Faculty of Medicine

Table of contents

Our Faculty Genomics and Precision Medicine Vision Prof. Karen B. Avraham Our areas of study Dr. Ran Elkon Centers, Institutes and Hubs Prof. Noam Shomron A view from our students Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases Anthropology and Ancient DNA Prof. Fuad Iraqi Prof. Israel Hershkovitz Prof. Udi Qimron Dr. Hila May Dr. Dor Salomon Dr. Rachel Sarig Prof. Ronit Sagi-Eisenberg Dr. Viviane Slon Nervous System and Brain Disorders Cancer and Molecular Therapies Prof. Bernard Attali Prof. Sivia Barnoy Dr. Avraham Ashkenazi Dr. Uri Ben-David Dr. Tami Bar-Shalita Dr. Yaron Carmi Dr. Orit Bart Dr. Merav Cohen Prof. Hagit Eldar-Finkelman Prof. Neta Erez Prof. Illana Gozes Prof. Zvi Fishelson Dr. Yoni Haitin Dr. Maayan Gal Prof. Yael Henkin Dr. Asaf Madi Dr. Michal Itzhaki Prof. Rina Rosin-Arbesfeld Prof. Liat Kishon-Rabin Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro Prof. Tova Most Prof. Yossi Shiloh Prof. Yuval Nir Cardiovascular Research and Diseases Prof. Eran Perlson Prof. Silvia Koton Dr. Sigal Portnoy Prof. Jonathan Leor Dr. Angela Ruban COVID-19 Pandemic Dr. Moran Rubinstein Dr. Bruria Adini Prof. Inna Slutsky Dr. Ilana Dubovi Dr. Ido Tavor Dr. Natalia Freund Public Health Dr. Oren Kobiler Dr. Yftach Gepner Dr. Khitam Muhsen Prof. Liat Lerner-Geva Development, Aging and Regeneration Dr. Yael Lahav Dr. Lihi Adler-Abramovich Rehabilitation Prof. Ruth Ashery-Padan Dr. Debbie Rand Dr. Chen Luxenburg Prof. Navah Ratzon Dr. Miriam Theilla Training opportunities Prof. Ronen Zaidel-Bar Life in Tel Aviv Diabetes, Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases Prof. Shimon Efrat Dr. Limor Landsman Prof. Drorit Neumann

Cover credits Top: Second and third order olfactory neurons in the Drosophila brain. Hadas Lerner Nussbaum, Moshe Parnas. Middle left: Manot 1 skull, 55,000 years ago, the mother of modern populations. Israel Hershkovitz. Middle right: Genetic engineering and fluorescence microscopy in the transparent nematode C. elegans allows observation of cytoskeletal protein localization and dynamics in adult physiology and embryonic development. Priti Agarwal, Kriti Sethi, Ronen Zaidel-Bar. Bottom left: Rab5-stimulated fusion that mast cell secretory granules undergo during their biogenesis. Ronit Sagi-Eisenberg. Bottom right: Recording electrical brain activity during overnight sleep with a high-density (256-channel) EEG system. Yuval Nir. Faculty of Medicine

Our Faculty Our broad areas of research encompass cancer and molecular therapies, cardiovascular Basic and research and diseases, dental health and translational medicine, diabetes, metabolic and endocrine research diseases, genomics, artificial intelligence and precision medicine, hearing, language and As the largest health and speech sciences and disorders, infectious medical sciences faculty disease, inflammatory and autoimmune in Israel, our research diseases, medical education and ethics, nervous and teaching cover the system and brain disorders, nursing, full spectrum of cutting- occupational and physical therapy, public health, edge health and biomedical sciences. reproduction, development and evolution, stem cells, regenerative medicine and aging. Our diverse educational and training programs are delivered by academic staff who are experts in their fields, offering PhD, MSc, MD, DMD, and MPH degrees in medical sciences, clinical medicine, dental medicine, communication disorders, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy and public health.

For more information, please visit https://en-med.tau.ac.il/

TAU Faculty of Medicine Faculty of Medicine

Vision The Faculty by numbers

We believe that bringing • 130 Preclinical Faculty members, with labs together the best and on the Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv brightest minds – faculty, campus, and 10 with labs at the affiliated research associates, post- doctoral fellows and hospitals graduate students at the Sackler Faculty of • 1000 Clinical Faculty members, with labs at Medicine - will expedite the 17 affiliated hospitals in the greater Tel medical breakthroughs. Aviv area

Our combined Preclinical • 1,050 Graduate students performing Faculty members performing research on the research on campus and hospitals Tel Aviv University campus, along with our Clinical • 1250 Medical, 360 Dental, 1660 Health Faculty at the affiliated Profession and 600 Public Health students hospitals in the greater Tel Aviv area, are the key to our success to translate our research into effective cures and treatments.

Prof. Ehud Grossman, Prof. Karen B. Avraham, MD, Dean PhD, Vice Dean for Preclinical Affairs

TAU Faculty of Medicine Our areas of study

Understanding and conquering human disease remains one of the most important missions of humanity. Despite centuries of continuous progress, we still lack some basic knowledge about the human body in health and disease. From genetics and biochemistry to epidemiology and public health, from virology to immunology, and from diabetes to cancer -- at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine we apply our basic curiosity of the secrets of life to questions that actually matter. We strive to improve patient care by bettering our understanding of human disease. Join us in this important and fascinating journey.

Anthropology and COVID-19 Pandemic Infectious and Ancient DNA Development, Aging, Inflammatory Diseases Cancer and Molecular and Regenerative Nervous System and Therapies Medicine Brain Disorders Cardiovascular Diabetes, Metabolic and Public Health Research and Diseases Endocrine Diseases Rehabilitation Genomics and Precision Medicine

Credits: Left – Primary mouse keratinocyte stained with phalloidin (red), striatin (green), and Dapi (blue). Yarden Shor, Michal Caspi, Rina Rosin-Arbesfeld. Middle - Induction of heart cell growth. OPN activates signals (yellow) that enter the heart cell (green) nuclei (blue). Itai Rotem, Jonathan Leor. Right - C. elegans germline expressing a membrane marker. Yusuke Hara, Ronen Zaidel-Bar.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Centers, Institutes and Hubs

Biomed@TAU Research Hubs https://en-biomed.tau.ac.il/

Felsenstein Medical Research Center http://felsenstein-center.com/doc/about-fmrc

Sylvan Adams Sports Institute https://adams-sports.tau.ac.il/

Dr. Yftach Gepner at the Sylvan Adams Sports Institute Blavatnik Center for Drug Discovery https://bcdd.tau.ac.il/

Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology https://nano.tau.ac.il/

Safra Center for Bioinformatics https://safrabio.cs.tau.ac.il/

TAU Faculty of Medicine A view from our students

Fatima “Our Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, with its affiliated hospitals, is a leading center of research Amer-Sarsour into the genetics, diagnosis and treatment of human PhD student, diseases. It provides a unique interface between basic and clinical science that underpins its high-level Dr. Avraham Ashkenazi objective of understanding the biology of disease. laboratory Therefore, this is an ideal place for me to develop my scientific career towards independence. My lab is like “I joined the Ashkenazi one big family, where we are all very much involved lab in Sackler Faculty of and united. We initiate meetings to celebrate personal Medicine in February events and celebrate the holidays of all lab members 2019. My PhD project as we come from different nationalities. One of the focuses on the most memorable experiences for me is that my investigation of protein supervisor, Dr. Avi Ashkenazi, sent me to a conference degradation pathways in in Portugal. This was my first experience at an disease models of international conference abroad." congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. The Faculty of Medicine exposes me to a variety of opportunities in different fields. Beyond different methods and collaborations, the human capital here is special and diverse. I gained a lot from it by developing valuable research skills and tools I will use in the future.”

Photo: Members of the Ashkenazi lab – from left, Prof. Avraham Ashkenazi, Fatima Amer-Sarsour, Margarita Galves, Dr. Yevgeny Berdichevsky.

TAU Faculty of Medicine A view from our students

Gideon “The faculty has a very diverse milieu of researchers from all fields, making collaboration easy and Karmon accessible. Many of them are highly translational, MD-PhD student, which is important to me as an MD-PhD student. The high translational potential of most of the research Prof. Illana Gozes conducted at the Faculty of Medicine was extremely laboratory important to me as an MD PhD student. My PhD studies will help me become a better physician, taking “My research focuses on tools and understanding from the laboratory bench autism spectrum to the patient setting. The tools I acquired during my disorder. Specifically, on PhD will assist me in becoming a better physician a rare monogenic cause researcher, with the ultimate goal of taking bedside of ASD caused by a problems and applying them to further research mutation in the ADNP toward novel diagnostics and therapeutics. The gene. Although rare, Sackler School of Medicine is (in my opinion) the best researching a medical school in Israel, and I joined one of the best monogenic cause for laboratories in the school for my PhD studies, this ASD may help elucidate was and still is an excellent experience.” key in disease features in ASD which may help alleviate the burden of this debilitating disease. I am also focus on testing a potential drug candidate on a novel mutant mouse model, making my research highly translational.” Photo: Members of the Gozes lab – from left, front: Gal Hacohen-Kleiman, Dr. Eli Giladi, Prof. Illana Gozes, Dr. Adva Hadar, Dr. Yanina Ivashko- Pachima, Oxana Kapitansky, Yael Toren; left, back: Shlomo Sragovich, Gidon Karmon.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Anthropology and Ancient DNA

Affiliations

Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research https://en-med.tau.ac.il/dan_david_center

Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute (SFAI) https://sfai.tau.ac.il/

The Institute is dedicated to investigating the thousands of fossil specimens that comprise the Sackler Biological Anthropology Collection, and health. Images are Neanderthal skull from stored in a database, Amud cave 50,000 years one of the world's largest, ago. employing state-of-the-art forming the Shmunis technologies. The Skeletal Digital Library, a web- Young anthropologist in Imaging Laboratory, the based resource made action: Emma Blatt available for scholars excavating at Manot Cave heart of the institute, is (photo with permission). enabling scholars to around the world. extract hidden information The Institute is managed by from fossils on the Prof. Israel Hershkovitz, Dr. multitude aspects of past Hila May, Dr. Rachel Sarig, human behavior, nutrition and Dr. Viviane Slon.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Anthropology and Ancient DNA

