The Aharon Katzir-Katchalsky Center
Lia Addadi, Director
The Dorothy and Patrick Gorman Professorial ChairThe Aharon Katzir-Katchalski Center
The Aharon Katzir-Katchalski Center of the Weizmann Institute of Science was established in 1972, following the tragic death of Aharon Katzir-Katchalski at the hands of terrorists. The Center, set up as a living memorial to him, is administered through a Board of Trustees supported by an International Advisory Committee.Mission
The Center promotes activities in physical biology and macromolecular science and in such other areas of science that fall within the wide-ranging interests of Aharon Katzir-Katchalski. The Center furthers international scientific cooperation through the organization of scientific meetings and the exchange of scientists. Of particular concern to the Center is the impact of scientific and technological advances on human society.Director
Prof. Lia Addadi, Dean of the Feinberg Graduate School (ex officio).Board of Trustees
The Board presently composed of a number of ex-officio members: Prof. Lia Addadi; Prof. Daniel Zajfman, President; Dr. Isaac Shariv, Vice-President for Administration & Finance; Prof. Michal Neeman, Dean of the Faculty of Biology; Prof. Zvi Livneh, Dean of the Faculty of Biochemistry. Additional members are: Prof. Ruth Arnon, Prof. Michael Eisenbach, Prof. Uriel Littauer, Prof. Michael Sela, Prof. Joel Sussman, and Prof. Izchak Z. Steinberg.Head of the local Advisory Committee
The local advisory committee is appointed by the FGS Dean to oversee the ongoing operations of the center. Currently, this committee is headed by Prof. Rony Seger.Administrative Coordinator
Ms. Dalia GreenbergFinancial Support
The Aharon Katzir-Katchalski Center has for many years been the recipient of financial support from various Foundations including the Batsheva de Rothschild Fund for the Advancement of Science in Israel.Activities
The Annual Katzir-Katchalski Conference
These conferences are held annually, alternately in Israel and abroad. To date 36 conferences have been held. The latest were:
2010: 36th Integrative Perspectives on the Development of the Musculoskeletal System
Dr. Eldad Tzahor 2010: 35th Mitochondria:Function and Dysfunction
Prof. Atan Gross 2009: 34th Protein Misfolding in the test tube and in disease
Prof. Jerardo Lederkremer 2009: 33rd From physics to life: an interdisciplinary workshop
Prof. Samuel Safran,Israel 2009: 32nd The MIF/CD74 pathway in health and disease
Prof. Idit Shachar,Israel 2007: 31th The Unbearable Complexity of Life
Prof. Abdussalam Azem, Prof. Nathan Nelson 2006: 30th Optical of Biomolecular Dynamics II
Prof. Gilad Haran,Israel 2005: 29th Molecular Perspective on Protein-Protein Interactions
Prof. Gideon Schreiber,Israel 2004: 28th The COP signalosome, the proteasome and e-IF3 at the interface between signaling and proteolysis
Prof. Michael Glickman, Technion 1999: 27th Cellular Implications or Redox Signaling
Chairpersons: C. Gitler, A. Danon 1998: 26th annual meeting "Polymer Based Technology" (POC 98)
Chairpersons: A. Warshavsky, M. Fridkin 1997: 25th annual meeting "From the Dawn of Life to the End of Days"
25th Annual Convention im Memory of Aharon Katzir. 1996: 24th, Bioinformatics-Structure.
Chairperson: J. Sussman 1996: 23rd, International Conference on Environmental Impact of Polymeric Material.
Chairperson: D. Vofsi 1994: 22nd, Plant Molecular Biology-Biotechnology and Environment, Max-Planck-Institute, Koln, Germany
Chairpersons: R. Fluhr, I. Chet (Israel), J. Schell (Germany) 1993: 21st, Applications of Membranes in Industry, Rehovot, Israel
Chairperson: O. Kedem, Israel 1992: 20th, In the Crucible of the Scientific Revolution-A Special Symposium Dedicated to Aharon Katzir-Katchalski Twenty Years After His Death
Chairpersons: O. Kedem and J. Jortner, Israel 1991: 19th, Plant Bioenergetics and Ion Translocation, Rehovot, Israel
Chairperson: Z. Gromet-Elhanan, Israel 1990: 18th, From Receptor to Cell Response-Physiology and Pharmacology, Mario Negri Sud, Italy
Chairpersons: D. Corda (Italy) and M. Shinitzky (Israel) 1990: 17th, Molecular Control of Development-Growth Differentiation and Malignancy, Ein Gedi, Israel
Chairperson: L. Sachs, Israel The Annual Katzir-Katchalski Lecture on Biological Foundations and Human Behavior
These lectures, endowed by Mr. Stephen L. Stulman of New York, have been held in Rehovot since 1975. To date 29 lectures have been delivered. The latest were:
2010: 29th, Prof. Cori Bargmann, (The Rockefeller university, New York, USA): Genetic and neuronal networks for flexible behaviors.
