Prof. Lital Alfonta, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva
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Prof. Lital Alfonta

Nominated by

  • European Research Council (ERC)
  • AcademiaNet member since 21.07.2015
  • AcademiaNet- Selection Criteria


Employed by

  • Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva


Academic Discipline/Fields

  • Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics


Field

Biological and related sciences , Physical sciences



Area of specialisation

Bioelectrochemistry, Synthetic Biology, Chemical Biology



Research interests

  • Engineering of Electron Transfer Pathways

  • Genetic Code Expansion



Distinctions and Awards

  • Globes Israel- One of the 50 most influential women in Israel, 2014

  • Marc Rich Foundation Prize for Women Researchers, 2011

  • ERC-Starting Grant, EU, 2010

  • Ben-Gurion University – Incumbent of the Elaine S. and Alvin W. Wene Career Development Chair in Biotechnology Engineering, 2010

  • EMBO Long term postdoctoral fellowship, 2002-2004

  • Kaye Innovation Award, Hebrew University, 2002

  • Intel – for a Joint Industrial-Academic Research Project, 1998



Interested in

  • Lectures, Management position, Membership in scientific bodies, Refereeing


Languages

Arabic, Danish, English, Hebrew, Spanish



Doctorate

  • 2003: Development of Bioelectronic Devices by the Organization of Biomaterials on Transducing Elements: Characterization of the Systems and their Application in Sensing Processes


PostDoc qualification, e.g. Habilitation

  • 2006: Genetic Code Expansion




Short CV/Education and training

  • 1992 – 1995
    B.Sc. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel. Chemistry

  • 1996 – 1997
    M.Sc. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel. Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry.

Selected publications

  • Lital Alfonta, Zhiwen Zhang , Sean Uryu, Joseph A. Loo and Peter G. Schultz; 2003, Site-Specific Incorporation of a Redox Active Amino Acid into Proteins. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 14662-14663.

  • Zhiwen Zhang , Lital Alfonta, Feng Tian, Badry Bursulaya, Sean Uryu, David. S. King and Peter G. Schultz; 2004, Selective Incorporation of 5-hydroxytryptophan into Proteins in Mammalian Cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101, 8882-8887.

  • Wenshe Liu, Lital Alfonta, Antha V. Mack and Peter G. Schultz; 2007, Structural Basis for the Recognition of Para-Benzoyl-L-phenylalanine by Evolved Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases. Angew. Chem. Intl. Ed. 46, 6073-6075.

  • Liron Amir, Tsz Kin Tam, Marcos Pita, Michael M. Meijler, Lital Alfonta, Evgeny Katz, 2009, Biofuel Cell Controlled by Enzyme Logic Systems, J. Am. Chem. Soc, 131, 826-832.

  • Simon Fishilevich, Liron Amir, Yearit Fridman, Amir Aharoni, Lital Alfonta, 2009, Surface Display of Redox Enzymes in Microbial Fuel Cells, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131, 12052-12053.

  • Alon Szczupak, Dan Kol-Kalman, Lital Alfonta, A Hybrid Biocathode: Surface Display of O2-Reducing Enzymes for Microbial Fuel Cell Applications, Chem. Commun. 2012, 48, 49-51.

  • Lenka Halámeková, Jan Halámek, Vera Bocharova, Alon Szczupak, Lital Alfonta, Evgeny Katz, Implanted Biofuel Cell Operating in Living Snail, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 5040-5043.

  • Alon Szczupak, Jan Halámek, Lenka Halámková, Vera Bocharova, Lital Alfonta, Evgeny Katz, Living Battery – Biofuel Cells Operating In Vivo in Clams, Energy & Environ. Sci. 2012, 5, 8891-8895.

  • Liron Amir, Stewart A. Carnally, Josep Rayo, Shaked Rosenne, Sarit Melamed Yerushalmi, Orr Schlesinger, Michael M. Meijler, Lital Alfonta, Surface Display of a Redox Enzyme and its Site Specific Wiring to Gold Electrodes, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 70-73.

  • Yonatan Chemla, Eden Ozer, Orr Schlesinger, Vincent Noireaux, Lital Alfonta, Genetically expanded cell-free protein synthesis using endogenous pyrrolysyl orthogonal translation system, Biotechnol. Bioengineer. 2015.


Membership in scientific bodies/juries

  • Israel Chemical Society

  • Israel Society for Microbiology

  • International Electrochemical Society

  • American Chemical Society

Media coverage

  • Horizon Magazine piece

  • Highlights of research in: Nature, JACS, public Media (written and broadcasts)

Soft Skills/Other activities and achievements

Other activities and achievements/family

  • 2 Children


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