Prof. Israel Prof. Hershkovitz is an emeritus Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, where he Hershkovitz is head of the Dan David Laboratory for the Search and Study of Modern Humans. He is also Head of the Tassia and Dr. Joseph Meychan Chair for the History and Philosophy of Medicine, Head of the Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research, and Head of the Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute. During his career he has been engaged in numerous excavations in Israel, responsible for some Paleopathology in of the major fossils found in the country, and was a medicine key person in establishing and organizing the fossil collection at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Prof. Hershkovitz’ varied research touches many diseases were in shaping aspects of past population past population physique life. By providing detailed (being the right hand of descriptions of bone natural selection). He modifications for many introduced the time diseases, he made dimension into medical paleopathology an thinking and showed how evidence-based medical human behavior and discipline. His studies climate affect population showed how evolution health in past times. He affect current people further showed that the health (demonstrating that turning point in human many spinal diseases are population health was at “trade off” for bipedalism), the advent of agriculture, and how important some 10,000 years ago. He documented the first modern humans migrating out of Africa (Misliya cave fossils 200,000 years ago), and retrieved the mother population of all present people outside Africa (Manot cave fossils

55,000 years ago). TAU Faculty of Medicine Anthropology and Ancient DNA

Dr. Hila Dr. May is head of the Biohistory and Evolutionary Medicine Laboratory at the Department of Anatomy May and Anthropology. She is affiliated to the Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research. Dr. May graduated from Tel Aviv University in Life Sciences and Sociology and Anthropology, obtained an MSc in Evolutionary Medicine, and a PhD in Physical Anthropology at Tel Aviv University. For her postdoctoral research, she joined the Institute for Evolutionary Medicine at Zurich University, where she Biohistory and specialized in methods of virtual anthropology. The evolutionary medicine research in her laboratory is multidisciplinary and involves novel methodologies for the study of past What make people populations and revealing the evolutionary causes of vulnerable to diseases? modern-day diseases. Dr. May won the 2020 Most present-day health Bergmann Memorial Award from the BSF for young hazards, such as obesity, scientists. cancer, sclerosis, and https://hilamaylab.wixsite.com/bem-lab arthritis, have their roots thousands or even millions of years ago, multidisciplinary when humans began to approach for the study of acquire their current humankind and anatomical shape. Dr. combines both genetic May studies recent and and morphological data. past human populations The morphological to achieve new insights research is carried out on long lasting biological using advanced imaging and social phenomena. techniques, as well as This type of research traditional allows a comprehensive anthropological methods. understanding of human The genetic study uses behavior, biology and cutting-edge techniques illness. The research is of DNA that is extracted based on a from ancient bones.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Anthropology and Ancient DNA

Dr. Rachel Dr. Rachel Sarig is at the Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, where she is a principal investigator Sarig and the head of the Dental Anthropology Laboratory. Dr. Sarig is a graduate of Tel Aviv University, having completed her D.M.D. and her Ph.D. in anatomy and anthropology, and her post-graduate studies in orthodontics (summa cum laude), all at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Sarig is a curator and researcher at the Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Bio-history Research and the Shmunis Family Dental anthropology Anthropology Institute. Understanding who we are and where we come from can shed a light on our diseases. Sarig’s main future. Many of the current interest is in studying the oral diseases and evolutionary and malformations have their environmental effects on roots in our evolutionary oral health in prehistoric history. Knowing the populations and their evolutionary processes implications on modern that led to the current societies. The study of the shape and size of our skull masticatory apparatus is and mandible may greatly conducted both on bear on our understanding prehistoric and modern of phenomena such as samples using laboratory malocclusions, dental models, micro-CT scans malformations and oral and clinical studies.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Anthropology and Ancient DNA

Dr. Viviane Dr. Slon is at the Departments of Anatomy and Anthropology and Human Molecular Genetics and Slon Biochemistry and affiliated with the Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research. Her PhD and post-doctoral research on ancient hominin DNA were conducted in the Department of Evolutionary Genetics of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany). She has an MSc in Medical Sciences and a BSc in Medical and Life Sciences, both from Tel Aviv University. Dr. Ancient DNA Slon is the recipient of the Dan David Prize Scholarship for Young Researchers, the Otto Hahn Who were the people Medal, the Otto Hahn Award, and the Alon living in our region in Fellowship. prehistoric times? Were they related to other development of state-of- populations living the-art methodology suited elsewhere in the world at to face the challenges of the same time? Did they DNA preservation over migrate or otherwise time in warm climates. Our interact with populations newly-established living in neighboring laboratory, which includes regions? How were their a clean room facility societies organized? To dedicated to the answer such questions, generation of ancient DNA we analyze DNA from data, is the first of its kind ancient individuals, which in Israel. The study of we recover both from ancient genomes allows to skeletal remains and from elucidate not only who sediments deposited at were the people living in archaeological sites. We the past, but also how past do so by implementing events affect on our own and pursuing the genomes today. S. Peyrégne

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Affilations

Cancer Biology Research Center

https://cbrc.tau.ac.il/

Melanoma brain metastases. Tumor cells, red; astrocytes, green; microglia, violet. Neta Erez.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Prof. Sivia Prof. Barnoy, Department of Nursing, School of Health Professions, completed her nursing degree at Barnoy the Hebrew University with distinction. She then obtained an M.Sc. (graduated with distinction) and Ph.D. at the Department of Human Genetics of the School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. Barnoy served as the department chair between 2010-2014. She has co-authored over 65 papers. She is active internationally in genetic nursing in the International Society for Nurses in Genetics, who in 2018 granted Nursing genetics and her the Founder Award for Excellence in Research. information technology She was nominated as the Israeli delegate in the Global Genomic Nursing Alliance Initiative. Patients do not always share hereditary cancer information with their at- Her approach is unique as risk relatives. Prof. Barnoy she studies this question is engaged in studies that from both the patients, the deal with testing and counselees, and disclosure of cancer counselors’ point of view. genetic information to The Israeli law states that blood relatives. She genetic information examines factors such as belongs to the counselees; stigma and health beliefs however, her current that might influence the results call for a re- decision to be tested and discussion about the share test results with privacy of genetic relatives. information.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Dr. Uri Dr. Ben-David, Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the School of Ben-David Medicine, completed his PhD at the Hebrew University and his postdoctoral training at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. He was recently selected as a "Next Generation Star" of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). He has earned several prestigious prizes for early-career scientists, including the Dan David Scholar Award, the Kaluza Award, and the Cancer aneuploidy Kaye Innovation Awards. https://www.bendavidlab.com/ Healthy human cells have 23 pairs of chromosomes. progression. Dr. Ben- Any deviation from this David studies this number – known as "aneuploidy paradox" aneuploidy – has very using state-of-the-art severe consequences. For genomic and functional example, an extra copy of approaches. The work in chromosome 21 results in the lab aims to uncover Down syndrome. the basic biology However, cancer cells are underlying this hallmark of highly aneuploid, and cancer, and to exploit it to aneuploidy is even target cancer cells and required for tumor eliminate tumors.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Dr. Yaron Dr. Carmi, Department of Pathology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, completed his PhD studies summa cum Carmi laude at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and won the Pratt award for excellence PhD students. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Department of Immunology at Stanford University, where he earned the Young Investigator Award. His work on dendritic cell vaccination was published in Nature and Cell and he has co-authored over 30 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, including Cancer immunotherapy Science and Immunity, and written four patents. Based on his findings, he co-founded two companies, Bolt Our body's immune Therapeutics and more recently, Gilboa Therapeutics, system knows how to and he serves as a consultant in Velocity attack and kill cancer cells Pharmaceutical Development venture capital, and as a – so why isn’t this board member at the Israel Society for Gene and Cell happening in each case? Therapy. Carmi was awarded the Alon Fellowship for How do we unblock this outstanding young Israeli scientists. natural lethal response? https://www.carmilab.org/ Dr. Carmi is taking a fresh approach to the problem using advanced microscopy and genetic engineering to monitor, in real time, how our immune cells communicate with each other. He will use the new understanding to develop better, safer therapies that kick in the natural anti-cancer immune response.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Dr. Merav Dr. Cohen, Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, received her MSc in the field of Cancer Cohen Immunology from the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Ben- Gurion University of the Negev, in a direct MSc track for excellent students, and graduated summa cum laude. She received her PhD in the field of ‘Neuro- Immunology’ from the Department of Neurobiology, the Weizmann Institute of Science. Dr. Cohen performed her postdoctoral training in the field of Immunotherapy targets ‘Immuno-Genomics’, at the Department of using single-cell Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and at the Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn analysis School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, in the Tissue development, field of ‘Cancer Immunology’. She won the Feinberg homeostasis and Graduate School Prize for Outstanding Achievements pathologies are highly in Postdoctoral Research, and the Ministry of Science regulated processes and Technology Scholarship for Postdoctoral Fellows orchestrated by in Applied and Engineering Science. intercellular crosstalk https://www.mcohenlab.com/ between immune cell niche and tissue resident exclusive cell function. The cells, not necessarily from lab aims to assess the immune lineage. Dr. similarities and Cohen incorporates state discrepancies in of the art single cell RNA- interactome molecular sequencing technologies, signature between tissue murine models, clinical development process and approaches and advanced cancerous conditions in computational methods in order to identify novel order to reveal the immunotherapy targets, molecular signature of directed against interacting cells that drives intercellular crosstalk.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Prof. Neta Prof. Erez, Department of Pathology, began her academic career at the Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew Erez University where she received her B.Sc. She then proceeded to complete her M.Sc. and Ph.D. at the Weizmann Institute of Science in the field of tumor immunology. Supported by a fellowship from the Cancer Research Institute (CRI), Dr. Erez performed her postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco, working in the field of tumor biology. Tumor https://netaerez.tau.ac.il/ microenvironment in metastasis The research of Prof. Erez models of breast cancer is focused on tumor and of melanoma. The biology, tumor main goal of the studies is microenvironment, cancer- to identify key molecular related inflammation and pathways in the the role of stromal cells in communication between facilitating tumor tumor cells and their progression and microenvironment that can metastasis. Her main be targeted by novel focus is in understanding therapeutics, to prevent the early stages of tumor metastasis. metastatic relapse, and the role of the metastatic microenvironment. Prof. Erez studies these crucial aspects of cancer using genetically engineered

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Prof. Zvi Prof. Fishelson is a member of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and an Incumbent of Fishelson The Roberts-Guthman Chair in Immunopharmacology. He served as President of both the International Complement Society and European Complement Network (ECN) and was awarded an ECN Gold Medal. He is treasurer of the Israeli Society for Cancer Research, Board Member of the Israel Immunological Society and member of the Henry Kunkel Society. He is an editorial board Cancer cells resisting member of Molecular Immunology and associate editor immunity of Frontiers in Immunology. Several therapeutic approaches try to enlist investigating the the patient’s immune molecules that protect the system for killing of his/her cancer cells and their cancer. All these mode of action, and seek approaches face a major potential intervention obstacle: cancer cells are points through which this resistant to any type of protection could be damage inflicted by the annulled. They develop armory of our immune reagents that block system. Prof. Fishelson resistance of cancer cells, has uncovered several sensitize them to available defense strategies immunotherapies and employed by cancer cells enable the patient’s to resist immune attack. immune system to destroy His team is currently its cancer.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Dr. Maayan Dr. Gal is a faculty member in the Department of Oral Biology at the School of Dental Medicine. He Gal completed his PhD studies at the Department of Chemical Physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science and was an HFSP postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Medical School. He ran an independent lab at Miguel in northern Israel,. Gal co-founded a biotech company dealing with Ag.Chem protein modulators. https://maayaangaal.wixsite.com/galma

