Julia Mahamid, Ph.D. – Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prizewinner 2026
Structural Biology, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg
Julia Mahamid explores the spatial structure of biological macromolecules, and in particular of proteins. This type of structural data helps to gain a better understanding of molecular mechanisms of cellular processes and processes caused by illness. Mahamid’s papers are among the most influential of her generation. Further development of modern cryo-electron tomography and an innovative combination of methods are at the core of her successful work. She interlinks a technique in which a focussed ion beam is used to remove an extremely thin layer of frozen cells with a method that combines optical and electron microscopy, and this approach is further enhanced through state-of-the-art AI-assisted image analysis. This approach has led to a number of breakthroughs: among other achievements, she was the first to reconstruct the full dynamics of protein biosynthesis in an intact bacterial cell. She also expanded her approach to include viruses and explained how cellular stress can wake up a “sleeping” virus. This has paved the way for further research into chronic virus-host interactions.
Julia Mahamid studied biology and chemistry at the Israeli Technion and Haifa institutes, as well as at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rechovot, where she completed her doctoral thesis about biomineralisation processes in 2010. In 2011, she accepted a postdoc position at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, and in 2017, she became a Group Leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, where she was made a Senior Scientist in 2021, before becoming the Head of the Molecular Systems Biology Unit in 2024. Mahamid is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and has received numerous awards, such as the 2023 EMBO Gold Medal, the 2022 Frankfurt Biophysics Prize and the 2021 Ernst Ruska Prize. She is also currently in charge of the TransFORM ERC Synergy Grant.
GEPRIS
In our information system GEPRI(externer Link) you will find an overview of current and completed projects of Julia Mahamid.