WHAT DO WE DO?

Our Research

Our main research interest is to understand the ecological and evolutionary forces that shape microbial communities in nature and specifically, in gut environments. Understanding these forces enables us to predict and modulate the composition of the microbiome towards optimized functionality.

Read more

Whats new?

• Check out our recent review in Nature reviews.  We describe the composition, ecology, and metabolism of the rumen microbiome and how to use it to balance food security and environmental impacts.

• We got an ERC consolidator grant!!!!

  Thank you, reviewers, and thank you, panel members, for enabling us to continue doing what we love!

• Nice write-up on our work in THE TIMES OF ISRAEL.

  

  

• Our new paper in Nature Communications. We found that the rumen microbiome has a long-term "memory" of early life events that could be used to manipulate and predict its assembly.

• We might be able to modulate microbiomes using the cow genome. See our paper in Science Advances, in which we show that the cow genome is connected to its microbiome.

• Where it all begins. A microbiome assembly story... Read our post on the story behind our new paper, published in Nature communications at Nature Microbiology Community

• Our new paper in Nature Microbiology gives a potential explanation of what core microbes are and how they maintain their stability in the gut.

  

• Check our paper in elife, where we found that genetic selection of the hosts also selects their microbiome and its response to environmental selection.

  

• Itzik is talking about our work in Hebrew in MedbrimMada"-talking Science -a great platform of popular science.

  Check it our here

     

• A piece in the Jerusalem Post on our recently published study in Nature microbiology about the fish core microbiome.

   

DISCOVER MORE

Microbial communities are everywhere and drive many basic processes in our everyday life, concerning agriculture, health and the environment. We study the evolutionary forces that act on microbial communities in nature, as well as the ecological forces that shape them. Specifically, we are interested in the factors that determine microbial community assembly in gut environments, as well as the effect of gene mobility via plasmids on their ecology.

For this purpose, we use state of the art tools, such as deep sequencing, big data analysis, metabolomics, fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), high-performance microscopy and classical aerobic and anaerobic microbiology approaches. This knowledge is, in turn, used to understand and to influence the role of microbial communities in health and disease, as well as in agricultural systems.  Hence, it is expected to have implications for future developments in food sustainability, renewable energy and medicine.

Read about our ongoing projects

• Community ecology of the microbiome

  Community ecology of the microbiome

  Our interests include community assembly dynamics of the microbiome in high temporal and genetic resolution. This enables us to identify the potential of alternative assemblages in gut communities, providing further information about basic ecological concepts. For example, a particular species may pre-condition future states of the community due to its ecological interactions, stimulating the growth of a specific subset of species and inhibiting others. We relate these variations in community composition to changes in ecological function, particularly the metabolic efficiency of the microbiome.
• Evolutionary, ecological and structural basis of microbial fiber degradation in nature

  Evolutionary, ecological and structural basis of microbial fiber degradation in nature

  For as long as there has been life on land, Earth's terrestrial food chain has been based on the microbial degradation of cellulose-based fiber of photosynthetic products. Although extensive research has been dedicated to the evolutionary origins and mechanisms of the photosynthetic processes of land plants that generate fiber, very little is known about the evolution and ecology of microbial fiber breakdown.   We colboarte with Prof. William F. Martin, Prof. Ohad Medalia, Prof. Edward A. Bayer and Prof. Dörte Becher in a focused effort uniting cutting-edge research tools and expertise, by applying microbial ecology, extracellular proteomics, fiber-degrading enzymology, structural biology and molecular evolution, to understand the evolutionary history of fiber degradation and its interconnectivity with microbial ecology at a nanoscale resolution. Achieving our goals will enable us to gain answers and deep insights into how ecology and evolution of microbial fiber degradation are intertwined and reflected at the single-microbe and community context, from the biochemical, structural and physiological perspectives. Our study will thus provide a stepping-stone towards defining and better understanding the central role of fiber degradation in nature and will reveal the Earth history of natural fiber-degrading microbial ecosystems.
• The rumen microbiome