Protein modulators for therapy Dr. Gal focuses on the as the basis for developing discovery and new immunosuppressant development of novel and on immune protein modulators as the checkpoint receptors basis for new therapeutics. function. The T-cell Of main interest are the inhibition switch is the challenging targets basis for developing new belonging to the biological therapeutics for space of protein-protein inflammation and cancer. interactions (PPIs). For this purpose, we are integrating cutting-edge computational, biophysical and cellular biology tools. We are focused on the interaction of calcineurin- NFAT proteins, known as the T-cell activation switch,

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Dr. Assaf Dr. Madi, head of the Systems Immunology Lab, completed his Ph.D. studies at Tel Aviv University in Madi computational immunology. Dr. Madi then continued to do a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women Hospital, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Boston, USA where he mainly focused on the study of T-cell differentiation and cancer immunology. www.asafmadilab.com

Systems immunology for cancer Can we activate our immunotherapies or cell- immune system to fight cell interactions. We apply cancer? What immune cutting-edge technologies cells are important and including 3D bioprinting of what prevents them from tumors, single cell RNA- exercising their anti-tumor seq and spatial functions? Can we trigger transcriptomics, mouse these specific immune tumor models, molecular cells to destroy cancer biology, and other high- cells and at the same time throughput genetic and provide an immunological genomic methods memory to prevent combined with advanced recurrence of the disease? computational approaches The main interest of the to identify and functionally lab is studying gene characterize genes that circuits of immune cells play an important role in involving differentiation, immune cell circuits and activation and regulation. their effect on tumor We focus on exploring growth. This approach, will these cells and circuits enable in-depth studies of mainly in the context of the immune-cell signaling in tumor pathology following the context of the tumor stimulation, microenvironment.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Prof. Rina Prof. Rosin-Arbesfeld received her PhD in Biochemistry and Microbiology from TAU and trained Rosin-Arbesfeld as a post-doctoral fellow at the MRC-LMB in Cambridge, UK. Rosin-Arbesfeld serves as Chair of the Search Committee of the Faculty of Medicine. Rosin-Arbesfeld has competitive grant funding from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, the Jerome Lejeune Foundation, and the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development. http://www3.tau.ac.il/rosin-arbesfeld/ Molecular changes in cancer regulators of the Wnt Wnt signaling is one of the pathway in order to most fundamental identify new targets for signaling cascades therapeutic purposes. involved in both Currently, the team is development and involved in pre-clinical, as homeostasis. Aberrant well as clinical trials, activation of the Wnt aimed at restoring the pathway is associated with normal expression of numerous diseases, most tumor suppressors, known notably in the to inhibit the Wnt pathway development of colorectal in patients suffering from cancer (CRC). The Rosin- hereditary CRC. The team Arbesfeld lab focuses on is looking into the different aspects of Wnt relationships between Wnt signaling in both sickness signaling and the and health. The team microbiome and have conducts comprehensive identified bacteria that are genetic and biochemical involved in CRC screens to isolate novel development.

Wnts associate with the erythrocyte membrane TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Prof. Ronit Prof. Satchi-Fainaro is at Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, where she is head of the Cancer Satchi-Fainaro Research & Nanomedicine Laboratory, Head of the TAU Kahn 3D BioPrinting Initiative and holds the Kurt and Herman Lion Chair in Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies. She completed her PhD in Polymer Chemistry and Cancer Nanomedicine at the University of London and her postdoctoral training at Harvard University and Children’s Hospital Boston working on Vascular and Cancer Biology. She was Nanomedicine awarded the Fulbright, Rothschild, and JULUDAN Prizes, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Founders Major efforts invested into Award, the 2019 Yo u d i m Family Prize for Excellence the development of new in Cancer Research, 2020 Kadar Family Award for drugs often fail to be Outstanding Research, the 2020 Humboldt translated into meaningful Foundation Bessel Research Prize, and “Woman of clinical benefit for cancer the Year” by Globes magazine. She serves on the patients. Developing Board of Directors of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries effective novel Ltd. therapeutics for cancer https://satchifainarolab.com/ while accurately predicting their clinical success in certain cancer types remains an urgent unmet responsiveness of human medical need. Prof. cancer. These models are Satchi-Fainaro being exploited for the incorporates cutting edge development of efficacious multidisciplinary basic, clinically-translatable translational and clinical therapies for various approaches to explore this cancer types. Her vision is scientific “blind spot”. To that this multidisciplinary 3D glioblastoma. Cancer this end, Satchi-Fainaro approach will revolutionize cells in red, endothelial cells develops clinically relevant our perception of tumor in green, nanomedicine in 3D cancer models that progression and blue better capture the clinical consequently the way we characteristics and drug diagnose and treat cancer.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cancer and Molecular Therapies

Prof. Yossi Prof. Shiloh heads the Myers Laboratory for Cancer Genetics at the Department of Human Molecular Shiloh Genetics and Biochemistry. He obtained his Ph.D. in Human Genetics at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and trained at the Harvard Medical School, University of Michigan, New York University Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Rockefeller University, and was a Fogarty Fellow at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He is a member of The Israel National Academy of Sciences and Genome instability in Humanities and won the 2005 EMET Prize in Life disease Sciences, the American Association of Cancer Research G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award for The Shiloh lab studies the Outstanding Accomplishments in Cancer Research, implications of genome the Israel Prize in Life Sciences and the Olav Thon instability on our health. Prize in Natural Sciences and Medicine (Oslo, Our DNA is constantly Norway). He has dedicated most of his scientific damaged by internal and career to understanding A-T. H e gives popular external DNA damaging scientific lectures to the general public on the agents. In response to this medical, social and ethical implications of the genome ongoing threat to the revolution. genome, the DNA damage https://www.tau.ac.il/~yossih/ response (DDR) – a broad signaling network is activated. The Shiloh lab degeneration and cancer discovered a key player in stability and continues to this system – the protein decipher the physiological kinase, ATM. This basis of the many discovery was a result of a symptoms of A-T, long quest to identify the particularly the cerebellar gene responsible for a attrition. Recently, the lab human genome instability initiated an investigation of syndrome called ataxia- the role of genome Mouse cerebellum. Purkinje telangiectasia (A-T). A-T instability in aging and cells, which gradually involves cerebellar cellular senescence. disappear in A-T patients, highlighted in red.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cardiovascular Research and Diseases

Affiliations

Neufeld Cardiac Research Institute at the Sheba Medical Center, Affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine

https://eng.sheba.co.il/The_Neufeld_Cardiac_Research_Institute

Artist Statement The bravery of compassion, to love and the commonality of our experiences as human beings are key themes in my artwork. This heart series are my translations of our heroic journey. I use color, pattern, texture, and symbols to depict our universal human experiences such as birth, evolution, revelation, temporality, beauty, the sacredness of life, and experiences of suffering and joy. The image of the heart resonates for me as a symbol of these journeys. .

Credit: Leslie Synder Portney TAU Faculty of Medicine Cardiovascular Research and Diseases

Prof. Silvia Prof. Koton, Department of Nursing, is a Registered Koton Nurse and holds a Master’s Degree in Occupational and Environmental Health and a PhD in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine from TAU. She was Chair of the Department of Nursing and holds adjunct associate professor appointments at John Hopkins University, Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and School of Nursing. Prof. Koton was nominated International Fellow of the Stroke epidemiology, American Heart Association (FAHA), and selected as aging and cognitive a Paul Dudley White International Scholar. She is head function of the Herczeg Institute on Aging at Tel Aviv University. Stroke is a major cause of long-term disability and a strong predictor of dementia and cognitive Prof. Silvia Koton studies decline in adult and the factors associated with elderly populations. The changes in stroke incidence of stroke has epidemiology and declined in the last cardiovascular risk factors decades in various in Israel and in the US. countries, however, this Her research provides decline is not consistent important information on across population-groups. possible reasons for these Prof. Koton's varied changes; how the research includes studies incidence of stroke may be on epidemiology of stroke affected by the increasing and other cardiovascular rates of obesity, diabetes diseases; age and aging; and other cardiovascular dementia, changes in risk factors, and how the physical and cognitive changing trends in stroke functioning after stroke, may influence rates of and health of primary physical and cognitive caregivers of the elderly. function in old persons.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Cardiovascular Research and Diseases

Prof. Jonathan Prof. Jonathan (Yoni) Leor is a Professor of Cardiology at TAU and and the Director of the Leor Neufeld and Tamman Cardiovascular Research Institutes at TAU and the Sheba Medical Center. He is a cardiologist, physician-scientist. He obtained his MD degree from Tel-Aviv University. He completed his medicine residency and cardiology training at the Sheba Medical Center, Israel. Leor performed a post- doctorate fellowship in cardiovascular regenerative medicine at the University of Southern California. He Cardiovascular served as the director of the Intensive Cardiac Care regeneration Unit at Soroka Medical Center and head of the Experimental Cardiology Lab at Ben-Gurion Leor’s research includes University. He is currently the director of the Neufeld the study of the heart's and Tamman Cardiovascular Research Institutes at Tel lack of reparative ability. Aviv University and Sheba Medical Center, and the His research group director of the Medical Scientist Training Program approached the challenge (MSTP or MD/Ph.D. program). from a different angle by studying the role of His work has led to extracellular matrix and establishing a novel line of immune cells in heart research dedicated to repair. Leor pioneered the understanding how the use of scaffolds and immune system and injectable biomaterials to extracellular matrix affect treat heart diseases. His heart repair. He was the lab was the first to target first in Israel to develop macrophages to improve novel cardiovascular infarct healing. regenerative therapies, such as cardiac stem cell therapy, tissue engineering, and gene therapy. Leor is a co- Myocardial regeneration. inventor of breakthrough Macrophages (green cells) injectable biomaterial to infiltrate the injured heart treat heart attacks and (red) of neonatal mouse and promote heart repair. heart failure. Tal Konfino & Leor.

