Dr. Dafna Knani

Dr. Dafna Knani

Dr. Dafna Knani

04-9901924
מחלקה: Biotechnology Engineering
תפקיד נוכחי: Senior Lecturer

Education :

MBA 2001, Master in Business Administration, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.

D.Sc.1990, Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

M.Sc.1985, Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

B.A.1982, Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

Research Interests
  • 1. Molecular Modeling of materials using Quantum and Molecular Mechanics and Dynamics (Forcefield) methods
  • 2. Molecular modeling of protein – ligand interactions, especially enzyme-catalyzed polymerization reactions
Courses
  • 1. Drug Design and Development ( MSc program)
  • 2. Medicinal Chemistry + Laboratory (BSc program)
  • 3. Polymer Chemistry (BSc program)
  • 4. General and Analytical Chemistry (BSc program)
  • 5. Modeling and fabrication of micro systems (MEMS)
  • 6. Chemistry of Engineering Materials (BSc program - Mechanical Engineering)

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Refereed Papers

1. D. Knani and D.H. Kohn . Copolymerization of Styrene with Vinyl Monomers Substituted by Nitrile and Sulfonyl Groups, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 43, 1941 (1991). DOI:10.1002/pola.1993.080310518

2. D. Knani, A.L. Gutman and D.H. Kohn.  Enzymatic Polyesterification in Organic Media. Enzyme Catalyzed Synthesis of Linear Polyesters. I. Condensation Polymerization of Linear Hydroxyesters. II. Ring-opening Polymerization of -caprolactone,  Journal of Polymer Science: Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 31, 1221 (1993). DOI:10.1002/pola.1993.080311202

3. D. Knani and D.H. Kohn.   Enzymatic Polyesterification in Organic Media. Enzyme Catalyzed Synthesis of Lateral Substituted Polyesters and Copolyesters, Journal of Polymer Science: Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 31, 2887 (1993).

4. A. L. Gutman, D. Knaani and T. Bravdo. Enzymatic condensation and polycondensation reactions in organic solvents, Macromol. Symp.,  122(1), 39-44 (1997). DOI: 10.1002/masy.19971220108

5. I. Mironi-Harpaz, D. Alperstein,  D. Knani and M. Narkis. Curing of Styrene-Free Unsaturated Polyester Alkyd: Synthesis, Characterization and Simulation, Polymer International, 59(6), 836-841 (2010).  DOI: 10.1002/pi.2796

6. D. Alperstein, N. Kornberg and D. Knani.  A Study of Fire Retardant Blooming In HIPS By Molecular Modeling, Polymers for Advanced Technologies,  22 , 1446-1451 (2011).  DOI: 10.1002/pat.1636

7. E. Bashkansky,  T. Gadrich and  D. Knani. Some metrological aspects of the comparison between two ordinal measuring systems,  Accreditation and Quality Assurance, 16 (2),  63–72 (2011).  DOI:  10.1007/s00769-010-0741-2

8. D. Alperstein, D. Knani, A Goichman, and M. Narkis,  Determination of plasticizers efficiency for Nylon by Molecular Modeling, Polymer Bulletin, 68 (7), 1977-1988 (2012).  DOI : 10.1007/s00289-012-0705-2

9.  D. Alperstein, D. Knani. In Silico studies of 1,3(R):2,4(S)-dibenzylidene-D-sorbitol as a gelator for Polypropylene, Polymers for Advanced Technologies, 24 (4), 391–397, (2013).  DOI: 10.1002/pat.3093

10.  D. Alperstein, D. Knani. "Toward computational design of efficient plasticizers for Nylon", Polymers for Advanced Technologies , 25 (3), 307-313  (2014). DOI: 10.1002/pat.3240

11.  D. Alperstein, D. Knani, N. Borchmann, M. Spekowius, C. Hopmann. Prediction of environmental stress cracking in polycarbonate by molecular modeling, Polymers for Advanced Technologies , 25 ,1433–1438 (2014). DOI: 10.1002/pat.3384

12.  D. Knani, D. Alperstein, Th. Kauth, D. Kaltbeitzel, Ch. Hopmann. Molecular modeling study of CO2 plasticization and sorption onto absorbable polyesters, Polymer Bulletin, 72 (6), 1467-1486 (2015). DOI: 10.1007/s00289-015-1349-9

13. D. Alperstein, D. Knani. Design of novel plasticizers for Nylon: from molecular modeling to experimental verification, Polymers for Advanced Technologies, 28(1), 53-58 (2017). DOI: 10.1002/pat.3856

14. D. Knani, Hilla Barkay-Olami, David Alperstein, Meital Zilberman. Simulation of novel soy protein-based systems for tissue regeneration applications, Polymers for Advanced Technologies, 28(4), 496–505 (2017). DOI: 10.1002/pat.3918

15.  D. Knani, D. Alperstein. Simulation of DBS, DBS-COOH and DBS-CONHNH2 as hydrogelators. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part A, 121(5):1113-1120 (2017).  Doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.6b11130.

