David Wallach
David Wallach (born January 23, 1946 in Haifa , Israel ) is an Israeli molecular biologist .
Life
David Wallach moved from Kiryat Bialik near Haifa to Jerusalem when he was 18 . From 1966 he studied biochemistry and chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , where he received his bachelor's degree in 1968, his master's degree in 1969 and his doctorate in 1974 under Michael Schramm. His dissertation dealt with the mechanisms of the production of cell membranes and the arrangement of proteins in the granules of secretion glands in rats.
From 1974 to 1977 he was a postdoc at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda (Maryland) with Ira Pastan. Since 1977 he has been working at the Weizmann Institute for Science , where he became Associate Professor in 1983 and Professor in 1995.
His parents came from Bukovina and Galicia , and Wallach is involved in the preservation of the Jewish culture in these areas. His sister Sarah Stroumsa is an Arabist and professor at the Hebrew University, where she was the rector.
research
Wallach has been studying the mode of action of cytokines , proteins that regulate cell growth and the differentiation of cells , since 1977 . In particular, he investigated the question of whether the body has molecular signal generators that target cells to programmed cell death . In the course of his research he succeeded in isolating an active substance that he called cytotoxin . At first, however, it was not clear whether this cytotoxin acts as a mere cell poison or whether it is a messenger substance that causes more complex effects in the cells. Ultimately, he and his group succeeded in elucidating the chemical structure of the cytotoxin , which turned out to be completely identical to tumor necrosis factor (TNF). At the same time, with this discovery, two previously completely independent research areas were merged, because TNF had previously been the sole focus of research on cancer development .
Wallach now changed the objective of his research, since he assumed that the cells must also have protective mechanisms against TNF and induced cell death - as a counterbalance, as it were, against programmed cell death. In fact, his research group succeeded in isolating the first two TNF receptors and describing their function: cells can cut the outward binding regions of the TNF receptors; the capped receptors then intercept the TNF in front of the cells and thus prevent the accumulation of TNF on the cells. This knowledge led to the development of drugs for inflammatory diseases.
He also works with the pharmaceutical company Merck-Serono and its Israeli subsidiary Interpharm on the application of cytokine research to drugs for autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis , rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease . His research contributed to the development of the drugs Etanercept and Adalimumab .
Honors
In 2011/2012 David Wallach was President of the International Cytokine Society. In 2014 he also received the EMET Prize from the AMN Foundation for the Advancement of Science, Art and Culture in Israel .
In 2018 he received the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize with Anthony Cerami . His contribution to the study of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and the function of TNF receptors for the development of inflammation and for cell death (apoptosis) was recognized.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Background information on the awarding of the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2018. On: uni-frankfurt.de on March 14, 2018
- ↑ http://en.emetprize.org/laureates/life-sciences/biotechnology/prof-david-wallach/
- ↑ Background information from the University of Frankfurt , March 14, 2018
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wallach, David |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Israeli molecular biologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 23, 1946 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kiryat Bialik |