  The rumen microbiome

  Ruminants host a complex relationship with their residing ruminal microbiota; a relationship which has evolved for millions of years and impacts our everyday lives regarding food availability, environmental issues and economic concerns. The microbiome resides in the upper digestive tract of the animal in a chambered compartment named the rumen and is mainly responsible for most of the food's digestion and absorption. Therefore, understanding and characterizing this complex ecosystem is of major interest to us. Our results show that individual hosts vary greatly in the different pathways utilized by their microbiome for harvesting energy. Alternative pathways may conserve energy by maximizing energy production while suppressing methane emission- a quality termed 'feed efficiency'. These pathways rely on species composition and the metabolic functions they provide. We bring together microbial genomics, anaerobic microbiology and microbial community ecology to learn how cooperative or antagonistic ecological interactions between the microbial species that reside in the rumen control the establishment of alternative microbiomes with different functional efficiencies.
• Plasmidome dynamics within the microbiome

  Plasmidome dynamics within the microbiome

  Gut microbial communities are extremely diverse, exceptionally dense and sustain an intricate relationship with their mammalian host. The immediate proximity and wide range of neighboring cells create a favorable environment for horizontal gene transfer (HGT). We focus on gene mobility as it rapidly changes genome plasticity and greatly influences microbial populations in nature and specifically, in gut environments. Plasmids are major mediators of HGT, contributing greatly to genome evolution. Virulence factors, as well as antibiotic-resistance genes, are frequently transferred on plasmids, enabling their rapid spread within and between bacterial populations. Our fascination with this topic, together with a lack of tools for its study, led us to develop a procedure of metagenomic plasmid isolation and characterization. This pioneering approach provides an overview of plasmids—their identity, traits and the phylogenetic diversity of their microbial hosts. Understanding the role of plasmids as carriers of genetic information is crucial to our understanding of microbial ecology and evolution.

WHO WE ARE?

• 

  Itzik Mizrahi PI

  Research interests: Microbial community assembly and evolution

  Motto: “Do or do not, there is no try” -Master Yoda

  Hobbies: Cooking

  imizrahi@bgu.ac.il
• 

  Sarah Morais Staff Scientist

  Research interests: Metabolic engineering of gut bacteria

  Motto: Run your days and love what you do

  Hobbies: Eating chocolate and mothering

  morais@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Ori Furman Staff Scientist

  Research interests: Characterization of rumen bacteria

  Motto: Big things come in small packages

  Hobbies: Sailing and milking

  furmanor@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Omar Tovar Postdoc

  Research interests: Microbial interactions

  Motto: Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die

  Hobbies: Skateboarding, crossfit, hiking, reading

  tovarher@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Omer Lavy Postdoc

  Research interests: Host-microbe interactions, bacterial interactions

  Motto: Work hard and be nice to people

  Hobbies: (who has time for hobbies??) Hiking,camping, running, cooking and five-needles knitting

  omer.lavy@gmail.com
• 

  Alvah Zorea PhD candidate

  Research interests: Mobilizable plasmids

  Motto: Shit happens…(and when it does, please send us a sample)

  Hobbies: Hiking & photography

  alvahdym@gmail.com
• 

  Sarah Winkler PhD candidate

  Research interests: Community assembly and synthetic rumen consortia

  Motto: I have to be somewhere so it might as well be here

  Hobbies: Cooking, yoga, travelling

  sarahw@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Ido Grinshpan PhD candidate

  Research interests: Engineering synthetic microbiomes

  Motto: Believe no lies, pizza is the only superfood

  Hobbies: Playing guitar, running, volleyball, powerlifting

  idogri@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Gal Revivo MSc student

  Research interests:  Microbial interactions and Metabolic networks

  Motto: “Every day it gets a little easier… But you gotta do it every day — that’s the hard part. But it does get easier”.

