He has a keen interest in science education.

Mr. Pascal Mantoux

France / Israel

Pascal O. Mantoux graduated in mechanical engineering and business administration from Paris colleges and later earned an executive degree from the Harvard Business School. Over the past 35 years he has held various senior management positions in North and Latin America, Africa and the Middle East as well as Continental and Eastern Europe, serving global industrial corporations such as Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Tenneco, J.I. Case and Poclain Hydraulics. His latest position was CEO of DAF Trucks' French operations. While retired from the corporate world, he has initiated and operates his own real estate, agricultural and forestry management company just outside of Paris, splitting his time between France and Israel with his wife, Ilana. 

Ilana and Pascal Mantoux are contributing to the promotion of joint biomedical collaborations between Weizmann Institute researchers and clinical researchers at Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, under Prof. Benjamin Geiger's authority. Pascal and his wife, Ilana, funded the startup package of Dr. Jacob Hanna and recently established the Ilana and Pascal Mantoux Institute for Bioinformatics in the Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine.

Prof. Alon Chen

President
Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology

Prof. Alon Chen is the 11th President of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Prof. Chen was born in Israel. He studied biology, receiving his BSc, with distinction, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1995, and a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science through the direct PhD program, with distinction. During his PhD studies, Prof. Chen also received an MBA from Ben-Gurion University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California; it was there he began his research into the processes that occur in the brain and the body during stress and anxiety. He then joined the faculty of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen's research into the neurobiology of stress focuses on the mechanisms by which the brain regulates the response to stressful challenges and how this response may be linked to a number of psychiatric disorders. The long-term goal of his research is to elucidate the pathways and mechanisms by which stressors are perceived, processed and converted into neuroendocrine and behavioral responses under healthy and pathological conditions.

His lab has made significant discoveries in the field, revealing fundamental aspects of the stress response in both animals and humans, including actions that link specific stress-related genes, epigenetic mechanisms and brain circuits to anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders and metabolic syndrome.

Over the years in his various scientific and administrative leadership roles, Prof. Chen has worked extensively with scientific boards, executive boards, elected officials, alumni, donors and the community at large to advance the mission of the institutions in which he is involved.

Prof. Chen was Head of the Department of Neurobiology, and he is also Managing Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany, and serves as the Head of the Max Planck Society – Weizmann Institute of Science Laboratory for Experimental Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurogenetics. He is an adjunct professor at the Medical School of the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. He is the recipient of both the Rothschild Foundation and Fulbright fellowships. Upon his joining the Weizmann Institute, he received the Yigal Alon Fellowship.

Prof. Alon Chen is the incumbent of the Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen is married and father of two children. He has a keen interest in science education.

Prof. Ofer Feinerman

Henry J. Leir Professorial Chair
Department of Physics of Complex Systems

Prof. Ofer Feinerman is a physicist intrigued by how numerous components jointly perform various tasks in complex biological systems. Having investigated the joint functioning of cells in the nervous and immune system during his doctoral and postdoctoral studies, he now focuses on ant behavior and communication, with the aim of understanding the relations between a single ant and a colony of ants. To do this, the Feinerman group studies a number of collective behaviors all characterized by impressive levels of cooperation, such as cooperative transport of large items, nest digging, trail following, and food sharing. Accompanying these experiments are theoretical studies aimed at furthering our conceptual understanding of biological cooperation.

Prof. Feinerman received a BSc in physics and mathematics (1996) and an MSc in physics (1999) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He earned his PhD from the Department of Physics of Complex Systems at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2006, and completed his postdoctoral studies at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where he studied how the immune system fights infection. He then spent a year studying ants at the Rockefeller University with two of the world's leading experts in ant behavior. He joined the Department of Physics of Complex Systems at the Weizmann Institute in 2010 and is the incumbent of the Henry J. Leir Professorial Chair.

Prof. Feinerman has won a number of prestigious fellowships and awards, including the New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Postdoctoral Award for Young Scientists and a Career Award at the Scientific Interface bestowed by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. He also received the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Postdoctoral Research Award; the Menashe Milo Memorial Prize at the Feinberg Graduate School at the Weizmann Institute; and the Morris M. Levinson Weizmann Scientific Council Prize in the field of physics.

