Membrane traffic in health and disease (endocytosis, exocytosis, transcytosis); Membrane domains; Epithelial cell polarity; Cell biology of enteric bacterial pathogens; Pathogenic bacteria – epithelial host interactions; Inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis) 

The mechanism of exocytosis; Neurodegeneration: Development of drugs for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disorders.

We are interested in understanding how plants degrade cellular components for energy production. This occurs during the development of non-photosynthetic tissues and under stress conditions, in which photosynthesis is not functioning well. We are focusing on a cellular degradation mechanism called ‘Autophagy’, investigating it using molecular and metabolomic approaches.

Understanding the mechanisms of flight control in insects; bio-mimetic robotics

Microbial ecology of extreme environments, with a focus on the microbial populations of salt-excreting plants; Microbial water quality; Genetically engineered microbial sensors for environmental monitoring, with an emphasis on toxicity and genotoxicity assessment and on the detection of specific classes of compounds, including trace pharmaceuticals and explosives.

Developmental Neuro-Genetics: the study of bHLH transcription factors regulating embryonic development, focusing on the nervous system. Characterization of the role and function of the transcription factors at the cellular and whole organism levels, utilizing chick embryos and knockout and transgenic mice. Revealing their molecular mode of action at various levels (transcription regulation of target genes, molecular interactions: DNA-protein, protein-protein etc.). We also study the involvement of transcription factors in human diseases (developmental, inherited and cancer).

Differentiation and genetic manipulation of human embryonic stem cells ; Human genetic disorder and human embryonic stem cells ; Genomic analysis of human development ; Oncogenic properties of stem cells

We study the evolution and mechanisms underlying sociality and social behavior, using bees as a model. Our main research focuses are:

1. The interplay between circadian rhythms and social behavior.
2. Size-related division of labor in bumblebees.
3. The social evolution of juvenile hormone signaling.
4. The interplay between sleep and social behavior.
5. The involvement of non-coding RNA and RNA editing in behavioral plasticity.
6. Hormones and social behavior.
7. social and molecular mechanisms regulating body size and caste differentiation in bees.

The eukaryotic cell cycle and ubiquitin mediated proteolysis Protein aggregation and neurodegeneration.
Development of live cell imaging methods.

Biophysics Cell-matrix interactions in directing cell-fate decision making, Remodeling of the nuclear matrix of lamins and chromatin

The ability to sequence DNA from bones and teeth opened the opportunity to read the genetic makeup of ancient populations like Neanderthals and Mammoths. The work in my lab focuses in identifying the genetic changes that made us humans, in studying the epigenetics of ancient populations, and in general understanding evolutionary and historical processes.

Studying arthropod evolution using different sources of information: Comparative embryology, comparative genomics, paleontology and systematics.

Neuroscience, molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, drug addiction, feeding disorders, experience-dependent plasticity, neural circuit adaptations, synaptic physiology and plasticity, transcriptional regulatory networks, non-coding RNA.

Plasticity in the somatosensory system in mammals. Neural mechanisms whereby injury provokes sensory dysfunction and chronic pain. Pathophysiology of injured nerve and abnormal impulse generation. Synaptic reorganization in the brain and spinal cord after peripheral nerve injury. Regeneration and collateral sprouting of injured nerve fibers. Animal models of chronic pain states and pain relief. Heritability of chronic pain. Neural mechanisms of loss of pain response and of consciousness in general anesthesia.

Epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Cancer epigenetics.

Development of constitutively active MAP/stress kinases for studies of the etiology cancer and inflammation. Revealing the mechanism of gene expression under stress in yeast and mammalian cells. Focusing on Gcn4, Hsf1 and Msn2/4. Analysis expression of stress-related genes in oncogenically-transformed cells.

Biological oceanography; Marine phytoplankton ecology and cell biology; Population dynamics; Life cycle strategies. My lab focus on the investigation of the main ecological and cellular differentiation between life cycle phases, understanding the role of each phase and the interplay with other organisms in the oceans as well as on the search for triggers regulating life phase transitions.

Transcription regulation, Chromatin modifications, systematic yeast genetics.

The role of Runx factors in the development of hair and other skin appendages; Molecular control of the hair keratin genes in mouse and man; The spider silk proteins – structure and function in fiber formation; Synthesis of recombinant spider silk fibers as novel biomaterials.

Benthic-pelagic coupling. Predator-prey interactions in the marine environment. Biomechanics and effects of flow on corals, invertebrates and fish.

Cancer genetics, Early events in cancer development, Cell cycle, Genomic stability,  The Cellular response to DNA damage , Cell cycle checkpoints , DNA repair 

Circadian rhythms in plants:

1. Interactions between the components of the circadian system.
2. Cell-specific circadian rhythms.
3. The adaptive advantages of circadian rhythms

Lamins and their associated proteins in health and disease The roles of the nuclear lamina in development and aging The role of the nuclear envelope in apoptosis Molecular and genetic analysis of matefin/SUN-1 The sensing and responding to high CO2 levels.

