# Daniel Chamovitz
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{{short description|American-born Israeli biologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| native_name = דניאל חיימוביץ
| native_name_lang = he
| image = Chamovitz 14082018 042.jpg
| caption = Chamovitz, the 7th President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|4|18}}
| birth_place = [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US](/source/Pittsburgh%2C_Pennsylvania%2C_US)
| death_date =
| death_place =
| citizenship = Israel, United States
| field = [Plant Biology](/source/Plant_Biology)
[Molecular genetics](/source/Molecular_genetics)
[Food security](/source/Food_security)
| work_institution = [Ben Gurion University of the Negev](/source/Ben_Gurion_University_of_the_Negev); [Tel Aviv University](/source/Tel_Aviv_University)
| ethnicity =
| education = [Yale University](/source/Yale_University)
(1993-1995, Postdoc)
[Hebrew University of Jerusalem](/source/Hebrew_University_of_Jerusalem) (1993, PhD, Genetics)
[Hebrew University of Jerusalem](/source/Hebrew_University_of_Jerusalem) (1986, B.Sc., Biology,)
[Hopewell High School (Pennsylvania)](/source/Hopewell_High_School_(Pennsylvania)), [Aliquippa](/source/Aliquippa), PA (1981)
| doctoral_students =
| doctoral_advisor = [Joseph Hirschberg](/source/Joseph_Hirschberg)
| known_for = [Carotenoid](/source/Carotenoid) [biosynthesis](/source/biosynthesis)
Discovering the [COP9 signalosome](/source/COP9_signalosome)
[What a Plant Knows](/source/What_a_Plant_Knows) (2012)
| thesis_title = Molecular Analysis of the Early Steps of Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Cyanobacteria: Phytoene Synthase and Phytoene Desaturase
| thesis_year =
| thesis_url =
| academic_advisors =
| spouse = [Shira Yalon-Chamovitz](/source/Shira_Yalon-Chamovitz)
}}
'''Daniel Chamovitz''' ([Hebrew](/source/Hebrew_language): דניאל חיימוביץ; born April 18, 1963) is an American-born Israeli [plant geneticist](/source/plant_geneticist) and the 7th President of [Ben-Gurion University of the Negev](/source/Ben-Gurion_University_of_the_Negev) in [Beer-Sheva](/source/Beer-Sheva), [Israel](/source/Israel).[{{cite web|url=http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Pages/news/daniel_chamovitz.aspx|title=Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, President-Elect of BGU|access-date=19 August 2018}}] On July 1, 2024, he assumed the position of head of {{interlanguage link|VERA – Association of University Heads, Israel|he|ועד ראשי האוניברסיטאות}}. [{{Cite web|url=https://vera.org.il/%D7%93%D7%91%D7%A8_%D7%94%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A8/|title=דבר היו"ר - ועד ראשי האוניברסיטאותועד ראשי האוניברסיטאות|date=August 27, 2012}}] Previously he was Dean of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at [Tel Aviv University](/source/Tel_Aviv_University), Israel, and the founding director of the multidisciplinary Manna Center Program in Food Safety and Security.[{{cite web |url=http://foodsecurity.tau.ac.il |title=Food Safety & Security Manna Center Program in {{!}} Tel Aviv University |website=foodsecurity.tau.ac.il |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501072105/http://foodsecurity.tau.ac.il/ |archive-date=2014-05-01}}][{{cite web|url=https://en-lifesci.tau.ac.il/profile/dannyc|title=Prof. Daniel Chamovitz {{!}} The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences|website=en-lifesci.tau.ac.il|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-05}}]
== Biography ==
Daniel Chamovitz was born in [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania](/source/Pittsburgh%2C_Pennsylvania), and grew up in [Aliquippa, Pennsylvania](/source/Aliquippa%2C_Pennsylvania). He began his undergraduate studies at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), [NY](/source/New_York_(state)), and then transferred to the [Hebrew University of Jerusalem](/source/Hebrew_University_of_Jerusalem), where he studied [plant science](/source/Botany). He received his Ph.D. in [Genetics](/source/Genetics) in 1992. From 1993 to 1996 he carried out [postdoctoral research](/source/Postdoctoral_researcher) at [Yale University](/source/Yale_University), before accepting a faculty position at [Tel Aviv University](/source/Tel_Aviv_University). In 2002, Chamovitz was a visiting scientist at the [Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center](/source/Fred_Hutchinson_Cancer_Research_Center) in [Seattle](/source/Seattle), and he has also been a visiting professor at the School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences at [Peking University](/source/Peking_University). He founded the interdisciplinary Manna Center Program in Food Safety and Security at Tel Aviv University in 2013, and was Dean of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University from 2014 to 2018.