He is married to Micka, a mosaic artist, and they have three children.

Mr. Roee Ben Nissan

SAERI PhD Fellow
Lab of Prof. Ron Milo
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

Born in Kfar Saba, Israel, Roee Ben Nissan is the youngest of three siblings. A biology major in high school, he received his BSc in Life Sciences with honors from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and later joined the Weizmann Institute of Science MSc program, under the supervision of Prof. Ron Milo. After his graduation, he continued in the same lab and is currently a PhD student and a SAERI (Sustainability and Energy Research Initiative) fellow, working on carbon fixation metabolism in bacteria. This research could have positive implications in the field of agriculture and help facilitate technologies for sustainable bio-production.

Mr. Daniel Khaykelson

SAERI PhD Fellow
Lab of Prof. Boris Rybtchinski
Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science

Daniel Khaykelson is a PhD student in the group of Prof. Boris Rybtchinski. His work focuses on understanding the structure and stability of amorphous states in small organic molecular films, with an emphasis on pharmaceutical molecules. To do so, he develops new microscopy methods, in combination with advanced thin-film technologies and modeling. Daniel joined the Weizmann institute in 2020 after finishing his MSc in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the supervision of prof. Uri Raviv, studying viral assembly and disassembly. Currently, he is a fellow of the Sustainability and Energy Research Initiative (SAERI). On his free time he enjoys photography, and has an exhibition of the Koffler Accelerator, presented in the building itself.

Ms. Yael Wagner

SAERI PhD Fellow
Lab of Dr. Tamir Klein
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

Yael Wagner is a PhD student in the lab of Dr. Tamir Klein, where she studies the hydraulics of trees under drought. By deepening our understandings of tree responses to drought and their ability to recover from it, we can better predict and prepare to the future of these magnificent giants. Yael received her MSc in plant science in collaboration between the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Agriculture and the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. She has been a fellow of the Sustainability and Energy Research Initiative (SAERI) since 2020.

Mr. Eli Amedi

Director, Ofakim Science Education Gap-Year Program
Davidson Institute of Science Education

Eli Amedi is an experienced educator, specializing in working with gifted teenagers.

As a proud Jerusalemite, Mr. Amedi worked for 10 years at the Israeli Art and Science Academy, six years as the director of the IASA boarding school.

For the last eight years, Mr. Amedi has worked at the Davidson Institute of Science Education and finds great satisfaction in doing so.

During his work at the Davidson Institute, he initiated and established “Ofakim Le'Mada" – a unique gap-year program in science education. He currently heads this program, now entering into its fourth year.

Eli Amedi is married to Liora, an educator, and together they raise three lovely children.

Prof. Alon Chen

President
Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology

Prof. Alon Chen is the 11th President of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Prof. Chen was born in Israel. He studied biology, receiving his BSc, with distinction, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1995, and a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science through the direct PhD program, with distinction. During his PhD studies, Prof. Chen also received an MBA from Ben-Gurion University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California; it was there he began his research into the processes that occur in the brain and the body during stress and anxiety. He then joined the faculty of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen's research into the neurobiology of stress focuses on the mechanisms by which the brain regulates the response to stressful challenges and how this response may be linked to a number of psychiatric disorders. The long-term goal of his research is to elucidate the pathways and mechanisms by which stressors are perceived, processed and converted into neuroendocrine and behavioral responses under healthy and pathological conditions.

His lab has made significant discoveries in the field, revealing fundamental aspects of the stress response in both animals and humans, including actions that link specific stress-related genes, epigenetic mechanisms and brain circuits to anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders and metabolic syndrome.

Over the years in his various scientific and administrative leadership roles, Prof. Chen has worked extensively with scientific boards, executive boards, elected officials, alumni, donors and the community at large to advance the mission of the institutions in which he is involved.

