LEADING THE CHEMICAL COMMUNITY IN ISRAEL

Since 2009 Ehud Keinan serves as President of the Israel Chemical Society (third term). He was born (1947) and educated in Israel, married to Hana Keinan with 6 children and 7 grandchildren. B.Sc. from Tel Aviv University (1971), M.Sc. from Ben-Gurion University (with Leon Zalkow, 1972), Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science (with Yehuda Mazur, 1977), postdoc at the University of Wisconsin (with Barry M. Trost, 1977-1980). Keinan holds the Benno Gitter & Ilana Ben-Ami Professor of Chemistry, published over 170 papers, 25 patents and 3 books on biocatalysis with antibodies and with synthetic enzymes, organic synthesis, molecular-computing, supra-molecular chemistry, improvised explosives and drug discovery. He received the New England Award for Academic Excellence, the Shannon Award, the CapCure Award, the Herschel-Rich Award, the Technion Prize for security technologies, the Henri Taub Prize for scientific excellence, and the Schulich Prize for the promotion of Extraordinary Academic Activities. Since 2010 he is a Fellow of the ‪American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He founded two startup companies based on his technologies. He was the founder and first Head of the Institute of Catalysis Science and Technology (ICST) in the Technion. Since 2009 he serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Israel Journal of Chemistry (Wiley-VCH), Member of the Executive Board of EuCheMS, Chairman of the Advisory Council of High School Chemistry Education and Council Member of the Wolf Foundation. He served as Dean of the Technion Schulich Faculty of Chemistry (2004-2005) and Adjunct Professor at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California (1991-2014).

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Elad joined Adama in 1999 as Head of R&D of Agan Aroma and Fine Chemicals. He then went on to serve as COO of Agan Aroma and Fine Chemicals and CEO of Negev Aroma (Ramat Hovav ). Elad then assumed the role of Head of Global Chemical R&D alongside his roles in Aroma. In August 2014 he was appointed as VP of Innovation, Development, Research and Registration.
Elad holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Prof. Haim Cohen was born in 1945. He received his B.Sc. from Tel Aviv University and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the Feinberg Graduate School of the Weizmann Institute of Science (inorganic physical chemistry). He spent a postdoctoral period in the University of California in Santa Barbara (catalysis). He served as a senior research chemist in the Nuclear Research Center Negev in Dimona until 2004 and since 1991 he is an Adjunct Professor in the Chemistry Department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (where he served as the chairman of the R. Bloch Coal Center For 4 years). In 2004 he became a professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry in Ariel University. He is interested in coal research, environmental studies and radiation chemistry. His main research involves mechanism of chemical reactions (homogeneous and heterogeneous), catalysis, rocket engine fuels and environmental pollution problems.

Sharon graduated from the lab of Prof. Goldfarb (WIS) at 2008, and then joined the lab of Prof. Saxena (PITT) as an EMBO post-doctoral fellow. In 2011, She established her lab (www.ruthstein-lab.com) at Bar-Ilan University (BIU), Israel. Her group is utilizing various spectroscopic methods to resolve copper cellular metal transfer mechanism in vitro and in cell, where CW and pulsed EPR is the main biophysical tool. They complement the EPR data by various other biophysical and biochemical approaches, as well as computational methods, such as CD, NMR, run-off transcription assays, ultra-centrifuge experiments, cell microscopy experiments, 64Cu(II) cell experiments, and QM/MM-MD simulations, to provide a complete picture of the cellular copper cycle in eukaryotic and prokaryotic systems. Sharon’s lab is currently funded by several competitive grants: ERC, BSF, NSF-BSF, ISF.

Prof. Meital Reches received her Ph.D in peptide chemistry and self-assembly from Tel Aviv University, in 2007. Between 2007-2010 she was a post-doctoral fellow with Prof. George Whitesides at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University. In 2010, she joined the Institute of Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Since 2017, she is Professor of Chemistry. Her research focuses on the interactions of biological entities (cell, bacteria, proteins etc.) with solid surfaces. Based on these studies, Prof. Reches developed a coating that resist bacterial adhesion and therefore can prevent infections. Based on this technology, Prof. Reches funded the company NanoAF in 2014. Prof. Reches was awarded with the Kaye Innovation Award of the Hebrew University and the Marie Curie Alumni Association Best Innovator Award.