  Hobbies: Hiking, diving, working with animals and powerlifting

  galreviv@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Daphne Perlman MSc student

  Research interests: Microbial community dynamics

  Motto: Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly

  Hobbies: Drawing, reading, films and going to the gym

  daphnep@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Michael Mazor MSc student

  Motto: Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground

  Hobbies: Playing basketball, playing chess and hiking

  mazormic@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Ido Lybovits MSc student

  Motto: Take the risk or lose the chance

  Hobbies: Scuba diving, plants nursery, travel

  Idolyb@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Lotan Tamar Tov Elem Technician

  Motto: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

  Hobbies: Playing the guitar and drawing

  lotante@gmail.com
• 

  Itai Amit Technician

  Motto: Change through movement

  Hobbies: Cooking, painting, pilates

  Amitita@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Nili Dagan Administrative Manager

  Motto: Always see the full half of the glass

  Hobbies: Drawing, reading design articles and listening to the music I love

  dagannil@bgu.ac.il
• 

  Sapir Nadler Undergraduate student

  Motto: Life’s too mysterious to take too serious

  Hobbies: Horseback riding, hiking and swimming

  sapirnad@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Eyal Simons Undergraduate student

  Motto: “Look beyond what you see”. -Rafiki

  Hobbies: Rock climbing, hiking, diving and cooking

  simonse@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Eran Gavrieli Undergraduate student

  Motto: Steady yourself by supporting others

  Hobbies: Gardening, baking and diving

  erangav@post.bgu.ac.il

• 2021

  The rumen microbiome: balancing food security and environmental impacts (2021) Itzhak Mizrahi, R. John Wallace & Sarah Moraïs Nature Reviews Microbiology
• A method to the madness. Disentangling the individual forces that shape the rumen microbiome (2021) Itzhak Mizrahi and Elie Jami EMBO Reports
• Auto-deconvolution and molecular networking of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry data (2021) Alexander A Aksenov, et.al. Nature Biotechnology
• SCAPP: an algorithm for improved plasmid assembly in metagenomes (2021) David Pellow , Alvah Zorea , Maraike Probst , Ori Furman , Arik Segal , Itzhak Mizrahi , Ron Shamir Microbiome

• 2020

  Stochasticity constrained by deterministic effects of diet and age drive rumen microbiome assembly dynamics (2020) Ori Furman, Liat Shenhav, Goor Sasson, Fotini Kokou, Hen Honig, Shamay Jacoby, Tomer Hertz, Otto X. Cordero, Eran Halperin & Itzhak Mizrahi Nature Communications
• Context-dependent dynamics lead to the assembly of functionally distinct microbial communities (2020) Leonora S. Bittleston, Matti Gralka, Gabriel E. Leventhal, Itzhak Mizrahi & Otto X. Cordero Nature Communications
• PlasClass improves plasmid sequence classification (2020) David Pellow ,Itzik Mizrahi,Ron Shamir Plos computational biology
• Unravelling plasmidome distribution and interaction with its hosting microbiome (2020) Aya Brown Kav Roye Rozov David Bogumil Søren Johannes Sørensen Lars Hestbjerg Hansen Itai Benhar Eran Halperin Ron Shamir Itzhak Mizrahi Environmental Microbiology
• Rapid adaptation for fibre degradation by changes in plasmid stoichiometry within Lactobacillus plantarum at the synthetic community level (2020) Yonit Ben‐David Sarah Moraïs Edward A. Bayer Itzhak Mizrahi Microbial Biotechnology
• Host-rumen microbiome interactions and influences on feed conversion efficiency, methane production and other traits (2020) Elie Jami and Itzhak Mizrahi Book Chapter in the book "Improving rumen function" (edited by Dr C. S. McSweeney and Prof R. I. Mackie)
• Antibiotic effect and microbiome persistence vary along the European seabass gut (2020) Fotini Kokou, Goor Sasson, Itzhak Mizrahi, Avner Cnaani Scientific Reports

