Full Professor

Prof. Dan Thomas Major

Full Professor
Telephone
Email
majort@biu.ac.il
Office
Chemistry Bldg. (211) Room 301. Laboratory Phone: 972-3-5317684
Fields of Interest
  • Chemistry & Biology
    • In silico drug development & enzyme design
    • Development of the EnzyDock program
    • Theoretical study of enzymatic and solution-phase reactions
    • Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations of proteins
  • Renewable energy
    • Simulations & modeling of Li- & Na-ion batteries & electrolytes
  • AI, Machine learning, Cheminformatics in chemistry, biology & renewable energy
  • Extensive interaction with experimental groups
Reception Hours
Anytime
    CV

    ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

    Prof. Major completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry and computer sciences at Bar-Ilan University in 1997. He received his Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University in 2003 under Prof. Bilha Fischer. During his Ph.D. he worked on molecular properties of nucleotide derivatives, theoretical modeling of G-protein coupled receptors, as well as molecular recognition.

    He did a post-doctorate at the University of Minnesota under Prof. Jiali Gao during the years 2003-2006. During his post-doctorate he was involved in development and application of theoretical methods for enzyme catalysis.

    Since 2007 he is a Faculty member in the Chemistry Department at Bar-Ilan University. His main research interests are in the field of computational chemistry, computational biochemistry, and computational nanotechnology.

     

    ACADEMIC AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS

    • Excellence in teaching, Rector’s Office, Bar-Ilan University, 2016.
    • Krill Prize (Wolf Foundation), 2009.
    • Alon Fellowship, 2008-2010.
    • Fulbright Scholarship, 2003-2004.
    • Excellence in teaching, Rector’s Office, Bar-Ilan University, 2001.
    • Eshkol Scholarship, 2000-2003.
    • Excellent young scientist from the Israeli Chemical Society, 2001.
    • Moris Benin Prize, 1999.
    • Bar-Ilan University Chemistry Department Prize, 1998.
    • Wolf Foundation Prize, young scientist, 1998.
    • Rachel and Reuven Jacobs Prize, 1997.

     

    RESEARCH INTERESTS

    • Chemistry & Biology
      • In silico drug development
      • In silico enzyme design
      • Development of EnzyDock, the docking program for enzymes
      • Predicting chemistry using AI
      • AI, Machine learning, Deep learning, and Cheminformatics of chemistry & biology
      • Theoretical study of enzymatic and solution-phase reactions
      • Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations of proteins
      • Software development
    • Renewable energy
      • Fundamentals of Li- and Na-ion batteries
      • Simulations & modeling of Li- and Na-ion batteries
      • Simulations & modeling of electrolytes
      • AI, Machine learning, Deep learning, Cheminformatics of renewable energy systems
    • Experimental interaction
      • Most of our projects are conducted in close collaboration with experimental groups

     

    LINKS

    Research
    • Chemistry & Biology
      • In silico drug development
      • In silico enzyme design
      • Development of EnzyDock, the docking program for enzymes
      • Predicting chemistry using AI
      • AI, Machine learning, Deep learning, and Cheminformatics of chemistry & biology
      • Theoretical study of enzymatic and solution-phase reactions
      • Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations of proteins
      • Software development
    • Renewable energy
      • Fundamentals of Li- and Na-ion batteries
      • Simulations & modeling of Li- and Na-ion batteries
      • Simulations & modeling of electrolytes
      • AI, Machine learning, Deep learning, Cheminformatics of renewable energy systems
    • Experimental interaction
      • Most of our projects are conducted in close collaboration with experimental groups

     

    Research Gallery

    Enzymes:

    Terpene synthases sense their substrates in a binary manner via one of two reactive oxygen atoms. We hypothesize that this alteration in binding, and subsequent chemistry, is due to these enzymes originating from plants or microorganisms.