Conference Proceedings and Abstracts

  1.  A.L. Gutman, T. Bravdo, K. Zuobi, and D. Knani "Enzymatic Synthesis of Chiral Lactones and Polyesters", The 56th Annual Meeting of the Israel Chemical Society, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, February 1991.
  2. A.L. Gutman, T. Bravdo, M. Shapira, E. Meyer, K. Zuobi, D. Knani and D.H. Kohn "Stereospecific Synthesis with Enzymes in Organic Solvents", The 57th Annual Meeting of the Israel Chemical Society, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, February 1992.
  3. A.L. Gutman, T. Bravdo, M. Shapira, E. Meyer, K. Zuobi, D. Knani and D.H. Kohn "Stereospecific Synthesis with Enzymes in Organic Solvents", a lecture given at The 58th Annual Meeting of the Israel Chemical Society, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel, February 1993.
  4. D. Knani, A.L. Gutman and D.H. Kohn "Enzymatic Polyesterification and Copolyesterification of Linear and Branched Hydroxyesters in Organic Media", a poster presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the Israel Chemical Society, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel , February 1993.
  5. D. Knani and D. Alperstein, "In Silico studies of 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene-D-sorbitol as a gelator for Polypropylene", a poster presented at The 6th European Conference on Computational Chemistry, Tale, Slovakia, September 2006.
  6. D. Knani and D. Alperstein, "In Silico studies of 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene-D-sorbitol as a gelator for Polypropylene", a lecture given at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Israel Polymer and Plastics Society, Herzlyia, Israel, December 2006.
  7. D. Knani, M. Shilo and R. Azhari, “Molecular modelling of gelatin and chondroitin sulfate interactions in aqueous medium”, The 6th Annual Israel Meeting of ICRS , Caesarea, September 2007.
  8. D. Knani and D. Alperstein, "In Silico studies of 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene-D-sorbitol as a gelator for Polypropylene", a lecture given at The 1st workshop on multiscale modelling of nanostructured and functional polymeric materials, Brno, Czech Republic, October 2007.
  9. D. Knani, “Molecular modelling of gelatin and chondroitin sulfate interactions in aqueous medium”, ", a lecture given at The 4th Interdisciplinary Research Conference, ORT Braude College, Nazareth Ilit, Israel, October 2008.
  10. D. Knani and D. Alperstein, "In Silico studies of 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene-D-sorbitol as a gelator for Polypropylene", a poster presented at NanoIsrael 2009 Conference, Jerusalem, March 2009.
  11. D. Knani and D. Alperstein, " Molecular modeling study of carbon nanotubes (CNT) dispersion in aqueous media”, a lecture given at The 5th Interdisciplinary Research Conference, ORT Braude College, Naharyia, Israel , October 2009.
  12. D. Knani and D. Alperstein, "Molecular modelling studies of curing of styrene-free unsaturated polyester alkyd", a lecture given at the 7th annual research meeting of Braude College, Kfar Bloom, October 2011.
  13. D. Knani, " Molecular modeling of enzyme – catalyzed polyesterification", a lecture given at the 8th annual research meeting of Braude College, Acco, October 2012.
  14. D. Knani, "Simulation of Bilayer Systems Based on Neutral and Cationic Lipids in Combination with Fluorescent Lipids" ,a lecture and a poster presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of The Israeli Chapter of The Controlled Release Society, September 9-11, 2014, Hacienda Forestview Hotel, Maalot, Israel.  Chairperson of a session in the conference.

15. D. Knani, " Molecular modeling of enzyme – catalyzed polyesterification",  The ORT Braude College 8th Interdisciplinary Research Conference, October 2015, Acre, Israel.

16. D. Knani and D. Alperstein, "In Silico studies of 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene-D-sorbitol as  a gelator for Polypropylene", a poster presented at Multifunctional, Hybrid and Nanomaterials Conference  (Hybrid Materials 2013) March 2013, Sorrento , Italy.

17. D. Knani , "Molecular modeling of enzyme – catalyzed polyesterification", a lecture and a poster presented at the 2nd Conference of The Israel Society for Biotechnology Engineering (ISBE), December 2013, Tel-Aviv.

18. D. Knani, ""Simulation of Bilayer Systems Based on Neutral and Cationic Lipids in Combination with Fluorescent Lipids" ,a lecture and a poster presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of the Israeli Chapter of The Controlled Release Society, September 9-11, 2014, Hacienda Forestview Hotel, Maalot, Israel.  Chairperson of a session in the conference.

