Prof. Daniella Goldfarb

President’s Advisor for Advancing Women in Science Weizmann Institute of Science

Born in Paris, Prof. Daniella Goldfarb received a BSc in chemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1976), an MSc at the University of Rhode Island, and a PhD at the Weizmann Institute (1984). Following postdoctoral studies at the University of Houston, she joined the Weizmann Institute in 1987.  She is the incumbent of the Erich Klieger Professorial Chair in Chemical Physics. At the Weizmann Institute, she has chaired the Chemistry Board of Studies at the Feinberg Graduate School, and was Head of the Department of Chemical Physics. She has served as the Institute’s Chair of the Council of Professors, and in 2014 became the President’s Advisor for Advancing Women in Science and in 2016 also became Vice Chair of the Scientific Council.

Prof. Goldfarb is a recognized leader in the field of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, used to investigate the structure and properties of molecules in solids and liquids. EPR is similar to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), except that it observes electron spins rather than nuclear spins. She has built the spectrometers in her lab to develop new EPR techniques and technology, and uses them to explore new challenges in biology and chemistry, such as observing structural characteristics of proteins in the cell, which can, in the future be used to observe protein response to drugs. By understanding how molecular machines work through their magnetic interactions, she may be able, in the future, to explore cell drug resistance and design better drugs.

Prof. Goldfarb has served as President of the European Federation of EPR Groups and is currently President of the International Magnetic Resonance Society. She was the chair of the editorial board of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics from 2012 through 2014. Among her awards are the Silver Medal in Chemistry by the International EPR Society: the Bruker BioSpin Lectureship by the Royal Society of Chemistry, the International Zavoisky Award from the Zavoisky Physical Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Kolthoff Prize from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the Israel Chemical Society Excellence prize and the Gold Medal of the International EPR Society. She was elected as President of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in 2015. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Prof. Goldfarb is married and has two daughters. She is also an amateur potter.