Dr. Sigal Saphier has completed her undergraduate studies at the Technion program of excellence, combining biology courses with her degree in chemistry. She received her PhD in 2002, under the supervision of Prof. Ehud Keinan, on the topic of Catalytic Antibodies. Following two years in the Medicinal-Pharmaceutical Industry, Sigal joined the Israel Institute for Biological Research, where she received the Kazir scholarship for young investigators. She is currently a group leader and her research focuses on medicinal chemistry and drug delivery. In particular, on the effects of fluorine introduction on lipophilicity and other physicochemical properties of model compounds and on drug ADME properties.

Prof. Michael M. Meijler was born in 1970 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He combined studies in chemistry and organic synthesis at the University of Amsterdam with competitive distance running (specializing in 3000 meter steeple-chase). After completing his PhD studies in Bioorganic Chemistry at The Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel with Professor Abraham Shanzer, he joined the group of Professor Kim Janda at The Scripps Research Institute in 2002 as a postdoctoral fellow, and from 2005 to 2006 as Assistant Professor. By the end of 2006, he returned to Israel for a faculty position at the Department of Chemistry at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be’er Sheva, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011 and to Full Professor in 2015. His research interests focus on chemical communication within and between species and on developing chemical tools to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that guide these interactions and that regulate the balance between competition and coexistence.

Doron Shabat is a professor of chemistry in School of Chemistry at Tel Aviv University. His research is focused in bioorganic chemistry with particular interests in self-immolative molecular systems, long-wavelength fluorescent dyes and chemiluminescence probes for in vitro and in vivo imaging. He is the recipient of the Juludan Prize for 2005, administered by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the Israel Chemical Society’s Prize (2005) for Outstanding Young Chemists and the Frost Fellowship administrated by The Scripps Research Institute (2012 and 2014). Since 2016, he is holding the Emerico Letay Chair of Chemical Processes.

Dr. Dorit Taitelbaum completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry at Bar Ilan University in 1985. She received her Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2009, under the supervision of Prof. Avi Hofstein and Dr. Rachel Mamlok-Naaman, working on Evidence-based chemistry teachers Continuous Professional Development (CPD) during teaching the inquiry approach in the chemistry laboratory. She was a chemistry teacher for more than 20 years, at Shimon Ben Tzvi high school in Givaatayim. Dorit coordinated all chemistry studies at her school for several years, and was also a chemistry mentor for high school teachers around the country. Since July 2011, Dorit is the Chief Inspector of Chemistry studies in Israel at the Ministry of Education. Her main interest is to advance chemistry studies in high school all over Israel.

• Associate Professor, Weizmann Institute of Science – Israel
  • 2017-present, Department of Organic Chemistry.
• Senior Scientist, Weizmann Institute of Science – Israel
  • 2009- 2017, Department of Organic Chemistry.
• Post-doctoral Associate, Yale University – USA
  • 2006–2009, Department of Chemistry (Advisor:  Prof. Andrew Hamilton).
• Ph.D., Weizmann Institute of Science – Israel
  • 2001-2006, Department of Organic Chemistry (Advisor:  Prof. Abraham Shanzer).
• M.Sc., Weizmann Institute of Science – Israel
  • 1998-2001, Department of Organic Chemistry   (Advisor:  Prof. Abraham Shanzer).
• B.Sc., The Hebrew University of Jerusalem – Israel
  • 1995-1998, Field: Chemistry

Gideon recognized the need for local Israeli chemistry research organizations assisting the vibrant pharmaceutical and biotech sectors in Israel in 2014 and established with others On Target Chemistry in 2015. In 2016 Gideon was one of the two founders of Recipharm Israel, working with early stage drug development in small molecules. With the focus on small molecule pharma and biotech developments from the early stage thru phase III, Gideon was the main force in establishing the NCK Prize for an outstanding Israeli professor from the academy, awarded yearly by the ICS and MCS-ICS, recognizing the importance of flourishing the world of chemistry in Israel.