Research Interests:
Structural Biology and Drug Design.
We apply biophysical, biochemical and computational methods to reveal the molecular and atomic details of protein function and regulation. This is imperative when trying to develop specific and potent drugs.
Main projects in the lab:
The main focus of the lab is the investigation of novel targets for antimicrobial drugs. This direction was motivated by the frightening rapid increase in the occurrence of antibiotic resistance to many common bacterial pathogens, in addition to the drastic reduction in the approval of new antibacterial drugs.
Project 1: Microbial Amyloids – Amyloids are protein aggregates associated with devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson and prion diseases. In microbes, the amyloids serve specific microbial functions, such as in biofilm structuring and interactions with the host. Our goal is to unravel the structure and mechanistic principles of microbial amyloids, and their roles in human health and disease. Ultimately this understanding will lead to mastery over amyloid biology and offer new avenues to protein science, microbiology, industry and medicine, and will advance therapeutics against the most resistant and aggressive microbial infections.
Are there any open positions in the lab?
We are always looking for gifted, motivated, students and postdocs.
Hot Jobs:
A position is available for a student with background in computer science for a project in computational biology. The project includes application of protein design software as well as writing simple algorithms to advance biological insights into the connection between infections and neurodegenerative diseases.
Lab website: http://mlandau.net.technion.ac.il