TAU Faculty of Medicine COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic Affiliations has changed our lives as we know it. Our scientists at the Sackler Faculty of The Center for Combating Pandemics Medicine mobilized within days to:

• Build a “Corona Lab”, to conduct thousands of tests per day • Develop the serological tests used by the IDF • Lead the effort in public health policy and messaging • Isolate neutralizing antibodies against SARS Co-V-2 • And develop a nanovaccine

Left: Prof. Motti Gerlic & Prof. Ariel Munitz. Right: Ziv Ehrlich at the Corona Lab

TAU Faculty of Medicine COVID-19 Pandemic

Dr. Bruria Dr. Adini, head of the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Medicine in the School of Adini Public Health, is an expert in both field and academic activities in disaster management. She has authored over 50 papers. Adini serves as a board member of Local Authorities Confronting Disasters and Emergencies (LACDE) and the Israeli National Council for Trauma and Emergency Medicine and served two terms as a board member of the World Association of Emergency & Disaster Medicine Resilience in a (WADEM). pandemic A vital component of an individual, community, effective management of national and any pandemic is the organizational levels of resilience of the population resilience. The evolving and the responders. What findings facilitate policy- factors encourage or makers’ ability to sustain impede on the compliance or modify measures to to behavioral directives? improve management of How do varied aspects of the pandemic. resilience impact on our well-being and capacity to adapt to adversities? Dr. Adini implements an eclectic approach to monitor continuously the

TAU Faculty of Medicine COVID-19 Pandemic

Dr. Ilana Dr. Dubovi is at the Department of Nursing, Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions at the Faculty of Dubovi Medicine. She completed her PhD in Education at the Department of Learning, Instruction and Teacher Education, University of Haifa. She completed two postdoctoral positions, at the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences at Utah State University, and at the Faculty of Education at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Educational technology Building upon a growing evidence that patient interactive visualizations education plays a pivotal and more. Using intelligent role in patient disease self- multi-modal biosensors, management and health her team was the first in outcomes, Dr. Dubovi’s the world to looking into research seeks to personalized adaptive leverage the efficacy of technology to make educational programs by patient education process integrating digital more fine-tuned to educational technology. patient’s needs and With this goal in mind, she literacy levels. Educational develops and evaluates technology for patients is a various cutting-edge very timely approach, technologies, such as even more so in times of virtual reality simulations, COVID-19 pandemic era, online games, computer- to support distant patient- based models, clinician encounters as telemedicine aids.

TAU Faculty of Medicine COVID-19 Pandemic

Dr. Natalia Dr. Freund is at the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology. Her research focuses Freund on human adaptive immune response towards diseases, such as HIV-1, Tuberculosis, SARS-CoV-2 and cancer. Before coming to Tel Aviv University, she completed her postdoctoral training at the Rockefeller University in New York City, where she led groundbreaking research on anti-HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies and proved their efficacy as novel HIV immunotherapeutics. Neutralizing antibodies http://www3.tau.ac.il/nfreund/ Neutralizing antibodies are goal is to characterize the a key component of neutralizing antibody adaptive immunity against responses against SARS- many viruses and can be CoV-2 by isolating elicited by natural infection neutralizing antibodies or vaccination. Recent from infected donors and studies showed that determining the neutralizing antibodies are mechanistic basis for their elicited after SARS action. Additionally, she is Coronavirus 2 (SARS- interested in how these CoV-2) infection and are antibodies correlate with directed against the COVID-19 clinical receptor binding domain manifestations and (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 disease severity. Recently, Spike protein. Dr. Freund’s her team has isolated 22 monoclonal antibodies from COVID-19 donors, some of which were found neutralizing against the live SARS-CoV-2.

Vero E6 cells infected with SARS Coronavirus-2. Freund & Ben Croker, UC San Diego.

TAU Faculty of Medicine COVID-19 Pandemic

Dr. Oren Dr. Kobiler is at the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology. Kobiler obtained his Kobiler BSc from the Hebrew University in Medical Sciences. He received, in parallel, his MD and PhD from the Hebrew University. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, he received a Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Long Term Fellowship and the ISF Bikura Postdoctoral Award. He frequently appears on the news to share a scientist’s perspective on the Organoid models COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.tau.ac.il/~okobiler/Home.html SARS-CoV-2 is a new emerging coronavirus that cause the COVID-19 global human health. By global pandemic. The comparing basic infection clinical manifestations processes of the seasonal among SARS-CoV-2 coronaviruses to the infected individuals vary SARS-CoV-2, Kobiler from asymptomatic anticipates to identify the infection to acute unique features of this respiratory failure and virus. His team is death. While SARS-CoV-2 establishing a model share many features of the system for coronavirus other human infection of patient-derived coronaviruses, it has airway organoids. The become a major threat on reproducibility of the model system will allow the team to test and identify the role of specific parameters of the SARS- CoV-2 infection, and to test possible drugs.

TAU Faculty of Medicine COVID-19 Pandemic

Dr. Khitam Dr. Muhsen is at the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health. Trained Muhsen as a nurse, she then obtained her PhD in epidemiology at Tel Aviv University, and a post- doctoral fellowship at the Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine, US. Dr. Muhsen's main research interest is in the epidemiology of infectious diseases, enteric diseases and vaccines. Her research has been supported by competitive awards and grants such as Sero-epidemiological the Israel Science Foundation, Israel-US Binational studies on coronavirus Science Foundation, Ministry of Health, Israel National Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Dr. Muhsen initiated sero- Research, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. epidemiological studies to assess the acquisition and patients and a multicenter transmission of the new study among medical coronavirus in the personnel. The novel population, and the aspects of these studies development and include the longitudinal persistence of the humoral design, the inclusion of immune response to various populations and SARS-Cov-2 in COVID-19 ethnic groups and patients and their capturing the first and households contacts and second waves of COVID- medical personnel. These 19 epidemic in Israel. The questions are being expected results will assist addressed in longitudinal in shaping preventive studies, with measurement measures, and the of serum IgG antibodies assessment of their against coronavirus that effectiveness. develop in patients and in Understanding the natural asymptomatic persons. immunity to SARS-Cov-2 This includes studies in is important for vaccine households of COVID-19 development.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Development, Aging and Regeneration

Affiliations

Switzerland Institute of Developmental Biology https://www.swissinstitutedb.com/

Herczeg Intitute on Aging https://herczeg.tau.ac.il/index.php/en/

Contractile activity of actomyosin A: a miniature world (cell) where toy-like workers (formins: cyan and myosin: green) are reshaping the surface of their world (cell membrane: white) by pulling metal meshes (actin filaments). Diego Pitta de Araujo.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Development, Aging and Regeneration

Dr. Lihi Dr. Adler-Abramovich is at the School of Dental Medicine, where she is a principal investigator and the Adler-Abramovich head of the Laboratory of Bioinspired Materials and Nanotechnology. Dr. Adler-Abramovich studied biology at Tel Aviv University where she received both her M.Sc. (summa cum laude) and her Ph.D. She has been awarded numerous prestigious grants and prizes, including the ERC Starting Grant, ISF-Center for Excellence Grant and the Colton Foundation Scholarship. She has published in Nature Bone regenerative Nanotechnology, Nature Chemical Biology, Nature medicine Communications, Nano Letters, ACS Nano and is the inventor of more than 10 patents. Bone regeneration is a https://lihi13.wixsite.com/lihi critical challenge in the treatment of fractures, bone loss due to tumor peptides and amino acids resection, and alveolar into ordered bone deficiencies. nanostructures. We are a Approximately 2.2 million materials science bone graft procedures are laboratory with emphasize performed annually on organic chemistry and worldwide. Despite medical-biological significant progress in applications. The group bone tissue engineering, aims to develop there is an unmet need for customized patient-specific long- supramolecular scaffolds lasting bone restoration. that will promote Dr. Adler-Abramovich’s personalized therapy for research in the Laboratory bone regenerative of Bioinspired Materials is medicine, thus significantly focused on mimicking self- advancing the fields of assembly processes that tissue engineering and occur in nature, including materials science while biomineralization and the offering a novel solution to organization of short a major healthcare issue.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Development, Aging and Regeneration

Prof. Ruth Prof. Ashery-Padan is at the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, a member of Ashery-Padan the Sagol School of Neuroscience and holds the Zucker–Sussman Chair for Glaucoma Research. Ashery-Padan completed her MSc and PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. She is the recipient of the Alon Fellowship (VATAT), the Dan David Prize for Young Investigators, Teva Prize, and the E. Matilda Development of visual Ziegler Foundation for the Blind Award. Prof. Ashery- system in mammals Padan heads the Yo r a n Institute for Human Genome Research. Prof. Ashery-Padan's https://asherypadanlab.com/ research group focuses on understanding the factor activity on target molecular mechanisms genes, and chromatin that control the structure during development of the visual development. Her group system in mammals. The studies ocular cell types group established and generated from human employs transgenic mouse stem cells to uncover the lines for state-of-the-art molecular mechanisms functional studies of genes underlying the in vivo. This is combined differentiation of human with gene-expression lineages, and to model profiles using laser human diseases. The work capture and single-cell is contributing to sequencing, transcription understanding the etiology of monogenic and complex retinal diseases, toward a better prediction Cytoarchitecture of the mature mouse retina - subset of retinal of individuals' susceptibility cell types are identified by and the design of stem immunostaining. Shaul Raviv, cell-based models and Ashery-Padan. future therapies for blinding diseases. TAU Faculty of Medicine Development, Aging and Regeneration

Dr. Chen Dr. Luxenburg completed his Ph.D. studies in Molecular and Structural Cell Biology at the Luxenburg Weizmann Institute of Science. For his post-doctoral training, he trained at the laboratory of Prof. Elaine Fuchs at the Rockefeller University in New York. Dr. Luxenburg is the recipient of a number of research grants and awards, including the ISF, I-CoRE, BSF, ICRF, and the Te ve founders prize. Dr. Luxenburg serves on the scientific board of the Israeli Society of Developmental Biology, Switzerland Institute of Cytoskeletal regulation Developmental Biology, and the Biomed@TAU of epidermal stem cells Developmental Research Hub. He is also the academic coordinator of the International Graduate One of the significant program. challenges in biomedical https://www.luxenburglab.com/ research is to understand how stem cells give rise to functional tissue during development, maintain it throughout life, and regenerate it upon wounding. The Luxenburg model system, and studies lab studies how in the lab provide insight cytoskeleton-derived into both skin development signals regulate stem cells and common skin function. We use the skin diseases such as cancer epidermis as our primary and psoriasis.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Development, Aging and Regeneration

Dr. Miriam Dr. Miriam Theilla, Department of Nursing, School of Health Professions, is a registered nurse and holds a Theilla master’s degree in critical care nursing and a Ph.D. in clinical nutrition from the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the Hebrew University. She is a member of forums on nursing and clinical nutrition. Dr. Theilla is in charge of the clinical nutrition clinic at the Rabin Medical Center.

