Scientific Steering Committee

The role of the Scientific Steering Committee is to provide strategic direction for the research that is done in the context of the Garvan-Weizmann collaboration.

Professor Ziv Reich 

Vice President, Weizmann Institute

Prof Ziv Reich joined the Weizmann Institute in 1998 after completing his postdoctoral research at Stanford University. Prof Riech holds BSC degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a MSc and PhD, both from the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Weizmann Institute. Prof Reich is the incumbent of the Hella and Derrick Kleeman Professorial Chair of Biochemistry.

His study interests include transport of molecules and macromolecules between the cell nucleus and cytoplasm, protein folding and binding, structure, function and adaptation of photosynthetic membranes, and the molecular basis of chloroplast development and leaf senescence—processes of major significance for agriculture. He is also elucidating the mechanisms that allow plants to withstand harsh environmental conditions, primarily water deficiency, towards developing drought-resistant crops.

Professor Chris Goodnow FAA FRS 

Executive Director, Garvan Institute and Head, Immunogenomics Laboratory

After a research career spent largely at Stanford University Medical School, the Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute and the Australian National University, Professor Chris Goodnow joined Garvan in 2015 to translate genomic analysis of the human immune system into understanding the cause and treatment of immune disorders.

He is known particularly for research using mouse molecular genetics that has illuminated how the immune system learns to distinguish ‘self’ from ‘not-self’ so that it does not attack its own body or cause cancer while fighting off infections.

Associate Professor Joseph Powell  

Head, Garvan-Weizmann Centre for Cellular Genomics

Joseph Powell has a strong background in statistical genetics, cellular genomics and quantitative trait analysis.

His research is focused on understanding the functional mechanisms by which genetic variants contribute to disease susceptibility at a cellular level, and ultimately achieve therapeutic and diagnostic outcomes.

He currently holds a NHMRC Career Development Fellow, was awarded an NHMRC Research Excellence Award (2015), and the prestigious 2016 Commonwealth Health Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Medical Research. He is also a Principal Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine, UNSW.

Professor Ido Amit 

Head, Amit Lab for Immuno-genomics, Department of Immunology, Weizmann Institute

Professor Amit’s research aims to understand how humans encode complex regulatory functions in their genomes, with a particular focus on haematopoiesis – the formation of blood cells – and immune responses.

Using concepts from functional genomics, molecular biology, computer science, physics, and biotechnology, he studies fundamental principles of genome function and regulation, and how both affect blood development and immune homeostasis in health and disease.