Michael Levitt

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Michael Levitt

Birth date	Birth date -1st March 1966
Birth place	Pretoria, South Africa
Nationality	American, British, Israeli
Known for	Computational biology
Awards	Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2013)

Michael Levitt (born May 9, 1947) is an American, British, and Israeli biophysicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013 for his pioneering work in computational biology. He is a professor of structural biology at Stanford University.

Early life and education

Michael Levitt was born in Pretoria, South Africa. He attended King's College London, where he earned his undergraduate degree in physics. He then pursued his PhD at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of John Kendrew, a Nobel laureate in chemistry.

Career

Levitt's career has been marked by significant contributions to the field of computational biology. He developed early computer models of molecular dynamics and protein folding, which have become fundamental tools in structural biology. His work has provided deep insights into the mechanisms of biological macromolecules.

Levitt joined the faculty at Stanford University in 1987, where he has continued his research and teaching. He has also held positions at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Nobel Prize

In 2013, Michael Levitt was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel for "the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems." Their work has enabled scientists to understand and predict the behavior of complex chemical reactions, which is crucial for the development of new drugs and materials.

Personal life

Levitt holds American, British, and Israeli citizenships. He is married and has three children.

See also

• Computational biology
• Protein folding
• Molecular dynamics
• Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Stanford University