• 2019

  Core gut microbial communities are maintained by beneficial interactions and strain variability in fish (2019) Fotini Kokou, Goor Sasson, Jonathan Friedman, Stav Eyal, Ofer Ovadia, Sheenan Harpaz, Avner Cnaani ,Itzhak Mizrahi Nature Microbiology
• A heritable subset of the core rumen microbiome dictates dairy cow productivity and emissions (2019) Wallace R.J., Sasson G., Garnsworthy P.C., Tapio I., ....Williams J.L., Shingfield K.J., Mizrahi I. Science Advances
• The Road Not Taken: The Rumen Microbiome, Functional Groups, and Community States (2019) Sarah Moraïs, Itzhak Mizrahi Trends in Microbiology
• Islands in the stream: From individual to communal fiber degradation in the rumen ecosystem (2019) Sarah Moraïs, Itzhak Mizrahi FEMS Microbiology Reviews
• Emergence of plasmid stability under non-selectiveconditions maintains antibiotic resistance (2019) Tanita Wein, Nils F. Hülter, Itzhak Mizrahi & Tal Dagan Nature communications
• FEAST: fast expectation-maximization for microbial source tracking (2019) Liat Shenhav, Mike Thompson, Tyler A. Joseph, Leah Briscoe, Ori Furman, David Bogumil, Itzhak Mizrahi, Itsik Pe’er & Eran Halperin Nature methods
• Modeling the temporal dynamics of the gut microbial community in adults and infants (2019) Liat Shenhav , Ori Furman , Leah Briscoe, Mike Thompson, Justin D. Silverman, Itzhak Mizrahi, Eran Halperin Plos computational biology
• Man-made microbial resistances in built environments (2019) Alexander Mahnert, Christine Moissl-Eichinger, Markus Zojer, David Bogumil, Itzhak Mizrahi, Thomas Rattei, José Luis Martinez, Gabriele Berg Nature Communications
• Cell-surface display of designer cellulosomes by Lactobacillus plantarum (2019) Ben-David, Y., Morais, S., Stern, J., Mizrahi, I., and Bayer, E.A. Methods Enzymol
• Transcriptome analysis reveals common and differential response to low temperature exposure between tolerant and sensitive blue tilapia (2019) Nitzan T, Kokou F, Doron-faigenboim A, Slosman T, Biran J, Mizrahi I, Zak T, Benet A & Cnaani A Front. Genet.
• Short- and long-term low-salinity acclimation effects on the branchial and intestinal gene expression in the European seabass (2019) Fotini Kokou, PazitCon, Assaf Barki, Tali Nitzan, Tatiana Slosman, Itzhak Mizrahi, AvnerCnaani Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A Mol. Integr. Physiol

• 2018

  Host genetic selection for cold tolerance shapes microbiome composition and modulates its response to temperature (2018) Fotini Kokou, Goor Sasson, Tali Nitzan, Adi Doron-Faigenboim, Sheenan Harpaz, Avner Cnaani, Itzhak Mizrahi eLIFE
• Microbiome niche modification drives diurnal rumen community assembly, overpowering individual variability and diet effects (2018) Yoav Shaani, Tamar Zehavi, Stav Eyal, Joshuah Miron & Itzhak Mizrahi The ISME Journal
• Assembly of synthetic functional cellulosomal structures onto the Lactobacillus plantarum cell surface – a potent member of the gut microbiome (2018) J. Stern, S. Moraïs, Y. Ben -David, R. Salama, M. Shamshoum, R. Lamed, Y. Shoham, E.A. Bayer and I. Mizrahi AEM
• Insights into the culturomics of the rumen microbiome (2018) Zehavi T, Probst M, Mizrahi I Front Microbiol
• The compositional variation of the rumen microbiome and its effect on host performance and methane emission (2018) I Mizrahi, E. Jami animal
• Addressing global ruminant agricultural challenges through understanding the rumen microbiome: Past, present and future (2018) Sharon Ann Huws Huws, Chris Creevey, Linda Boniface Oyama, Itzhak Mizrahi, Stuart Edward Denman, Milka Popova, Rafael Munoz-tamayo, Evelyne Forano, Sinead M Waters, Matthias Hess, Ilma Tapio, Hauke Smidt, Sophie Krizsan, David R Yanez-Ruiz, Alejandro Belanche, Le Luo Guan, Robert J Gruninger, Tim McAllister, Jamie Newbold, Rainer Roehe, Richard James Dewhurst, Timothy John Snelling, Mick Watson, Garret Suen, Elizabeth Hart, Alison Kingston-Smith, Nigel Scollan, Rodolpho Martin Do Prado, Eduardo Pilau, Hilario C Mantovani, Graeme Trevor Attwood, Joan Elizabeth Edwards, Neil McEwan, Steven Morrison, Olga Mayorga, Chris Elliott, Diego P Morgavi Frontiers in Microbiology
• Segregational drift and the interplay between plasmid copy number and evolvability (2018) Judith Ilhan, Anne Kupczok, Christian Woehle, Tanita Wein, Nils F Hülter, Philip Rosenstiel, Giddy Landan, Itzhak Mizrahi, Tal Dagan Molecular Biology and Evolution
• Diet supplementation with pomegranate peel extract altered odorants emission from fresh and incubated calves’ feces (2018) Vempalli Sudharsan Varma, Ariel Shabtay, Moran Yishay, Itzhak Mizrahi, Naama Shterzer, Shiri Freilich, Shlomit Medina, Rotem Agmon, Yael Laor Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
• Dietary salt levels affect digestibility, intestinal gene expression, and the microbiome, in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (2018) Eyal Hallali, Fotini Kokou, Tapan Kumar Chourasia, Tali Nitzan, Pazit Con, Sheenan Harpaz, Itzhak Mizrahi, Avner Cnaani PLOSone

