Professor of Structural Biology at Weizmann Institute and the laureate of 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

---

Ada Yonath is a member of several academies, including US national Academy, the British Royal Society, the Israeli Academy. Among other distinctions, she holds honorary doctorate from over 40 worldwide universities. Her pioneering studies focus on the structure and functions of the ribosome – the cell’s protein factory. She has been at the forefront of key scientific developments, revealing in detail how genetic information is decoded, how the ribosome’s inherent flexibility enables its performance, how antibiotics target it selectively and the secrets of antibiotic cross-resistance, findings that are crucial for designing next generation eco-friendly antibiotics. She also investigates human diseases associated with mutated ribosomes, and attempts discovering the origin of life. Yonath is the Martin and Helen Kimmel Professor and heads the Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly at the Weizmann Institute.