Since January 1, 2019, Chamovitz serves as the 7th President of [Ben-Gurion University of the Negev](/source/Ben-Gurion_University_of_the_Negev) in [Beer-Sheva](/source/Beer-Sheva), [Israel](/source/Israel), and holds the university's Miles and Lillian Cahn Chair in Food Security and Plant Science.[{{cite web |url=https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Pages/management/president.aspx |title=Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - BGU President - Prof. Daniel Chamovitz |publisher=In.bgu.ac.il |date=2019-01-01 |access-date=2020-02-23 |archive-date=2019-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613231029/http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Pages/management/president.aspx |url-status=dead }}]
==Scientific career==
During his doctoral research, in the lab of Joseph Hirschberg, Daniel Chamovitz [cloned](/source/Cloning) several [gene](/source/gene)s involved in the [biosynthesis](/source/biosynthesis) of [beta-carotene](/source/Beta-Carotene).[{{Cite journal|last1=Chamovitz|first1=D.|last2=Pecker|first2=I.|last3=Hirschberg|first3=J.|date=1991-06-01|title=The molecular basis of resistance to the herbicide norflurazon|journal=Plant Molecular Biology|language=en|volume=16|issue=6|pages=967–974|doi=10.1007/BF00016069|pmid=1907510|s2cid=44034335|issn=1573-5028}}][{{Cite journal|last1=Chamovitz|first1=Daniel|last2=Misawa|first2=Norihiko|last3=Sandmann|first3=Gerhard|last4=Hirschberg|first4=Joseph|date=1992-01-27|title=Molecular cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of a cyanobacterial gene coding for phytoene synthase, a carotenoid biosynthesis enzyme|journal=FEBS Letters|volume=296|issue=3|pages=305–310|doi=10.1016/0014-5793(92)80310-D|pmid=1537409|bibcode=1992FEBSL.296..305C |s2cid=8674018|issn=0014-5793}}][{{Cite journal|last1=Cunningham|first1=Francis X.|last2=Chamovitz|first2=Daniel|last3=Misawa|first3=Norihiko|last4=Gantt|first4=Elisabeth|last5=Hirschberg|first5=Joseph|date=1993-08-09|title=Cloning and functional expression in Escherichia coli of a cyanobacterial gene for lycopene cyclase, the enzyme that catalyzes the biosynthesis of beta-carotene|journal=FEBS Letters|volume=328|issue=1–2|pages=130–138|doi=10.1016/0014-5793(93)80980-9|pmid=8344419|s2cid=86704801|issn=0014-5793|doi-access=free|bibcode=1993FEBSL.328..130C }}] As a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of [Xing-Wang Deng](/source/Xing-Wang_Deng) at Yale University, he discovered the [COP9 Signalosome](/source/COP9_signalosome) (CSN) complex.[{{Cite journal|last1=Chamovitz|first1=Daniel A|last2=Wei|first2=Ning|last3=Osterlund|first3=Mark T|last4=von Arnim|first4=Albrecht G|last5=Staub|first5=Jeffrey M|last6=Matsui|first6=Minami|last7=Deng|first7=Xing-Wang|date=1996-07-12|title=The COP9 Complex, a Novel Multisubunit Nuclear Regulator Involved in Light Control of a Plant Developmental Switch|journal=Cell|volume=86|issue=1|pages=115–121|doi=10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80082-3|pmid=8689678|issn=0092-8674|doi-access=free}}][{{Cite journal|last1=Wei|first1=Ning|last2=Chamovitz|first2=Daniel A.|last3=Deng|first3=Xing-Wang|date=1994-07-15|title=Arabidopsis COP9 is a component of a novel signaling complex mediating light control of development|journal=Cell|volume=78|issue=1|pages=117–124|doi=10.1016/0092-8674(94)90578-9|pmid=8033203|s2cid=205021135|issn=0092-8674}}] At Tel Aviv University he continued to work on this protein complex to understand its role in regulating plant responses to the environment with both [Arabidopsis](/source/Arabidopsis_thaliana) and [Drosophila](/source/Drosophila_melanogaster) as model systems. Using genetic, [biochemical](/source/Biomolecule), [molecular](/source/Molecular_biology) and [computational](/source/Computational_biology) approaches, he has shown that CSN is essential for development in both plants and animals and is likely also involved in a number of human diseases, including [cancer](/source/cancer).[{{Cite journal|last1=Lee|first1=Mong-Hong|last2=Zhao|first2=Ruiying|last3=Phan|first3=Liem|last4=Yeung|first4=Sai-Ching J.|date=2011-09-15|title=Roles of COP9 signalosome in cancer|journal=Cell Cycle|volume=10|issue=18|pages=3057–3066|doi=10.4161/cc.10.18.17320|issn=1538-4101|pmid=21876386|pmc=3218617}}] His lab has also elucidated the role of the phytochemical [indole-3-carbinol](/source/indole-3-carbinol) in plant development.