Dan T. Major

Dan Thomas Major (Hebrew: דן מאיור‎; born 22 March 1973) is a Professor of Chemistry at Bar Ilan University specializing in Computational Chemistry.

Dan T. Major
Born (1973-03-22) March 22, 1973
Norway
CitizenshipIsraeli
Alma mater
AwardsKrill Prize (Wolf Foundation)
Scientific career
FieldsComputational chemistry, Computational Biochemistry, Computational Nanotechnology
InstitutionsBar-Ilan University
Doctoral advisorBilha Fischer
Other academic advisors

Biography

Dan Major[1] obtained his Ph.D. from the Chemistry Department at Bar-Ilan University (BIU) in 2003, followed by three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota working with Prof. Jiali Gao.[2] In 2007 he moved to the Chemistry Department at Bar-Ilan University, where he is now a full professor.[3]

Scientific interests and publications

Major's research focuses on computational approaches to chemistry, biochemistry, and nanotechnology.[4] These include the development of simulation methods, a study of enzyme reactions and protein dynamics, understanding natural product synthesis, development of protein-ligand docking programs, in silico design of Li-ion batteries, and fuel cell modeling. He develops classical and quantum simulation methods, and in particular tools for studying enzyme catalysis. This includes the development of path-integral methods for the simulations of zero-point energy and tunneling effects in condensed phase environments,[5][6][7] methods for free energy simulations,[8] and novel docking approach. The simulations tools are typically used in conjunction with hybrid Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) methods and have been applied to a wide range of enzymes. Enzymatic systems studied in his research group include proton and hydride transfer reactions[6][8] and terpene synthases.[9][10][11][12] Additional, Prof. Major has carried out numerous studies on physical and electrochemical properties of magnesium and lithium-ion batteries[13] and fuel cells[14] using modern quantum chemistry tools.

Among his awards is Excellence in teaching[15] (2016-2017); Krill Prize[16] of the Wolf Foundation (2009); Alon Fellowship[17] (2008-2010); Fulbright Scholarship (2003-2004); Excellent young scientist from the Israeli Chemical Society[18] (2001).

Personal life

Dan Thomas Major is married to Laura Major, a Ph.D. in English Literature from Bar-Ilan University, who serves as the Head of the English Department at Achva Academic College.[19] They live in Yad Binyamin and have five children.

References
  1. Dan Major, Bar-Ilan University
  2. Jiali Gao, Department of Chemistry University Minnesota
  3. Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University
  4. Prof. Dan Major group website
  5. Major, Dan Thomas; Gao, Jiali (2007). "An Integrated Path Integral and Free-Energy Perturbation−Umbrella Sampling Method for Computing Kinetic Isotope Effects of Chemical Reactions in Solution and in Enzymes". Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. 3 (3): 949–960. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.226.3245. doi:10.1021/ct600371k. ISSN 1549-9618. PMID 26627415.
  6. Major, Dan Thomas; Gao, Jiali (2006). "A Combined Quantum Mechanical and Molecular Mechanical Study of the Reaction Mechanism and α-Amino Acidity in Alanine Racemase". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 128 (50): 16345–16357. doi:10.1021/ja066334r. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 17165790.
  7. Major, D. T.; Heroux, A.; Orville, A. M.; Valley, M. P.; Fitzpatrick, P. F.; Gao, J. (2009). "Differential quantum tunneling contributions in nitroalkane oxidase catalyzed and the uncatalyzed proton transfer reaction". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (49): 20734–20739. doi:10.1073/pnas.0911416106. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2791643. PMID 19926855.
  8. Doron, Dvir; Kohen, Amnon; Major, Dan Thomas (2012). "Collective Reaction Coordinate for Hybrid Quantum and Molecular Mechanics Simulations: A Case Study of the Hydride Transfer in Dihydrofolate Reductase". Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. 8 (7): 2484–2496. doi:10.1021/ct300235k. ISSN 1549-9618. PMID 26588977.
  9. Weitman, Michal; Major, Dan Thomas (2010). "Challenges Posed to Bornyl Diphosphate Synthase: Diverging Reaction Mechanisms in Monoterpenes". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 132 (18): 6349–6360. doi:10.1021/ja910134x. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 20394387.
  10. Major, Dan Thomas; Weitman, Michal (2012). "Electrostatically Guided Dynamics—The Root of Fidelity in a Promiscuous Terpene Synthase?". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 134 (47): 19454–19462. doi:10.1021/ja308295p. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 23101787.
  11. Driller, Ronja; Janke, Sophie; Fuchs, Monika; Warner, Evelyn; Mhashal, Anil R.; Major, Dan Thomas; Christmann, Mathias; Brück, Thomas; Loll, Bernhard (2018). "Towards a comprehensive understanding of the structural dynamics of a bacterial diterpene synthase during catalysis". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 3971. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06325-8. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 6162201. PMID 30266969.
  12. Major, Dan Thomas (2018). "Complex terpenes in one pot". Nature Catalysis. 1 (8): 567–568. doi:10.1038/s41929-018-0130-5. ISSN 2520-1158.
  13. Major D., Chakraborty A. (2018). "Accurate Cathode Properties of LiNiO2, LiCoO2, and LiMnO2 Using the SCAN Meta-GGA Density Functional". arXiv:1805.00642 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci].
  14. Kosa, Monica; Levy, Naomi; Elbaz, Lior; Major, Dan Thomas (2018). "Theoretical Study of the Electrocatalytic Reduction of Oxygen by Metallocorroles". The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 122 (31): 17686–17694. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b05831. ISSN 1932-7447.
  15. Bar-Ilan University Excellence in Teaching, 2017
  16. Krill Prizes for Excellence in Scientific Research
  17. The Council for Higher Education website
  18. The Israeli Chemical Society
  19. Laura Major, English Department Achva Academic College
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