Prof. Abdussalam Azem

Prof. Azem is the Dean of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences. Since joining Tel Aviv as a faculty member in 1997, he has served in several positions. Among them is the head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and as the first head of the newly established School of Neurobiology Biochemistry and Biophysics. At the national level, Prof. Azem served as Secretary General of the Israel Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ISBMB) (2013- 2017). During this period, he served as representative of ISBMB in the Federations of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS). Prof. Azem holds the Louise and Nahum Barag Chair in Molecular Genetics of Cancer.

The general focus of Prof. Azem’s research is to study the function and dysfunction of proteins, with a focus on protein folding and aggregation properties inside mitochondria, the energy producing organelle in our cells. These processes are relevant during the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Recently, his focus has shifted to include the study of the molecular mechanisms of the development of rare genetic diseases, linked to mitochondrial function.