Prof. Chen was Head of the Department of Neurobiology, and he is also Managing Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany, and serves as the Head of the Max Planck Society – Weizmann Institute of Science Laboratory for Experimental Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurogenetics. He is an adjunct professor at the Medical School of the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. He is the recipient of both the Rothschild Foundation and Fulbright fellowships. Upon his joining the Weizmann Institute, he received the Yigal Alon Fellowship.

Prof. Alon Chen is the incumbent of the Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen is married and father of two children. He has a keen interest in science education.

Prof. Alon Chen

President
Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology

Prof. Alon Chen is the 11th President of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Prof. Chen was born in Israel. He studied biology, receiving his BSc, with distinction, from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1995, and a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science through the direct PhD program, with distinction. During his PhD studies, Prof. Chen also received an MBA from Ben-Gurion University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California; it was there he began his research into the processes that occur in the brain and the body during stress and anxiety. He then joined the faculty of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen's research into the neurobiology of stress focuses on the mechanisms by which the brain regulates the response to stressful challenges and how this response may be linked to a number of psychiatric disorders. The long-term goal of his research is to elucidate the pathways and mechanisms by which stressors are perceived, processed and converted into neuroendocrine and behavioral responses under healthy and pathological conditions.

His lab has made significant discoveries in the field, revealing fundamental aspects of the stress response in both animals and humans, including actions that link specific stress-related genes, epigenetic mechanisms and brain circuits to anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders and metabolic syndrome.

Over the years in his various scientific and administrative leadership roles, Prof. Chen has worked extensively with scientific boards, executive boards, elected officials, alumni, donors and the community at large to advance the mission of the institutions in which he is involved.

Prof. Chen was Head of the Department of Neurobiology, and he is also Managing Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany, and serves as the Head of the Max Planck Society – Weizmann Institute of Science Laboratory for Experimental Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurogenetics. He is an adjunct professor at the Medical School of the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. He is the recipient of both the Rothschild Foundation and Fulbright fellowships. Upon his joining the Weizmann Institute, he received the Yigal Alon Fellowship.

Prof. Alon Chen is the incumbent of the Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology.

Prof. Chen is married and father of two children. He has a keen interest in science education.

Dr. Tamir Klein

Edith and Nathan Goldenberg Career Development Chair
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

Dr. Tamir Klein studies trees and forests with a wealth of measurements and details, capturing the whole picture of how trees process water, air, and carbon. His eco-physiological research has shown that trees are remarkably diverse and extremely adaptable in how they use the basic building blocks of water and carbon. His discoveries have shed new light on how trees cycle water and nutrients between leaves, stems, and roots — and have even shown evidence for a certain amount of "carbon trade" between the roots of trees located nearby each other. These discoveries have been published in top scientific journals and cited extensively.

Dr. Klein was born in Eilat, Israel. After completing his service in the Israel Defense Forces, he earned a BSc in biochemistry and food sciences with honors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Rehovot campus. He completed an MSc in plant sciences at the Weizmann Institute in 2005, followed by his PhD in environmental sciences in 2012. Dr. Klein worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Botany at the University of Basel, Switzerland from 2013 to 2015, and as a researcher at the Agricultural Research Organization Volcani Center  from 2015 to 2016. He joined the Weizmann Institute's Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences in 2016, where he is the incumbent of the Edith and Nathan Goldenberg Career Development Chair.

Dr. Klein is currently the editor of the leading journals Functional Ecology and iForest - Biosciences and Forestry. His many awards include the Wolf Foundation's Krill Prize (2021), an Alon Scholarship for young scientists (2017), the Dov Elad Memorial Prize for best PhD thesis (2013), the Rieger Foundation Scholarship in Environmental Sciences (2012) and the Karshon Foundation Scholarship in Forest Research (2011). He heads the Feinberg Graduate School Plant and Environmental Sciences Cluster, where he also teaches a Forest Ecology course. Dr. Klein was also active as a lecturer and course developer for the Department of Science Teaching during his student years at the Weizmann Institute, teaching environmental sciences and sustainability metrics to high school students and teachers. He also taught English and mathematics at the Davidson Institute of Science Education.

He is a father of two and lives in Rehovot.