• 2017

  Heritable Bovine Rumen Bacteria Are Phylogenetically Related and Correlated with the Cow’s Capacity To Harvest Energy from Its Feed (2017) G. Sasson, S. K. Ben-Shabat, E. Seroussi, A. Doron-Faigenboim, N. Shterzer, S. Yaacoby, M. E. B. Miller, B. A. White, E. Halperin and I. Mizrahi mBio
• Broad phylogeny and functionality of cellulosomal components in the bovine rumen microbiome (2017) L. Bensoussan, S. Morais, B. Dassa, N. Friedman, B. Henrissat, V. Lombard, E. A. Bayer and I. Mizrahi Environmental Microbiology
• Diet-induced Changes of Redox Potential Underlie Compositional Shifts in the Rumen Archaeal Community (2017) N. Friedman, E. Shriker, B. Gold, T. Durman, R. Zarecki, E. Ruppin and I. Mizrahi Environmental Microbiology
• Compositional and functional dynamics of the bovine rumen methanogenic community across different developmental stages (2017) N. Friedman, E. Jami, I. Mizrahi Environmental Microbiology
• Effect of wheat hay particle size and replacement of wheat hay with wheat silage on rumen pH, rumination and digestibility in ruminally cannulated non-lactating cows (2017) Y. Shaani, M. Nikbachat, E. Yosef, Y. Ben-Meir, N. Friedman, J. Miron and I. Mizrahi Animal
• Effect of feeding long or short wheat hay v. wheat silage in the ration of lactating cows on intake, milk production and digestibility (2017) Y Shaani, M Nikbachat, E Yosef, Y Ben-Meir, I Mizrahi, J Miron animal
• Recycler: an algorithm for detecting plasmids from de novo assembly graphs (2017) R. Rozov, A. Brown Kav, D. Bogumil, N. Shterzer, E. Halperin, I. Mizrahi and R. Shamir  Bioinformatics

• 2016

  Specific microbiome-dependent mechanisms underlie the energy harvest efficiency of ruminants (2016) S. Kruger Ben Shabat, G. Sasson, A. Doron-Faigenboim, T. Durman, S. Yaacoby, M. E. Berg Miller, B. A. White, N. Shterzer and I. Mizrahi ISME J
• Effect of feeding ensiled pomegranate pulp on digestibility in male sheep and lactating cows and milking performance (2016) Y. Shaani, D. Eliyahu, I. Mizrahi, E. Yosef, Y. Ben-Meir, M. Nikbachat, R. Solomon, S. J. Mabjeesh and J. Miron Journal of Dairy Research
• Lysozyme activity of the Ruminococcus champanellensis cellulosome (2016) S. Morais, D. W. Cockburn, Y. Ben-David, N. M. Koropatkin, E. C. Martens, S. H. Duncan, H. J. Flint, I. Mizrahi and E. A. Bayer Environmental Microbiology

