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Meytal Landau
Functional Fibrils - Integrative Structural Biology of Amyloids
Meytal Landau is a Leading Scientist at DESY, at the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB). She is also a full Professor at the Center for Experimental Medicine (ZEM) at the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), and a Visiting Associated Group Leader at EMBL Hamburg. Landau is also a Visiting Associated Professor at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Amongst other distinctions, she received the Biophysical Society’s Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award (2019) and the Wolf Foundation’s Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research (2018).
Her research primarily focuses on protein fibers that possess robust structures, such as amyloids, which are commonly associated with neurodegenerative diseases but are also secreted by various species across different kingdoms of life to aid in physiological functions and survival. For instance, certain microbial amyloids increase the aggressiveness of infections. The Landau and other labs have only started to uncover the mysteries surrounding the functions and structures of these functional fibrils, and they are working towards revealing new concepts related to their structure-function relationships, mechanisms of action, interactions, modulation, and design. To aid in their research, they are utilizing advanced infrastructures at DESY and the CSSB, including the DESY PETRAIII synchrotron. This research has the potential to facilitate the development of antivirulence drugs and durable antimicrobials for the coating of medical devices, food packaging, water pipes, and other surfaces that are susceptible to resilient and aggressive pathogens. Additionally, the findings may shed light on the molecular basis of the amyloid-antimicrobial link and reveal a potential role in neuroimmunity for pathological amyloids in humans.
Academic career
| Since 2023 | Leading Scientist at DESY, Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), and Professor (W3) at the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) |
| Since 2020 | Visiting Associated Group Leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Hamburg, Germany |
| Since 2019 | Associate Professor at the Faculty of Biology at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology |
| 2012-2018 | Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Biology at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology |
| 2007-2012 | Post-doctoral scholar, University of California, Los Angeles, USA |
| 2002-2007 | Ph.D. Biochemistry, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel |
| 2000-2002 | M.Sc. Neurobiology Summa cum laude, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel |
| 1995-2000 | B.Sc. Pharm. (Bachelor of Pharmacy) Magna cum laude, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel |
Memberships
| Since 2020 | Member of the Israeli national committee for synchrotron radiation |
| Since 2020 | The Israeli delegate at the European synchrotron and FEL user organisation (ESUO) |
| 2020–2022 | Member of the ESRF Beamtime Allocation Panel C10 |
| 2019–2020 | Member of the SAB of the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg, Germany |
| Since 2017 | Member at HZB (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin) Scientific Selection Panel C2 |