2010: 28th, Prof. Roger Y. Tsien, (University of California, San Diego, California, USA):Breeding and building molecules to spy on cells and tumors.
2008: 27th , Prof. David Baker, (University of Washington, Seattle, Wa.): From prediction of structure to design
2005: 26th, Prof. Roald Hoffmann, (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY): Honesty to the singular object: Some reflections on ethics, narrative, and science.
2004: 25th, Prof. David Baltimore, (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California): The Many Faces of NF-kB
2003: 24rd, Prof. Daniel Kahneman (Princeton University and The Hebrew Univesity of Jerusalem): Intuition and Rationality.
2000: 23rd, Prof. Miroslav Radman (Universite Paris-V, France) Molecular and Population Genetics of Evolution. Fidelity of Biosynthetic Processes: Mechanistic and Medical Aspects.
1998: 22nd, Prof. Judah Folkman (Harvard Medical School) New Directions in Angiogenesis Research. Do Vascular Endothelial Cells Control Organ and Tissue Size?
1997: 21st, Charles Weissmann (University of Zurich) Prion Protein in Health and Disease
1996: 20th, Aaron Klug, F.R.S. (President Royal Society, London) Protein Designs for the Regulaiton of Gene Expression
1994: 19th, Joshua Jortner (President, The Isrel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Te Challenge of the Structure-Function Relation in Photosynthesis.
1993: 18th, Amos Tversky (Stanford University) Rationality of Cognitive Illusion; A New Approach to Subjective Probability
1992: 17th, Daniel E. Koshland (University of California, Berkeley), Transformation of Information Across Membranes in Biological Systems
1992: 16th , Nicole Le Douarin (Coll?ge de France, Paris),The Development of the Nervous System Analyzed in the Avian Model; Alternative Methods for Inducing Immunological Tolerance
1990: 15th, Jean-Pierre Changeux (Institut Pasteur, Paris), Communications in the Nervous System: From Molecules to Cognitive Functions; Molecular Biology of Synapse Development
1989: 14th, George Klein (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm), I:The Neoplastic Microevolution a; II:The Neoplastic Microevolution b; III: The Role of Viral Transformation and Oncogene Activation by Chromosomal Translocation in the Genesis of B-Cell Derived Tumors
1988:13th, Arthur Kornberg (Stanford University, Stanford), Understanding Life as Chemistry; Initiation of DNA Replication at the Origin of the Chromosome
Katzir-Katchalski Travel Grants
The program has been in operation since 1976. Travel grants are provided to graduate students working within the areas of the Center's interests, to facilitate their participation in courses, schools, and workshops abroad. Students from all Israeli institutions of higher learning are eligible. 000 such grants were awarded in 2010.Special Activities
The Center assists with the organization of scientific meetings that fall within its scope. The latest were:2007: 32nd The Unbearable Complexity of Life
Chairperson: N. Nelson 2006: 31st Optical Spectroscopy of Biomolecular Dynamics
Chairperson: G. Haran, Israel 2006: 30th Life and Death in the Nervous System.
Chairperson: M. Fainzilber, Israel 2005: 29th Molecular Perspectives on Protein-Protein Interactions
Chairperson: G. Schreiber, Israel 1995: Israeli-Hungarian Conference: Plants and the Environment
Chairperson: A. Zamir, Israel 1991: The 13th Edmond de Rothschild School in Molecular Biophysics: Chemotaxis of Cells and Unicellular Organisms
Chairperson: M. Eisenbach, Israel 1988: 2nd International Congress of Plant Molecular Biology
Chairperson: M. Edelman, Israel 1987: 9th International Biophysics Congress
Chaiperson: H. Eisenberg, Israel http://www.weizmann.ac.il/feinberg/katzir/contentE/index.html