Speakers

Prof. Baram-Tsabari founded the Israeli Science Communication Conference series and used her position as an elected member of the Israel Young Academy to develop an infrastructure for science communication training for scientists, including hosting a massive online open course (MOOC-edX ). She was an elected member of the Public Communication of Science and Technology Network’s scientific committee, and currently serves on the editorial board of the journals Public Understanding of Science, International Journal of Science Education: Part B, and Science Communication. In 2021, she was given the Higher Education Award for a Young Faculty Member for “exceptional contribution to society and community in Israel” by the Council of Higher Education.

Researchers in his lab study obesity and everything related to it to determine what happens to the body after weight loss surgery, specifically, why and how systemic metabolism improves, or changes after bariatric surgery, and what the body is capable of doing. They collaborate closely with physicians, make use of mouse models for metabolic diseases and bariatric surgery, and apply mathematical tools to interpret results. Dr. Ben Zvi’s long-term goal is to discover how to achieve the positive effects of bariatric surgery without surgical intervention, potentially leading to a cure for type 2 diabetes and reversing obesity.

His advanced structural lab uses numerical and analytical methods, as well as highly controlled physical tests on structures subject to extreme loading conditions to assess the response of structural elements and characterize their mechanisms and failure modes. He hopes to eventually increase the robustness of structures and infrastructures and develop better code requirements to reduce casualties and economic losses.

Investigators use a variety of experimental and computational tools to reveal how the nervous system integrates previous experience and motivational states with incoming multisensory information to allow adaptive decisions, based on fluctuating goals and needs.

Her Advanced Bioinspired Materials for Food and Healthcare lab is at the intersection of chemical biology, bionanotechnology, and materials science, focusing on functional bioinspired materials for food and healthcare applications. Investigators exploit self-assembling systems to develop advanced gels and characterize them at the nano, micro, and macro scale.

They work on elucidating the pro- or anti-tumorigenic functional outcomes of these complex interactions in order to devise novel combination therapies.

His Quantum Imaging lab combines the technique of scanning diamond Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers with pristine carbon nanotube sensors to form a new hybrid quantum system that has the potential to push the boundaries of quantum technology.

Prof. Hanna pioneers techniques in induced naïve pluripotency from adult cell and synthetic whole embryo models made solely from stem cells ex utero. These cells’ regenerative properties are almost identical to those of embryonic stem cells, but they can be created from adult cells without using an egg or fetal material. Dr. Hanna has showed how such cells could be used to treat sickle-cell anemia in mice. He was the first to expand prolonged periods of advanced and normal mammalian embryo development from pre-gastrulation until late organogenesis in an “artificial uterus” environment outside the maternal womb. He has generated advanced stage whole synthetic embryos made entirely from naïve pluripotent stem cells in the petri dish. His work offers the promise of new research models for degenerative diseases, infertility, and modelling human early development. Prof. Hanna has received many prizes and fellowships. In 2014, he was featured among “40 under 40” innovative scientists by the prestigious journal Cell and in 2021, he was ranked at the top of a list of 50 leading world thinkers by Prospect magazine.

He is especially concerned with quantifying the dynamics of (often improper) actions on non-positively curved spaces.

This extensive effort may help pave the way to more= durable and evolutionarily stable anti-cancer treatments.

Lab investigators hope eventually to help clinicians verify the causes of aberrant networks, and even to provide methods for rewiring brain networks to modulate neurological and psychiatric conditions and potentially enhance brain functions such as memory, learning, and perception.

Meital started introducing science communication methods to graduate students and young researchers during her time at Weizmann Institute of Science, where she worked for over a decade in different roles in the Resource Development Department. In her last position there, she was in charge of International Programs and Donor Stewardship, and she established "Scientists of Tomorrow," delegations of students who give scientific talks to non-scientific audiences around the world. Meital is a member of SCTN (SciComm Trainers Network), a U.S.-based network of science communication practitioners. SCTN brings together SciComm practitioners from leading organizations and universities including MIT, Duke, Brown, Princeton, Michigan, Washington, Utah, and Harvard.

Ambassador Saranga also served as Consul for Media and Public Affairs at the Israeli Consulate in New York. During this period, he was one of the pioneers in the field of diplomacy to use social media to convey a government message. He has had a teaching career in the field as well, including at IDC Herzliya and at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy. Aside from his native Hebrew, Ambassador Saranga speaks three languages fluently: English, Spanish, and Romanian.

He hopes these new methods will provide increased contrast, better penetration capabilities in thicker samples, and rapid three-dimensional imaging, as well as address the problem of radiation damage in samples.

The derived human neurons have the same genetics as the patients and are therefore an excellent model for studying human brain disease and disorders. The lab focuses on bipolar disorder, Parkinson’s disease and rare mutations that cause intellectual disability, epilepsy and autism. By understanding the mechanisms that underly these disorders, the lab seeks to develop precision medicine programs and find biomarkers for better diagnosis and improved prognosis of disease.

Investigating public attitudes, uses, and preferences regarding urban green spaces, including the unique challenges faced by minorities and non-users, she hopes to better understand benefits and any potential barriers to access. Examining citizen science data to analyze human perceptions and knowledge of urban nature, she also hopes to collaborate with local governments to help enhance urban landscape planning and management.

Through the study of highly regenerative organisms, Dr. Wurtzel’s research aspires to unravel principles of stem cell biology and tissue healing in higher organisms, such as humans, where only certain organs and cell types can regenerate.