Nutritional care for patients Malnutrition is common optimal nutritional care among hospitalized and resting energy patients. Dr. Theilla’s expenditure (REE), as well research focuses on the as the ideal protein intake assessment and nutritional for critically ill patients and care of hospitalized and the effect of fish oil- critically ill patients. She enriched nutritional aims to demonstrate the support on the healing of importance of the nursing pressure ulcers and the staff’s involvement in the function of the respiratory nutritional treatment of and immune system. The patients, while highlighting subject of nutrition has a the identification and physical, emotional, and prevention of malnutrition social impact on people. in the hospital and in the As part of Dr. Theilla’s community. Dr. Theilla work at the clinical developed a self- nutrition clinic, she also assessment tool investigates the emotional completed by the patient and social effects of that detects patients who parenteral nutrition among are at nutritional risk. In type III intestinal failure addition, she examines patients.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Development, Aging and Regeneration

Prof. Ronen Prof. Zaidel-Bar, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the School of Medicine, Zaidel-Bar completed his Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology at the Weizmann Institute and post-doctoral training at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He started his independent group at the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, where he was awarded the National Research Foundation Fellowship, and seven years later he joined Tel Aviv University. Zaidel-Bar is a world leader in the field of Cytoskeletal regulation cell and tissue mechanobiology. https://www.zaidelbarlab.com/ A developing embryo taking shape, a heart pumping blood, and a understood. Prof. Zaidel wound closing itself all rely Bar's group is using on mechanical forces to cutting edge genetics and accomplish their important live-imaging microscopy in tasks. A special cellular human and nematode machinery, the cell's models to gain a "front row skeleton, is responsible for seat" view of what the generating these forces, cytoskeleton is doing but how this machinery is inside an animal. A better assembled at the right understanding of time and place in our cytoskeleton regulation is bodies remains poorly important to prevent birth defects and to treat numerous diseases, such as asthma, hypertension, and cancer metastasis.

Actin (green) and myosin (red) in the cortex of a C. elegans 1-cell embryo form a contractile belt that drives the first cell division. Wei-Yung Ding, Zaidel- Bar.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Diabetes, Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases

Prof. Drorit Prof. Neumann, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, completed her PhD at the Neumann Weizmann Institute and was trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Lodish at MIT. She set up and coordinated the EpoCan FP7 Consortium, which assessed the long-term risks of Epo and investigated better Epoetin-driven treatment modalities. She currently serves as head of the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Graduate School at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and holds the Lily and Avraham Osteoporosis Gildor Chair for the Investigation of Growth Factors. https://droritneumannlab.com/ Anemia is a serious global health concern estimated to affect a third of the the age of 50. Neumann’s world’s population. The team studies Epo in introduction of mouse models and erythropoietin (Epo) into patients, in collaboration clinical practice has with bone experts and revolutionized the clinicians. Epo is a new treatment of this condition, player in although there is the risk osteoimmunology, and will of inadvertent effects that link the effects of the may be hazardous. Prof. hormone to a wide range Neumann has of outcomes on bone and demonstrated that Epo is immune cells, and suggest associated with a dual methods to realize the action of bone loss and therapeutic potential of immunomodulatory Epo, maintaining immune effects. Osteoporosis is competence as well as the the most common bone erythroid stimulating-effect disease, affecting nearly while attenuating the risk half the population over for bone loss.

Deshet-Unger et al. Theranostics 2020

TAU Faculty of Medicine Diabetes, Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases

Prof. Shimon Prof. Efrat chairs the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the School of Efrat Medicine and is the Nancy Gluck Regan Chair in Juvenile Diabetes. He received his Ph.D. at the Hebrew University, followed by postdoctoral training at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He then joined the faculty of Albert Einstein College of Medicine for a decade, where he is still a Visiting Professor, before moving to Tel Aviv University. He has seven patents, co-founded a company, and served on the scientific Diabetes advisory boards of several companies. Diabetes, resulting from loss or failure of insulin- producing pancreatic beta cells, afflicts about 400 million people. The optimal treatment, transplantation of functional cells, is severely limited by shortage of human organ by reprogramming human donors. Prof. Efrat aims at donor beta cells into developing an abundant pluripotent stem cells, source of human insulin- which can be massively producing cells for beta- expanded in tissue culture, cell replacement therapy, followed by differentiation.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Diabetes, Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases

Dr. Limor Dr. Landsman is head of the Pancreas Biology Lab at Tel Aviv University. She graduated from the Hebrew Landsman University of Jerusalem with honors and obtained an M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Molecular Genetics and Immunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science. For her postdoctoral studies, she joined the laboratory of Prof. Matthias Hebrok at UCSF, an expert on pancreas physiology and pathophysiology. She has obtained prestigious research grants and awards, including the European Union ERC and FET Pancreatic programs, the Israel Science Foundation, and the microenvironment German-Israeli Foundation. She serves on the scientific board of the Switzerland Institute of Diabetes is now reaching Developmental Biology, the D-Cure Foundation, and epidemic proportions, yet the Israeli Islet Researchers Forum. our incomplete https://www.landsman-lab.com/ understanding of its etiology hinders the quest for a cure. Dr. Landsman studies how proper pancreatic insulin production is maintained in health, and why it is lost in diabetes. To this end, she and her team research the crosstalk between insulin- producing cells and their surroundings, focusing on how this communication is affected by the various diabetes risk factors. Their primary goal is to decipher Pancreas: white are insulin-producing the underlying causes of cells; green and red cells marks the diabetes, to facilitate a vasculature. personalized approach for a cure.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Genomics and Precision Medicine

Affiliations

Safra Center for Bioinformatics https://safrabio.cs.tau.ac.il/

Single Cell Genomics Core https://en-med.tau.ac.il/single-cell-genomics- core

Yo r a n Institute http://yoran.tau.ac.il/

A T G C C A T T C G C A T A

Noam Shomron

TAU Faculty of Medicine Genomics and Precision Medicine

Prof. Karen B. Prof. Avraham is Vice Dean at the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and holds the Drs. Sarah and Avraham Felix Dumont Chair for Research of Hearing Disorders. She is a member of the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, the Sagol School of Neuroscience and the Safra Center for Bioinformatics. Avraham was awarded the Sir Bernard Katz Prize, the Bruno Memorial Prize, the TEVA Prize for Groundbreaking Research in Rare Diseases, and the Teva Founders Prize on Genetics and Breakthroughs. She is co-director of the Aufzien epigenetics for human Family Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and the Taube-Koret Global disease Collaboration in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Prof. Hearing loss is a leading Avraham founded and co-directs the Biomed@TAU cause of disability Research Hubs, the MSc program in Medical Sciences worldwide, with an with a specialty in Genetic Counseling. estimated 466 million https://www.kbalab.com/ people suffering from this debilitating loss. Prof. that genomic sequencing Avraham’s goal is to using high-throughput determine the genetic technologies is effective basis of hearing loss and for genetic diagnoses in a use genome editing to diverse population, create models to study the providing a guideline for mechanisms of auditory precision medicine for function. Gene therapy is hearing loss in Israel. being conducted on these GRIN2D mutations are models for human hearing associated with epileptic loss. Regulatory encephalopathy. Avraham mechanisms are being and her team study the discovered at the level of mechanism of this NMDA non-coding RNA and receptor and develop mouse models, towards methylation. The team’s Organ of Corti immunolabelled work has demonstrated drug therapy. hair cells. Shahar Taiber.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Genomics and Precision Medicine

Dr. Ran Dr. Elkon, Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry at the School of Medicine, has his Elkon training in Physics and Bioinformatics. He is a member of the Safra Center for Bioinformatics. He completed his Ph.D. at TAU and his postdoctoral research at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. http://www.elkonlab.tau.ac.il/

Computational tools for prevention of disease Our genomes are 99.9% human genetic research, identical. The 0.1% and Dr. Elkon’s lab variation determines not develops and applies only the uniqueness of novel computational tools each one of us, but also to decipher such links. our predisposition to Gaining better common diseases such as understanding of genetic cancer, heart diseases, risk factors to common diabetes, schizophrenia, diseases will allow the and Alzheimer’s Disease. identification of individuals Understanding how who are at high risk before genetic variants affect the the onset of the disease risk for developing these and subject them to diseases is a major preventive regimens. challenge of current

TAU Faculty of Medicine Genomics and Precision Medicine

Prof. Noam Prof. Shomron heads the Functional Genomic Team at the Faculty of Medicine, after training at MIT. He leads Shomron a multidisciplinary team of scientists that develops computational methods for parsing big-data in the bio-medical field using Artificial Intelligence. Shomron is Editor of the ‘Deep Sequencing Data Analysis’ book; Director of ‘Rare-Genomics’ Israel (NPO); Academic Director of ‘ScienceAbroad’ (NPO); and, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Variantyx, which provides clinical interpretation of whole genome Genomics and human sequences. diseases http://www.tau.ac.il/~nshomron Our body is built from billions of cells. How each cell and organ interpret by injecting nanoparticles DNA is still a great puzzle. with small molecules into Understanding the the tumor the spread molecular interactions within the body is halted. within our cells, in health In another study, using a and disease, would greatly simple blood test improve our ability to combined with artificial diagnose and treat intelligence, the team has complex human diseases, shown that circulating such as cancer and DNA and RNA molecules neurological disorders. in the blood can indicate Prof. Shomron and his early development of team scan thousands of neurological diseases, genes in order to pinpoint their stage, and the the ones that play a major spectrum of the disease. role in tumor development This information could be and metastasis. His team used to devise a novel has shown that therapeutic approach.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases

Infectious diseases are among the top 5 global causes of death (WHO)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever- increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi (WHO)

Chronic inflammatory diseases — including stroke, heart disorders, cancer, and diabetes — are the most significant cause of death worldwide (WHO)

TAU Faculty of Medicine Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases

Prof. Fuad A. Prof. Iraqi, at the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, completed his PhD at the Hebrew Iraqi University in Jerusalem and three postdoctoral positions at University of Toronto, University of Michigan and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

Genetic basis of host response to diseases People response that control and define the differently to infection individual response to (viral, bacterial, fungal and variety of infectious and parasite) and chronic chronic diseases, diseases (obesity, including bacterial, fungal, diabetes, cancer, heart viral, parasite, obesity, diseases). Based on our type 2 diabetes, and others studies, this periodontitis, lung cancer, variation in response are and intestinal cancer. controlled by the individual Currently, he also focuses (host) genetic structure. on studying the host Prof. Iraqi has studied, genes that control the mapped and identified the variation in response to host genetic components COVID-19.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases

