Michael Levitt
Encyclopedia
Professor Michael Levitt FRS (born 9 May 1947 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a British
biophysicist. He has been Professor of Structural biology
, Stanford University
, California
, since 1987 working in computational biology
and bioinformatics
.
He is one of the first people who simulated DNA and protein structures. He is currently well known for developing approaches to predict macromolecular structures, having participated in many Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction (CASP)
competitions. He has mentored many successful scientists, including Mark Gerstein
, Cyrus Chothia
and Ram Samudrala
.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
biophysicist. He has been Professor of Structural biology
Structural biology
Structural biology is a branch of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics concerned with the molecular structure of biological macromolecules, especially proteins and nucleic acids, how they acquire the structures they have, and how alterations in their structures affect their function...
, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, since 1987 working in computational biology
Computational biology
Computational biology involves the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral, and social systems...
and bioinformatics
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics is the application of computer science and information technology to the field of biology and medicine. Bioinformatics deals with algorithms, databases and information systems, web technologies, artificial intelligence and soft computing, information and computation theory, software...
.
He is one of the first people who simulated DNA and protein structures. He is currently well known for developing approaches to predict macromolecular structures, having participated in many Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction (CASP)
CASP
CASP, which stands for Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction, is a community-wide, worldwide experiment for protein structure prediction taking place every two years since 1994...
competitions. He has mentored many successful scientists, including Mark Gerstein
Mark Bender Gerstein
Professor Mark B. Gerstein is an American scientist working in bioinformatics. , he is co-director of the Yale Computational Biology and Bioinformatics program, andAlbert L...
, Cyrus Chothia
Cyrus Chothia
Cyrus Chothia FRS is an emeritus scientist at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology and emeritus fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge....
and Ram Samudrala
Ram Samudrala
Ram Samudrala is a professor of computational biology at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA. He researches protein and proteome folding, structure, function, interaction, design, and evolution spanning atomic to organismal levels of description...
.
Education
- King's College LondonKing's College LondonKing's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
(BSc Physics 1967) - Gonville and Caius College, CambridgeGonville and Caius College, CambridgeGonville and Caius College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college is often referred to simply as "Caius" , after its second founder, John Keys, who fashionably latinised the spelling of his name after studying in Italy.- Outline :Gonville and...
(PhD Computational Biology 1972).
Career
- Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
Exchange Fellow, Weizmann Institute, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, 1967–68 - Staff Scientist, MRC Laboratory of Molecular BiologyLaboratory of Molecular BiologyThe Laboratory of Molecular Biology is a research institute in Cambridge, England, which was at the forefront of the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s, since then it remains a major medical research laboratory with a much broader focus.-Early beginnings: 1947-61:Max...
, Cambridge, 1973–80 - Professor of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute, 1980-87.