Gal Bitan

Gal Bitan is a Professor in the Department of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He leads a research lab focused on neurodegenerative diseases caused by protein misfolding and aggregation, particularly Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. His work spans basic research, drug development, and biomarker discovery.

• Education: Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, followed by postdoctoral training at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School (Protein Folding) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School (Structural Biology).

Research Interests include:

• Pathological protein self-association into toxic oligomers and amyloid fibrils
• Extracellular vesicles and exosomes as biomarkers
• Development of molecular tweezers (CLR01/CLR03) as broad-spectrum anti-amyloid therapeutics
• Mechanisms of prion-like seeding in neurodegeneration

Article Trends highlight his focus on:

• Neurodegenerative disease mechanisms (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, spinocerebellar ataxia)
• Molecular tweezers for lysine-selective amyloid inhibition
• Biomarker discovery using extracellular vesicles
• Advanced proteomic techniques (mass spectrometry, FRET biosensors)

Scientific Awards:

• Inaugural Undergraduate Faculty Mentor Award, UCLA (2018)
• Turken Award for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, UCLA (2005)

Labs & Collaborations: The Bitan Research Lab at UCLA develops molecular tools for proteinopathy analysis and collaborates with institutions including Harvard Medical School, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and international research teams. Current projects target lysosomal storage diseases, tauopathies, and synucleinopathies.