[{{cite journal |last1=Katz |first1=Ella |display-authors=etal |title=Indole-3-carbinol: a plant hormone combatting cancer |journal=F1000Research |date=2018 |volume=7 |page=689 |doi=10.12688/f1000research.14127.1 |pmid=29904587 |pmc=5989150 |doi-access=free }}][{{cite journal |last1=Katz |first1=Ella |display-authors=etal |title=The glucosinolate breakdown product indole-3-carbinol acts as an auxin antagonist in roots of Arabidopsis thaliana |journal=Plant Journal |date=2015 |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=547–555 |doi=10.1111/tpj.12824 |pmid=25758811 |doi-access=free }}] Chamovitz has published over 70 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals[{{cite web|url=https://scholars.bgu.ac.il/display/dchamovitz|title=Chamovitz, Daniel|website=scholars.bgu.ac.il|access-date=2019-07-05|archive-date=2019-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705071409/https://scholars.bgu.ac.il/display/dchamovitz|url-status=dead}}][{{cite web|url=https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2815-2909|title=ORCID|website=orcid.org|access-date=2019-07-05}}] with over 8,000 citations listed in Google Scholar.[{{cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uT68qnAAAAAJ&hl=en|title=Daniel Chamovitz - Google Scholar Citations|website=scholar.google.com|access-date=2021-05-21}}] He was also member of the [Faculty of 1000](/source/Faculty_of_1000), Biology.[{{cite web|url=https://f1000.com/prime/thefaculty/member/1050499375451220|title=Daniel Chamovitz - F1000Prime|website=f1000.com|language=en|access-date=2019-07-05}}]
He is known for his popular science book ''[What a Plant Knows](/source/What_a_Plant_Knows)'',[{{cite web|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/store/books/what-a-plant-knows/|title=What a Plant Knows|last=Chamovitz|first=Daniel|website=Scientific American|language=en|access-date=2019-07-05}}][{{cite web |title=WHAT A PLANT KNOWS |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/daniel-chamovitz/what-plant-knows/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=17 September 2023}}][{{cite web|url=https://www.botany.one/2013/05/what-a-plant-knows-by-daniel-chamovitz/|title=What a Plant Knows by Daniel Chamovitz « Botany One|date=2013-05-18|website=Botany One|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-05}}][{{cite web|last1=Alun|first1=Salt|title=What a Plant Knows by Daniel Chamovitz|url=http://aobblog.com/2013/05/what-a-plant-knows-by-daniel-chamovitz/|website=Annals of Botany|date=18 May 2013|publisher=Oxford Journals|access-date=8 July 2014|ref=1}}][{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jun/19/what-plant-knows-daniel-chamovitz-review|title=What a Plant Knows by Daniel Chamovitz – review|last=Smith|first=P. D.|date=2012-06-19|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-07-05|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}] which was first published in 2012, with an updated and revised edition appearing in 2017. The book won a silver medal from the Nautilus Book Awards[{{cite web |title=2013 Silver Winners |url=http://nautilusbookawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2013Silver.pdf |access-date=10 June 2021 |website=Nautilus Book Awards |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926023017/https://nautilusbookawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2013Silver.pdf |url-status=dead }}] and was listed as one of the Top 10 Science books in Amazon for 2012.[{{cite web |last1=Dupuis |first1=John |title=Best Science Books 2012: Amazon |url=https://confessions.scientopia.org/2012/11/19/best-science-books-2012-amazon/ |website=CONFESSIONS OF A SCIENCE LIBRARIAN |access-date=17 September 2023}}] ''What a Plant Knows'' has been translated and published in 20 countries. The book was also the base for a course[{{Cite web|url=https://www.coursera.org/learn/plantknows|title = Understanding Plants - Part I: What a Plant Knows}}] with the same name taught on [Coursera](/source/Coursera) by Chamovitz to over 100,000 students,[{{cite web | first1=AJ | last1=Cann | url=http://aobblog.com/2013/10/plant-knows-mooc-report/ | title=What a Plant Knows – MOOC Report | publisher=Oxford Journals | date=9 October 2013 | access-date=8 July 2014 | website=aobblog.com/}}][{{cite web|last1=Dichek|first1=Bernard|title=Into Classrooms, and Beyond|url=http://blogs.nature.com/tradesecrets/2013/09/05/into-classrooms-and-beyond|website=BIOENTREPRENEUR:TRADE SECRETS|publisher=nature.com|access-date=8 July 2014|date=5 Sep 2013}}][{{cite web|url=https://www.botany.one/2013/10/reaching-masses-true-botanical-evangelism/|title=Reaching the masses: true botanical evangelism « Botany One|date=2013-10-04|website=Botany One|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-05}}] beginning in 2013.
==Selected awards==
* 1993 [European Molecular Biology Organization](/source/European_Molecular_Biology_Organization) Long-term fellowship
* 1994 [Human Frontier Science Program](/source/Human_Frontier_Science_Program) Postdoctoral fellowship
* 1996 Alon Fellowship [מלגת אלון](/source/%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%92%D7%AA_%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%9F) for the Integration of Outstanding Faculty, by the Israel Council for Higher Education
* 2002 [Union for International Cancer Control](/source/Union_for_International_Cancer_Control) ICC-American Cancer Society Beginning Investigator Award
* 2013 Nautilus Book Awards silver medal