Prof. Udi Prof. Qimron is Chair of the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology. He has authored over Qimron 50 scientific articles, some in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science, and Cell. He won the prestigious ERC grant twice. He is also the CTO of a company established based on his inventions, Trobix-Bio. https://flaxadam.wixsite.com/qimronlab

CRISPR-Cas for bacterial resistance Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is among the top three major health threats according to the World Health Organization. Rather than producing more antibiotics, which may worsen the problem, we have taken a unique approach, in which we reverse bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Our approach uses the genetic engineering tool, CRISPR-Cas, to eliminate resistance genes from bacteria, and at the same time to enable growth of antibiotic-sensitive bacteria.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases

Dr. Dor Dr. Salomon is at the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology. He completed his PhD Salomon (Dean’s direct track) at Tel Aviv University, followed by a Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Salomon was awarded the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) and was also awarded the Alon Fellowship for young investigators and the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) starting grant. During the period of COVID-19 quarantine, he organized a Antibacterial treatment virtual international conference with over 400 participants, named T6SympoZOOM. The World Health https://www.dorsalomonlab.com/ Organization predicts that by 2050, multidrug- resistant pathogens will toxins that are used by become the leading cause bacteria to neutralize their of death worldwide. To bacterial competitors. By prevent this catastrophe, adapting and custom- the development of novel engineering these natural antibacterial treatments is antibacterial mechanisms, necessary. Dr. Salomon is Dr. Salomon is developing employing multi- next-generation disciplinary approaches to antibacterial treatments study mechanisms and and prophylactics.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases

Prof. Ronit Dr. Sagi-Eisenberg is Head of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. She completed her PhD Sagi-Eisenberg at Tel Aviv University and trained at the Weizmann Institute of Science and at the National Institutes of Health in the US. https://rselab.wixsite.com/mysite

Allergic diseases the case of Allergic diseases have neurodegenerative reached epidemic diseases, autoimmune proportions affecting more diseases and cancer. than 30% of the world Therefore, the best population. Yet, allergy treatment for mast cell treatment is still by largely dependent disorders symptomatic, the reason would be blocking being the multiple and mediator release from diverse stimuli that trigger triggered mast cells. To mast cells, the central this goal, the Sagi- players in allergic Eisenberg lab combines diseases, and the wide functional genomics spectrum of inflammatory analyses with high mediators that are resolution microscopy to released by triggered mast delineate the secretory cells. The latter might response and identify the cause allergic symptoms protein networks that when mast cells are control this process. triggered by an allergen, Central proteins are but might also cause marked as targets for the neurogenic or chronic development of novel inflammation, when mast therapeutic means aimed cells are activated by at targeting the neurotransmitters or pathological activity of neighbouring cells, as is mast cells during disease.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Affiliations

Sagol School of Neuroscience https://www.sagol.tau.ac.il/en/

Aufzien Family Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease https://en-med.tau.ac.il/Aufzien_Center_TAU

Goldschleger Eye Research Institute https://en-med.tau.ac.il/eye_institute

From left to right: Structural brain connectivity, extracted from diffusion MRI scans; Parcellation of the human cortex, based on functional connectivity; Myelin map (calculated from T1w/T2w MRI scans); Brain activation map extracted from functional MRI, while moving the right foot. Ido Tavor. TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Bernard Prof. Attali, in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, was educated in France, and received a Attali B.Sc/M.Sc. in Chemistry and Pharm.D. from Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse). He obtained his Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the Weizmann Institute of Science and performed his post-doctoral training at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France. https://attalilab.com/

Channels in disease Prof. Attali focuses on potassium channels in potassium channels since human brain and heart. they play crucial roles in His laboratory is a many cellular functions worldwide leader in such as shaping cardiac studying Kv7 potassium and neuronal action channels, whose potentials, tuning neuronal mutations lead to major firing patterns, synaptic neurological and integration or modulating cardiovascular disorders neurotransmitter release. such as epilepsy, Using the powerful myokymia, atrial or combination of molecular ventricular fibrillation. biology, biophysics, Notably, he showed that biochemistry and SK4 Ca2+-activated K+ electrophysiology, his channels are involved in team’s research aims at the cardiac pacemaker elucidating the structural, activity and represent new biophysical and targets for cardiac physiological attributes of arrhythmias.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Dr. Avraham Dr. Ashkenazi, from the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the School of Medicine, Ashkenazi completed his PhD at the Weizmann Institute of Science and his postdoctoral training at Cambridge University. He was awarded the Young Investigator Award by the European Biochemical Society and the Azrieli Fellowship for excellent new faculty in Israel. He is part of the Taube-Koret Global Collaboration in Neurodegenerative Diseases. https://www.ashkenazilab.com/ Autophagy in Huntington and Parkinson’s disease Dr. Ashkenazi’s long-term scientific goal is to identify was the first to describe a mechanisms that biological function of triplet contribute to neuronal repeats encoding survival. To achieve this polyglutamine stretches in goal, his laboratory regulating autophagy in combines stem cell health and in Huntington’s technology, primary disease. Dr. Ashkenazi’s neurons, animal models, research opens several and biochemical and new venues of cellular approaches. Dr. understanding protein Ashkenazi’s pioneering degradation pathways and work on autophagy (self- the biology of eating) revealed how this neurodegenerative cell survival pathway diseases. Moreover, his breaks down protein research has the potential clumps (aggregates), and to reveal new druggable reduces toxicity in models targets that can be utilized of triplet repeat expansion to control a range of diseases, such as neurological disorders Huntington’s and caused by aggregate- Parkinson's disease. He prone proteins.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Dr. Tami Dr. Bar-Shalita, Department of Occupational Therapy at the School of Health Professions, completed her Bar-Shalita PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her postdoctoral training at the University of Southern California. She is actively translating the knowledge evolved in her lab to the clinical field.