To address a major challenge in aging research, the lack of short-lived vertebrate genetic model, I have developed a comprehensive genetic platform for rapid exploration of aging and disease in the shortest-lived vertebrate model, the African turquoise killifish.
This genome-to-phenotype platform includes a sequenced genome, CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing, and mutant fish for many aging- and disease-relates genes.
Taking advantage of this exciting platform the we explore fundamental questions in biology, such as why is aging such a strong driver for disease? And what is the molecular basis behind the outstanding diversity of vertebrate lifespan (which can reach up to 1000-fold).

Experimental biology of vertebrate aging and age-related diseases using the short-lived African turquoise killifish; The genetic basis behind the outstanding diversity of lifespan between different animals; Genetic engineering and live imaging of age-related traits in multiple complex organs.

Ecological and evolutionary aspects of predator-prey interactions, stress ecology, inducible defenses, above-below ground interactions, ecological-traps, nutritional ecology, individual syndrome, ecology and evolution of conspicuous anti-predator colors and patterns, herpetology and especially lizard ecology, desert ecology, ecosystem conservation and restoration.

Synthesis of carotenoid pigments in plants; Genetic regulation of natural products in the fruit; Gene cloning from tomato and their molecular analysis; Genome editing in tomato; Biotechnology and genetic engineering of natural compounds in tomato; Regulatory mechanisms of the hormone ABA in the plant.

The relation between cell adhesiveness and growth control in malignant lymphoma cells. Molecular mechanisms involved in the selection of non-malignant variant cells from malignant cell populations. Different approaches to reversal of multi-drug resistance of malignant cells. Growth regulation of malignant lymphoma. Metastasis of malignant lymphoma.

Motor control of the flexible arms of the octopus - inspiration for robotics. Neurobiology of learning and memory in an advanced invertebrate - the Octopus.

Vision: information processing in the mammalian and primate visual pathway. Computational neuroscience. Perception, learning and conciousness.

Plant population and community ecology. Plant demography; vegetation dynamics; succession. Landscape ecology, geographical information systems (GIS); conservation.

Structural biology of large protein complexes. Mass-spectrometry. Computational structural modeling based on multiple information sources. Protein structure prediction.

Study of mechanisms which drive ecological processes mainly in photosynthetic organisms. What determines who is there and how do the organisms interact with one another and with their changing environment.

1. The molecular basis of genetic diseases. We focus on Cystic fibrosis research ;
2. The mechanism underlying chromosome structure and function. We focus on chromosomal instability in cancer.

Metal transport, accumulation and homeostasis in photosynthetic organisms. Dynamics of the photosynthetic apparatus: adaptation of photosynthetic organisms to the ever changing environment.

1. Pre-genetic mechanisms promoting development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics
2. Characterization of oligomers of the alpha-Synuclein protein as factors in the development of Parkinson's disease
3. Allosteric signal transmission through DNA
4. Method development  for structural characterization of proteins in Vivo

The signaling network that coordinates plant responses to environment.
 

Signal transduction, Signal transduction therapy,Cancer Research, Medicinal Chemistry.

The dynamic processes of nerve terminals and the molecular aspects of synapse functioning. Control of exocytosis in regulated secretory systems. Differentiation and neurotransmitter phenotype acquisition in neurons, a study by proteomics and genomics approaches. Bioinformatics. Large scale studies of biological sequences and their global organization. Proteomics. Structural genomics.

Structural determination of biologically related macromolecules via X-ray crystallographic techniques. Ligand recognition, initial signaling events, and the role of dimer/oligomer orientation in cytokine receptor systems. Structural studies of avidin/streptavidin - biotin high affinity systems. Structural based drug design and optimization. Combinatorial approaches in drug discovery.

Decision-making and reinforcement learning, Reinforcement learning and cellular plasticity, The neuronal mechanisms underlying contraction bias, the functional architecture of the cerebellar cortex.

Neural and dendritic computation and coding, Neuronal noise, neural basis of vocal communication, information theory analysis of neural communication.

Epigenetics in stem cells, neuronal differentiation and neurons; Modeling neurodegenerative diseases using pluripotent stem cells; Paleo-epigenetics: reconstructing methylation in ancient DNA; Live imaging of nuclear dynamics in stem cell differentiation; Signaling pathways and molecular networks in stem cells and cancer

Genes coding for factors involved in control of differentiation and development. Control of proliferation and differentiation in adult tissues. Epithelial mesenchymal interactions. Gene therapy, angiogenesis, ageing. Differentiation of stem cells. Cell therapy.

The roles of microRNAs in cnidarian development; Evolution of sea anemone (and other strange animal) toxins; Evolution of voltage-gated sodium channels

1. Metabolic programing: nuclear reactors-based control of metabolism 2. Human embryonic stem cell differentiation to hepatocytes 3. Liver tissue engineering and liver regeneration 4. Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection

Theoretical and applied population and community ecology, and aspects of movement ecology, in particular. Ecology and evolution of dispersal using an integrated theoretical-empirical approach, spatiotemporal population dynamics, Mechanistic models. Gene flow; frugivory plant-animal interactions, bird migration, ornithology, rarity, macroecology, conservation biology.

