November 2019: Ben-Tal awarded NATO SPS Prize
Prof. Nir Ben-Tal, Edmond J. Safra member (Life Sciences) was awarded the NATO SPS Prize.
Scientists from France, Israel, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States received the prestigious 2018 Science for Peace and Security Programme (SPS) Prize for excellent collaboration in NATO multi-year science projects in the fields of cyber defense, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defense, and advanced technologies.
One of the flagship projects was led by Prof. Turkan Haliloglu, Bogazici University in Turkey, Prof. Nir Ben-Tal, Edmond J. Safra Center member (Life Sciences, TAU), and Prof. Oded Lewinson from the Technion. The project titled "The Anthrax MntABC Transporter: Structure, Functional Dynamics and Drug Discovery" aimed at neutralizing anthrax and developing chemical compounds that could inhibit the transport chain of Bacillus anthracis inside the human body and therefore decrease its virulence.
The prize was awarded at a ceremony held at NATO Headquarters on 29 November 2018.