Sensory modulation dysfunction We all share the same physical environments, yet pain domains using for some of us these neurophysiology and severely attenuate our psychophysical methods. efficient function and well- Through this approach, Dr. being. This condition is Bar-Shalita found that termed sensory SMD is linked to disorders modulation dysfunction such as substance use (SMD), characterizing disorder and chronic pain, about 10% of the general which further served population. Dr. Bar-Shalita developing novel is the first to apply a mechanism-based unique approach by the therapeutic modalities, coupling of sensory and currently under testing.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Orit Dr. Bart is a faculty member at the Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health Bart Professions. She holds a Ph.D. in health professions and performed her post-doctoral training at Haifa University. She is Chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy. Bart is a member of the International Advisory Council for Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and of the Israeli Association of Occupational Therapy and the American Occupational Therapy Association. Autism spectrum disorder Children with autism experience stress in is step towards better diverse life situations. The understanding of the most common stress- physiological and provoking situations are cognitive-emotional engagement in social mechanism underlying interaction and exposure atypical sensory to tactile stimuli. Dr. Bart responsiveness and social aims to assess brain interaction. To overcome engagement during the challenge of assessing different play settings young children with Autism (solitary play vs. dyadic Dr. Bart used an electro- play) and during exposure physiological marker for to different tactile stimuli sustained attention, the (direct – physiology vs. Brain engagement index, indirect -cognitive) in of which is an easy-to-use, children with Autism. This reliable, and valid tool.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Hagit Prof. Eldar-Finkelman obtained her BSc in Chemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and her Eldar-Finkelman MSc in Physical Chemistry and PhD in Life Sciences at the Weizmann Institute. Her postdoctoral work was conducted with the Nobel Prize Laureate Edwin G. Krebs at the University of Washington in Seattle. She then became an Assistant Professor at the Harvard Medical School in the Division of Women’s Health and then joined TAU. Eldar-Finkelman was a visiting scientist at MBL Woods Hole, Cape Code; EMBL-EBI GSK-3 and Hinxton, UK; Perelman School of Medicine, University neurodegeneration of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and at Rockefeller University, NYC. Her academic activity includes, The research in Prof. representing the university in the Inter-University Eldar-Finkelman’s Forum for Medical Sciences, in the National Council laboratory is focused on for Experiments in Animals Subjects, and in the State the development of new Control Committee in the Knesset, Chair of the innovative therapeutics Faculty committee for PhD studies and of the addressing unmet needs University Committee for Animal Care and Ethics. in the neurodegenerative She is part of the Taube-Koret Global Collaboration disorders arena. A in Neurodegenerative Diseases. particular interest is given https://heflab.com/ to the protein kinase, glycogen synthase kinase- 3 (GSK-3), as a prominent design drugs with unique drug target for treating inhibition modality. The neurodegeneration. They team’s goal is to ultimately combine expertise in produce beneficial chemistry, biology, and therapeutics for clinical computational modeling to practice.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Illana Prof. Gozes (Emerita) is Head of the Dr. Diana and Zelman Elton (Elbaum) Laboratory for Molecular Gozes Neuroendocrinology, and at the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, the Adams Super Center for Brain Studies and Sagol School of Neuroscience. She is Chief Scientific Officer at Coronis Neurosciences,with her BSc, from Tel Aviv University, Direct PhD, from Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, postdoc at MIT and Salk Institute, and was a Therapeutics for Senior Scientist/Associate Professor at the Weizmann Institute and Fogarty-Scholar-in-Residence at the NIH, autism and beyond USA. Prof. Gozes has won many awards of excellence, Prof. Gozes discovered including Tel Aviv University’s Vice President Award, and studies Activity- Olson Prize, Julodan Prize, Teva Prize, Neufeld Award, dependent neuroprotective Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) Fellowship, protein (ADNP), Humboldt Award, the Landau Prize for Life recognized as a leading Achievements and the RARE Champion of Hope gene accounting for 0.17% Award. She currently serves as Secretary of the of autism spectrum European Society for Neurochemistry, is a member of disorder (ASD) cases the Israeli Ministry of Education, Council of Higher globally. The Gozes Education and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of laboratory focuses on Molecular Neuroscience. genome editing, to test https://www.adnpkids.com/illana-gozes.html and develop therapeutics such as the ADNP enhancing fragment NAP Alzheimer’s disease with (CP201) and pipeline ADNP playing a role in all products, for effects on of these diseases. As autism and other ASD- such, the Gozes related predicaments. laboratory strives to pave Prof. Gozes further the way to novel discovered convergence diagnostics and among autism, treatments toward healthy schizophrenia, stress- development, maturation related ailments and and aging of the brain.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Dr. Yoni Dr. Haitin completed his Ph.D. studies at Tel Aviv University and his postdoctoral training at the Haitin University of Washington, where he was awarded the Human Frontier Organization Long Term Postdoctoral Fellowship. Haitin has established a structural-physiology research program at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the School of Medicine. Dr. Haitin serves as the secretary of the Israeli Society for Physiology and Pharmacology and is on the editorial board of PLoS One. He heads Ion channels in the Joint Undergraduate Program with the Faculty of disease Life Sciences. https://haitinlab.com/ Proteins are molecular machines essential for all cellular activities. When types of radically different they malfunction due to enzyme families. By genetic mutations or utilizing cutting-edge environmental effects, they biochemical and also underlie and facilitate biophysical approaches, many human diseases. As they delineate the the roles of these crucial structural mechanisms cellular building blocks are underlying functional tightly related to their regulation of these key atomic structures, protein families. Moreover, deciphering disease- given the emerging pivotal related mechanisms roles these proteins play in requires scrutinizing numerous diseases, they proteins’ utmost use high-throughput fundamental molecular screens to identify novel properties. Dr. Haitin modulators, which may focuses on studying ion prove beneficial for future channels and development of targeted prenyltransferases, two therapeutic strategies.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Yael Prof. Henkin, from the Department of Communication Disorders at the School of Health Henkin Professions, completed her PhD and post-doctoral studies at TAU and at the University of Michigan, respectively, focusing on auditory processing in cochlear implant recipients, using auditory cortical neurophysiology. Prof. Henkin is Head of the Hearing, Speech, and Language Center and Communication Disorders Services, and co-director of the cochlear implant program at the Sheba Medical Center. She Auditory neuroscience manages a diverse spectrum of diagnostic and and hearing therapeutic activities in the field of communication disorders including audiology, hearing rehabilitation, rehabilitation speech, language, communication disabilities, and What are the swallowing disorders. She was awarded the DFG neurophysiological German-Israeli grant in collaboration with scientists underpinnings of auditory from the University of Hannover. Prof. Henkin processing in the normal consults the Israeli Ministry of Health on various and impaired auditory topics in the fields of communication disorders and system? how are they hearing healthcare. affected by increasing age, monaural vs. binaural listening, and by cochlear implants and rehabilitation with cochlear hearing aids, and in implants and hearing children with autism, aids? Prof. Henkin utilizes selective mutism, and a complementary auditory auditory processing neuroscience approach in disorders (APD). Her search of clinical experience in neurophysiological audiology and hearing biomarkers and behavioral rehabilitation have set the indices of auditory ground for clinical processing in normal research aimed at hearing listeners, hearing- transforming research impaired listeners with findings into diagnostic bilateral/unilateral hearing and rehabilitative loss habilitated by approaches. TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Dr. Michal Dr. Itzhaki, Department of Nursing, School of Health Professions, serves as the Chair of the Department. Itzhaki She is the first registered nurse in Israel to have completed a direct PhD track, which she obtained at the Department of Nursing Department at Tel Aviv University. She completed her post-doctoral training at the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Bar-Ilan University. She collaborates with nursing theorists in academic institutions worldwide exploring caring in multicultural societies. Emotion management Feeling rules are unwritten social rules that dictate the (emergency and disaster) strength of emotions and in complex care appropriate for different situations. Investigation of situations. In case of the emotion management incompatibility between experienced by nurses experienced and socially includes attention to caring expected emotions, and emotional resilience. emotional management is Her research forms the required to overcome the basis for developing dissonance. Dr. Itzhaki intervention programs explores the feelings aimed at efficient experienced by healthcare emotional labor, which workers and patients and includes raising the their coping strategies with caregiver/patient's sense differences between of resilience and emotional expected versus support. She uses a mixed experienced emotions in methods design that life-threatening situations combines qualitative and quantitative methods.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Liat Prof. Kishon-Rabin is at the Department of Communication Disorders, School of Health Kishon-Rabin Professions and is the Dean of Innovation in Teaching & Learning at Tel Aviv University. She completed her PhD in psychoacoustics from the Speech & Hearing Sciences Department at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She was the first Israeli to be awarded with the Graham Fraser Memorial Lecture by the British Cochlear Implant Group. She is an associate editor for the International Journal of Speech processing Audiology. She is vice president of the European and brain plasticity in Federations of Auditory Societies (EFAS) and will serve as president from 2021-2023. In continuation to cochlear implant users her research, which supports intervention during the Prof. Kishon-Rabin early years of the developing brain, Prof. Kishon-Rabin investigates the effect of initiated a series of social startups in infant day-cares sensory, cognitive and and pre-school bringing evidence-based practice of linguistics processes that language acquisition programs to practitioners, are involved in speech caretakers and parents either directly or via novel on- perception in optimal and line programs. degraded listening conditions in normal and which she received pathological hearing. The worldwide recognition. different factors that She investigates the influence performance influence of auditory assist in understanding the stimulation and experience wide variability in dependent factors that performance of implanted drive cortical development cochlear implant users, as in infants using video well as in developing analysis and brain-imaging habilitation protocols that techniques. Her team are are tailored to the hearing- pioneers in implicit impaired individual. Prof. learning processes via Kishon-Rabin was one of auditory modality using the first to study functional fNIRS measurements, for hearing in infants with the first time for cochlear cochlear implants, for implants in Israel.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Tova Prof. Most is at the Department of Communication Disorders, Steyer School of Health Professions, Most Faculty of Medicine and the Department of Counselling and Special Education, Jaime and Joan Constantiner School of Education. Prof. Most research focuses on the rehabilitation and education of deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Her research work has been published in leading international scientific journals including 95 research manuscripts, 15 book chapters and a book in the area of education Rehabilitation and and rehabilitation of deaf and hard of hearing children education of hard of and adults. hearing and deaf individuals on the individual's Prof. Most’ research academic, social and activities focus on the emotional functioning. She effect of hearing loss and examines their functioning the use of various sensory in the various life aids (hearing aids, environments of cochlear implants) on the education, family, perception and production community and of spoken language. The occupation, focusing on research relates to the individuals with individuals from in a wide hearing loss as well as range of ages and various their parents, friends, degrees of hearing loss teachers and employers. from unilateral and mild She provides a holistic hearing loss to profound approach and broad in- deafness. Prof. Most also depth understanding of the studies the ramifications of ramifications of the a hearing and hearing loss on the communication deficiency individual's functioning.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Yuval Prof. Nir, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, completed his PhD at the Weizmann Nir Institute of Science and his postdoctoral training at center for sleep and consciousness, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has won several awards including the Adelis Neuroscience Prize. https://yuvalnirlab.com/

Sleep Sleep is a universal behavior that is present across the animal kingdom. We spend a third of our lives sleeping, but still don’t fully understand what it is for. Prof. Nir is studying the relation between sleep and cognition using a unique combination of animal and human research: what it is about sleep that keeps us ‘disconnected’ from the external environment? How does sleep promote learning and memory? Can we harness sleep to improve neuropsychiatric diagnosis and counteract neurodegeneration?

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Eran Prof. Perlson, at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, is a leader in the research of nerve Perlson degeneration and regeneration. He completed a Ph.D. at the Weizmann Institute of Science in molecular and cellular neurobiology. As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Pennsylvania Medical School, he focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying axon degeneration in ALS. His scientific work has earned him a large number of distinguished grants, awards and honors, and he is the author of Amyotrophic lateral numerous publications in high profile journals and sclerosis invited speaker to leading international meetings. http://www3.tau.ac.il/medicine/perlson/ Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a lethal adult-onset motor neuron This unique platform disease, pathologically opens new possibilities for characterized by neuronal experimental analyses of death and degeneration. neuron degeneration and No effective treatment regeneration process, and exists for ALS. Prof. provides a tool for Perlson is taking a fresh personalized medicine. approach to this challenge The team’s main goal is to using advanced elucidate the critical microscopy, genetic events leading to neuron engineering and a novel damage that can be NMJ-on-a-Chip platform targeted and prevented. that mimics the human By preventing nerve motor unit. This novel degeneration and platform was developed activating its regeneration, first in the world by Prof. they will be able to find Perlson’s team, and effective treatment to enables growth of patients’ neurodegenerative neurons and muscle on a disease such as ALS or silicon chip. spinal cord injuries.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Dr. Sigal Dr. Portnoy is at the Department of Occupational Therapy at the School of Health Professions. Dr. Portnoy Portnoy received her B.Sc. in Electronic Engineering at Tel Aviv University and her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory at Tel Aviv University. She was the scientific director of the Gait and Motion Laboratory at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. https://www.tau.ac.il/~portnoys/ Technology for rehabilitation The promise of new and developed tools are a exciting technologies to software that evaluates enhance the world of cognitive function, motor and cognitive validated, published and to rehabilitation, relies on its date, downloaded by more integration in the clinics. than 250 users worldwide, One of the main goals of and a software that Dr. Portnoy is to create automatically fits the and distribute accessible dimensions of virtual and innovative tools that model of orthoses for 3D will promote the use of printing, according to technologies in simple limb measurements rehabilitation. Among the performed by the clinician.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Dr. Angela Dr. Ruban, at the Department of Nursing in the School of Health Professions, received a PhD in Ruban Clinical Pharmacology from the Ben Gurion University. She was a postdoctoral scholar at the Department of Neurobiology at Weizmann Institute of Science. During this period, she and Prof. Te i c h b e r g developed a novel Blood Glutamate Scavenging (BGS) technology for the treatment of malignant and neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Ruban A. is a faculty member at the Health Profession School, Faculty of Spinal cord injury Medicine, Tel Aviv University. Her lab research has focused on evaluating the therapeutic potential of the Spinal cord injury causes treatment in the neurotrauma, neurodegenerative and permanent changes in malignant diseases. strength, sensation and https://www.angelarubanlab.com/ motor functions. Hope of recuperation is slim to none. Primary mechanical after the accident, has the damage to spinal cord potential to diminish a tissue kills a certain cascade of pathological number of neuronal cells. events responsible for But there’s a secondary neuronal death, such as damage due to the release inflammation and of excess glutamate, scarring. It will be the first which is responsible for an emergency treatment for additional functional neurotrauma in the world. disability. Our main idea is We suggest administering to reduce the secondary the injection by damage as soon as paramedics even in cases possible — to block the of uncertain diagnosis. body’s reaction to the There’s no side effect, but spinal cord trauma. Our it might just mitigate new study finds the secondary damage and intravenous injection of a dramatically improve the potent enzyme, just hours quality of a person’s life.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Dr. Moran Dr. Rubinstein, head of the Goldschleger Eye Research Institute and member of the Department of Rubinstein Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine of Tel Aviv University, completed her Ph.D. studies at Tel Aviv University and her postdoctoral training at the University of Washington. She serves on the scientific committee of the Israeli Society for Physiology and Pharmacology, the editorial board of the Journal of Molecular Neuroscience and as guest editor for Frontiers Neurodevelopmental in Pharmacology. disorders https://moranrub.wixsite.com/rubinsteinlab Neurodevelopmental disorders, which include cognitive impairment, genetic mutation to severe epilepsy and abnormal brain function is autistic features, are the limited. In order to bridge leading cause of morbidity this gap, the lab of Dr. in children. While recent Rubinstein uses unique genetic studies, exposing mouse models, which are involvement of specific a precise mimic of the genes in the etiology of human disorder. By these disorders, have combining genetic, contributed to the electrophysiological and tremendous advancement behavioral approaches, in the studies of these her goal is to elucidate the disorders, our neurobiological basis of understanding of the these disorders and unveil pathophysiological novel diagnostic and pathways leading from a therapeutic approaches.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Prof. Inna Prof. Slutsky is at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and the Sagol School of Neuroscience Slutsky at Tel Aviv University. Dr. Slutsky completed her PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and post- doctoratal studies at MIT. She is a member of the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) National Scientific Advisory Council, editorial member of eLife and Scientific Reports journals, and scientific committee member of the Israel Society of Neuroscience. Dr. Slutsky is a recipient of the MetLife Plasticity and memory Foundation Prize in Alzheimer’s research, Bernard in Alzheimer’s disease Katz Prize in Neuroscience, the New Investigator Award in Alzheimer’s Disease from American Prof. Slutsky’s research is Federation for Ageing Research, the Sieratzki Prize focused on understanding and the ERC Starting and Consolidator Awards. the basic mechanisms that https://www.slutskylab.com/ maintain synaptic plasticity and memory function and initiate memory dysfunction in Alzheimer’s how neuronal activity and disease (AD). Using high- sensory experience resolution optical imaging, regulate molecular electrophysiology and composition of amyloid- molecular biology, beta, the physiological role Slutsky’s team focuses on of amyloid-beta, the role of identifying the magnesium ion in mechanisms that initiate cognitive enhancement synaptic and cognitive and the molecular impairments in common, mechanism triggering late-onset AD. Dr. Slutsky synaptic hyperactivity at and her team discovered the earliest AD stages.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Nervous System and Brain Disorders