The structure-function relationships of membrane proteins mainly of the photosynthetic apparatus. Chloroplast development and light regulated expression of chlorophyll-protein complexes.

Responses of neurons in the auditory system to complex sounds

• Adaptation of microorganisms to life at high salt concentrations.
• Physiology, biochemistry, and taxonomy of halophilic microorganisms.
• The microbial ecology of solar salterns.
• The microbiology of the Dead Sea.
• Prokaryote taxonomy and nomenclature.

1. Transcriptional control of genes involved in sex steroid synthesis in the gonads and placenta.
2. Proteolysis and protein quality control during mitochondria organellogenesis in steroidogenic cells.

The main aims of our research are designed to investigate the nature of nuclear-organellar interactions, which link mitochondrial genome status and expression and plant phenotypic response.

Molecular membrane biology, structure biology, bioenergetics, biochemistry, biophysics.

Experimental and theoretical neurobiology. Computational neuroscience; the neuron as a complicated computing element; individual nerve cells as information processing devices. Time coding by neurons.

Chromatin biology, Epigenomic mechanisms, Cellular differentiation, Cellular heterogeneity, single cell technology

Mechanisms of protein quality control and degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system; Enzymatic reactions of ubiquitin-chain formation and transfer; Chaperone-mediated misfolded protein degradation and aggregation

System biology of redox regulation, intrinsically disordered chaperones, computational and experimental biology,proteomics and mass spectrometry.

Structural models aid in understanding the function of macromolecules, explaining the phenotype of mutations, studying the evolution of protein machineries, designing new proteins and drug molecules that can control or modify function.

We develop and apply computational methods for structural modeling of multi-protein complexes and flexible (multi-state) proteins integrating information from experimental methods (X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, 2D and 3D Electron Microscopy (EM), Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS), Mass Spectrometry (MS), Hydrogen–deuterium exchange (HDX), mutations), bioinformatics (sequence conservation and covariation), physics (force fields), and statistics.

We develop methods for B-cell and T-cell epitope prediction based on modeling of the immune response structures, such as antibody-antigen interactions, antigen processing, MHC presentation and T-cell recognition.

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global public health concern and transporters are essential for the acquisition of resistance Our work calls for an integration of our view of the transporter cohort (the effluxome) in the cell and the realization that they all labour together to maintain cell homeostasis.  The process of identification of the members of the effluxome, the elucidation of the nature of the interactions and their role in cell physiology provides a fascinating challenge for the future. 

Experimental and theoretical neurobiology. Computational neuroscience; the neuron as a complicated computing element; individual nerve cells as information processing devices. Time coding by neurons.

Development of computational method for redesign of protein-protein interfaces for altered affinity and binding specificity. the projects include redesign of calmodulin-target interactions, AChE-toxin interactions, Ras-effector interactions, and prion protein interactions.

Genetics of autism and schizophrenia; The role of chromatin regulators in brain development and function; Genetics of the variation in gene expression

Molecular genetics in yeast: meiosis, cell cycle, chromosome pairing, segregation and recombination in meiosis. Instability in the human, mouse and yeast genomes. DNA repair.

Stress responses. Antisense technology. Acetylcholinesterase biology. Molecular neurobiology. Messenger RNA studies

Structure and function of the nuclear pre-mRNA processing machine. Pre-mRNA splicing. Pre-mRNA processing. Regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. Assembly and structural studies of biological systems. Autoantibodies against nuclear RNPs-probes for inflammatory myopathies and RNA processing. Physical biochemistry. Electron microscopy.

Nutritional plasticity, a multidisciplinary approach to study the mechanis- ms underlying long-term neuronal and synaptic remodeling. The cellular, molecular and biophysical mechanisms underlying growth cone formation, navigation of neurites, target recognition, synapse formation and neuronal network construction in development, regeneration and simple forms of learning and memory processes. Development of neuron-electronic hybrid systems.

The three-dimensional structure, function and regulation of telomeres and telomerase; Human genetic diseases caused by telomere dysfunction.

In our lab we aim to study the process of oocyte development from germ stem cells. In our studies we make use of novel techniques we develop like: 1. CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering and related manipulations. 2. Single oocyte transcriptome analysis. Our long term goal is to study these processes so we could understand the reasons for the decline in human oocyte quality, which leads to exponential increase in birth defects before a woman turns 40.

Cellular physiology of central neurons. Subthreshold oscillations, resonance frequencies and rhythm generation in mammalian central nervous systems.

As a Systems Biology lab we combine experiments and theory to understand the design principles of biological networks: 1) Computation and functional dynamics in neural circuits with a single neuron resolution. 2) Plasticity in neural networks (Learning and memory, aging, neurodegenerative diseases) 3) Phenotypic variability: from gene expression and neural activity to behavior 4) Evolutionary and functional genomics: Transcription networks and the relationship between gene expression and genome structure.