19. D. Knani, "Molecular Modeling of Biomaterials used in Drug Delivery Systems", a lecture given at the  Israel Polymer and Plastics Society Meeting, March 2015, Karmiel

20. D. Knani, H. Olami, M. Zilberman, "Simulation of novel soy protein-based systems for tissue regeneration applications", The ORT Braude College 11th Interdisciplinary Research Conference, October 2015, Hagoshrim, Israel.

21. D. Alperstein and D. Knani, "Design of novel plasticizers for Nylon", BIOVIA Community Conference Europe, June 2016, Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

22. D. Knani, "Molecular Modeling of Biomaterials used in Drug Delivery Systems", a lecture given at The European Advanced Materials Congress (EAMC), Stockholm Sweden, August 2016. Co-Chairperson of a Biomaterials session in the conference.

23. D. Knani, "Molecular Modeling of Biomaterials used in Drug Delivery Systems", a lecture given at The 14th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering (CMBBE), September 2016 Tel Aviv, Israel.  Co-Chairperson of a Biomaterials and Modeling session in the conference.

24. D. Knani, H. Olami, M. Zilberman, "Simulation of novel soy protein-based systems for tissue regeneration applications", a poster presented  at The 14th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering (CMBBE), September 2016 Tel Aviv, Israel.

25. D. Knani, M. Foox, M. Zilberman, "Simulation of the bioadhesive gelatin-alginate conjugate with antibiotics",The ORT Braude College 12th Interdisciplinary Research Conference, September 2016, Hagoshrim, Israel.

26. D. Knani, " Simulation of DBS, DBS-COOH and DBS-CONHNH2 as hydrogelators", a lecture given at the  Israel Polymer and Plastics Society Meeting, January 2017, Tel-Aviv, Israel

27. D. Knani, " Simulation of DBS, DBS-COOH and DBS-CONHNH2 as hydrogelators", a lecture given at the 4th International Conference on Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, September 2017, Dublin, Ireland.

Invited talks and seminars

1. D. Knani, , "Molecular modeling study of CO2 plasticization and sorption onto absorbable polyesters", Seminar at IKV RWTH Aachen, 9.7.14

2. D. Knani, "Molecular Modeling of Biomaterials used in Drug Delivery Systems", Seminar at the department of Biotechnology engineering, Ort Braude College 31.12.14

3. D. Knani, "Molecular Modeling of Biomaterials used in Drug Delivery Systems", Seminar at the Faculty of Biotechnology and food Engineering, Technion, 7.1.15

Academic Appointments

 2014 – Head of MSc program in Biotechnology

1996 – present Member of academic staff, Department of Biotechnology Engineering, ORT Braude College,  Karmiel.

1991-1992 Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Environmental Practical  Engineering, Western Galilee College, Akko.

1982-1990 Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of  Technology Haifa, Israel.

Teaching Experience

ORT Braude College of Engineering:
 

Graduate Courses:• Drug Design and Development

Undergraduate Courses:

Biotechnology Engineering Department• Medicinal Chemistry• Polymer Chemistry • General and Analytical Chemistry • General and Physical Chemistry Mechanical Engineering Department• Chemistry of engineering materials • General Chemistry Laboratory Courses• General and Physical Chemistry laboratory • Medicinal chemistry laboratory

Western Galilee College:
 

Undergraduate Courses• General and Analytical Chemistry• Organic Chemistry

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology:

Undergraduate Courses• General Chemistry• Organic Chemistry• Polymer ChemistryAnalysis of Information Systems

Academic and Professional Awards and Grants

2006  Excellence Award, ORT Braude College of Engineering

2008   Excellence Award, ORT Braude College of Engineering
2012 Excellence Award, Special contribution, ORT Braude College of Engineering
2012  Excellence Award, ORT Braude College of Engineering
2013  Excellence Award, ORT Braude College of Engineering

 

Professional Activities

2010-present Development of the Medical Sciences program
2011-present Development of the Biotechnology MSc degree program (with thesis)
2012-present Development of a multiple BSc degree program of Biotechnology
2003-2009 Member, Development team of the Biotechnology MSc degree program
2002-2004 Development of new academic expertise in Biomaterials and Pharma

Molecular Modeling of materials using Quantum and Molecular Mechanics and Dynamics (Forcefield) methods. Molecular Modeling of Protein – Ligand interactions.Examples of investigated subjects:

• Molecular modeling of enzyme – catalyzed polyesterification

• Determination of plasticizers efficiency for Nylon by molecular modeling

• Simulation of curing of styrene-free unsaturated polyester alkyd • Study of Fire Retardant Blooming in HIPS By Molecular Modeling

• Characterization of gelators for polymers and prediction of their properties by molecular modeling

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