Dr. Ido Dr. Tavor, from the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology at the School of Medicine and the Sagol Tavor School of Neuroscience, completed his PhD at Tel Aviv University. He then proceeded to a postdoctoral training at the University of Oxford where he specialized on advanced imaging techniques. He holds an inter-disciplinary lab, combining computational, statistical and cognitive neuroscience methods to study the human brain and behavior. https://www.tau.ac.il/~idotavor/ Brain structure, function and human behavior What makes us different? techniques to examine While doing the exact how modifications in brain same thing, different connectivity and individuals present microstructure affects different patterns of brain brain function and human activity. Dr. Tavor studies behavior, both in healthy what underlies behavioral and clinical populations. and functional differences By better understanding between individuals using the relations between Magnetic Resonance brain function and Imaging (MRI). structure, new insights on Specifically, he uses human behavior may be advanced imaging gained.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Public Health

Public health laboratories at the Sackler Faculty of Programs Medicine are responsible for providing timely and reliable Summer Institute of Advanced results, primarily for the Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, purpose of disease control in collaboration with Johns Hopkins and prevention, as well as University Bloomberg School of Public improving quality of life across range of population. Health https://en-med.tau.ac.il/School-of-Public- Our public health Health/Summer-Institute researchers conduct interdisciplinary studies, Emergency & Disaster Management incorporating behavioral Program health, mental health, https://emergexint.tau.ac.il/ health education, occupational safety, disability, gender issues in The School of Public Health has been at the health, reproductive forefront of efforts to benefit the health of epidemiology, and disease populations worldwide, including the current prevention. COVID-19 pandemic.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Public Health

Dr. Yftach Dr. Gepner, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, completed his Ph.D. (2016) at Ben-Gurion Gepner University on the role of lifestyle intervention on various body fat depots. He then continued his training in the Department of Sport and Exercise at University of Central Florida, to better understand the field of exercise physiology in both applied and basic in nature. Gepner has been awarded the 2020 Neufeld Memorial Research Grant, which will run concurrently with his BSF and other grants. Impact of exercise https://www.gepnerlab.com/ training Regular physical activity is Gepner are using cutting- one of the most important edge technologies, things you can do for your including magnetic health, and has long been resonance imaging (MRI) touted as a strategy for for assessing muscle weight loss. However, only damage and adipose 20% meeting the physical tissue distribution, doubly activity guidelines and labeled water to assess over 90% of the people energy expenditure and who lose weight will gain it labeled amino acid to all back. Dr Yftach Gepner determine protein research focuses on synthesis by muscle understanding the impact biopsy. By combining of exercise training, applied and mechanistic combined with dietary metabolism and strategies, on muscle physiology adaptation damage and mass, studies, his goal is to metabolism and elucidate the unique performance across a beneficial effect from range of populations. Dr. physical activity.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Public Health

Prof. Liat Prof. Lerner is at the School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, and Chair of the Department of Lerner-Geva Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. She is a board-certified physician in Epidemiology and Public Health with special emphasis on reproductive epidemiology. She is the director of the Women and Children's Health Research Unit at the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research (Ltd) and the founder and director of the National Registry for in vitro fertilization treatment cycles in Reproduction and Israel. infertility Israel has a world-wide unique epidemiology and and having healthy babies. public health policy She is carefully assessing regarding reproduction in on a national basis the general and infertility short and long-term treatments in particular. adverse outcomes of Prof. Lerner-Geva are infertility treatments. taking a scientific, These insights will lead to evidence based approach the development of safer to evaluate these topics, and better procedures that including investigation of are of great interest in the factors that predicts national, as well as the successful reproduction international arena.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Public Health

Dr. Yael Dr. Lahav is a new faculty member in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the Sackler Faculty of Lahav Medicine. Dr. Lahav is a licensed clinical psychologist. She completed her PhD studies at Tel Aviv University, where she studied the longitudinal associations between attachment and perceived health among former-prisoners-of-war of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Southern Denmark, where she studied the link between attachment and dissociation during Trauma and abuse treatment among childhood sexual abuse survivors and at Stanford University, as a Fulbright grantee, Dr. Lahav investigates the where she studied posttraumatic growth, as well as implications of the phenomenon of identification with the aggressor psychological trauma, and among childhood sexual abuse survivors. focuses on uncovering the https://www.tau.ac.il/~yaellah1/ mechanisms underlying post-traumatic distress psychological, following interpersonal and interpersonal, somatic, ongoing traumatic events, physiological, and such as was captivity, functional facets of domestic violence, as well psychological trauma; as as sexual, physical, and well as the interpersonal emotional abuse during processes involved in the childhood. Her interests victim-perpetrator revolve primarily, around dynamics, known as the unique associations identification with the between the aggressor.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Rehabilitation

The Stanley Steyer School of Health Our major goal: to improve the Professions health and wellbeing of our population. Four clinical fields of study and research https://en-med.tau.ac.il/Steyer-School-Main

• Communication Disorders • Nursing • Occupational Therapy • Physical Therapy

TAU Faculty of Medicine Rehabilitation

Dr. Debbie Dr. Rand is at the Department of Occupational Therapy at the School of Health Professions, and Rand affiliated with the Sagol School of Neuroscience. She completed her PhD at Haifa University and her postdoctoral training at the University of British Columbia, Canada. She presented her research at international conferences in the field of rehabilitation, gerontology and advanced technologies. https://www.tau.ac.il/~drand/

Gaming for rehabilitation Dr. Rand’s research aims to achieve a better aimed to improve the understanding of the affected upper extremity factors hindering and as well as assessment facilitating the recovery of and treatment of the individuals post stroke and cognitive deficits of these specifically the use of their individuals. affected upper extremity. Recently, she has Her studies are clinical expanded her research to aiming to research the the growing population of factors related to the (healthy) older adults. She limited recovery of the investigates physical and affected upper extremity. social frailty as well as She has developed cognitive decline, aiming interventions (utilizing to determine ways to gaming technologies) promote successful aging.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Rehabilitation

Prof. Navah Prof. Ratzon is at the Department of Occupational Therapy, and is Head of the School of Health Ratzon Professions. Among her other achievements, Ratzon chaired the Council for the Advancement of Women in Science and Technology at the Ministry of Science and Technology from 2016-2020. She is a member of the Advisory Council to the Minister of Health on the subject of rehabilitation and of the Advisory Committee to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Labor and Welfare on the subject of Occupational employee health. Prof. Ratzon is a social activist, rehabilitation engaged in developing community intervention programs and research among communities in need, Ratzon's research areas such as children of immigrants from Ethiopia, children focus on ergonomics, of foreign workers, and students with disabilities. vocational rehabilitation, and driving rehabilitation. Her research in the field of ergonomics focuses on risks and treatments workers at risk of among those recovering developing skeletal from cancer, people after muscle problems. Her hand injuries, and more. studies highlight multiple As a researcher in the field populations, such as of driving rehabilitation, professional musicians, Ratzon examines ways to people who work long assess driving ability and hours on the computer, interventions to reduce the and "blue-collar" workers. driving risks in In her research on professional drivers, occupational rehabilitation, adolescents with ADHD, Ratzon focuses on raising people with schizophrenia, awareness of professional and people after a stroke.

TAU Faculty of Medicine Sackler Faculty of Medicine

Training opportunities

The School of Graduate Studies at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine strives for excellence in research and serves as a training platform for Master’s programs – M.Sc., M.P.H., M.Occ.H., M.A. - and Doctor of Philosophy - Ph.D. - in diverse biomedical fields. The school is the largest graduate school at Tel Aviv University, with 1050 students, including 430 Ph.D. students, and 580 Masters’ students.

The Faculty of Medicine’s M.Sc. and Ph.D. thesis projects offers financial support to undertake research in our laboratories. Tuition and stipend scholarships are available to qualified students, providing a tuition-free degree and living stipend.

We welcome students from abroad, with opportunities for courses in English. While our official spoken language is Hebrew, all laboratory members speak English, providing an international environment.

Prof. Drorit Dr. Chen Luxenburg, Neumann, Head of Academic Coordinator, the Graduate International Graduate School Program Sackler Faculty of Medicine

Life in Tel Aviv

The city of Tel Aviv-Jaffa is a bustling, energetic and dynamic one, with opportunities for sun, exercise, food and socializing like no other place.

Source: Unsplash

For more information, please visit https://en-med.tau.ac.il/

Karen Avraham, Oct 22, 2020