• 2015

  The animal gut as a melting pot for horizontal gene transfer (2015) N. Shterzer and I. Mizrahi Canadian Journal of Microbiology
• Functional phylotyping approach for assessing intraspecific diversity of Ruminococcus albus within the rumen microbiome (2015) I. Rozman Grinberg, G. Yin, I. Borovok, M. E. Berg Miller, C. J. Yeoman, B. Dassa, Z. Yu, I. Mizrahi, H. J. Flint, E. A. Bayer, B. A. White and R. Lamed FEMS Microbiology Letters
• Tracking heavy water (D2O) incorporation for identifying and sorting active microbial cells (2015) D. Berry, E. Mader, T. K. Lee, D. Woebken, Y. Wang, D. Zhu, M. Palatinszky, A. Schintlmeister, M. C. Schmid, B. T. Hanson, N. Shterzer, I. Mizrahi, I. Rauch, T. Decker, T. Bocklitz, J. Popp, C. M. Gibson, P. W. Fowler, W. E. Huang and M. Wagner PNAS

• 2014

  A combined cell-consortium approach for lignocellulose degradation by specialized Lactobacillus plantarum cells (2014) S. Morais, N. Shterzer, R. Lamed, E. A. Bayer and I. Mizrahi Biotechnology for Biofuels
• Evaluation of Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis for Bacterial Fingerprinting of Rumen Microbiome Compared to Pyrosequencing Technology (2014) E. Jami, N. Shterzer and I. Mizrahi Pathogens
• Potential role of the bovine rumen microbiome in modulating milk composition and feed efficiency (2014) E. Jami, B. A. White and I. Mizrahi PLoS ONE
• Towards lactic acid bacteria-based biorefineries (2014) R. Mazzoli, F. Bosco, I. Mizrahi, E. A. Bayer and E. Pessione Biotechnology advances
• Effects of including NaOH-treated corn straw as a substitute for wheat hay in the ration of lactating cows on performance, digestibility, and rumen microbial profile (2014) E. Jami, N. Shterzer, E. Yosef, M. Nikbachat, J. Miron and I. Mizrahi Journal of Dairy Science

• 2013

  Exploring the bovine rumen bacterial community from birth to adulthood (2013) E. Jami, A. Israel, A. Kotser and I. Mizrahi ISME J
• Establishment of a simple Lactobacillus plantarum cell consortium for cellulase-xylanase synergistic interactions (2013) S. Morais, N. Shterzer, I. Rozman Grinberg, G. Mathiesen, V. G. Eijsink, L. Axelsson, R. Lamed, E. A. Bayer and I. Mizrahi Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Involvement of dietary salt in shaping bacterial communities in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) (2013) H. Sun, E. Jami, S. Harpaz and I. Mizrahi Scientific Reports
• A method for purifying high quality and high yield plasmid DNA for metagenomic and deep sequencing approaches (2013) A. Brown Kav, I. Benhar and I. Mizrahi Journal of Microbiological Methods
• Rumen Symbioses (2013) I. Mizrahi The Prokaryotes
• Rumen Plasmids (2013) Brown Kav, A., Benhar, I., and Mizrahi, I. Lateral Gene Transfer in Evolution, U. Gophna,

• 2012

  Insights into the bovine rumen plasmidome (2012) A. Brown Kav, G. Sasson, E. Jami, A. Doron-Faigenboim, I. Benhar and I. Mizrahi PNAS
• Composition and similarity of bovine rumen microbiota across individual animals (2012) E. Jami and I. Mizrahi PLoS ONE
• Similarity of the ruminal bacteria across individual lactating cows (2012) E. Jami and I. Mizrahi Anaerobe
• The rumen plasmidome: A genetic communication hub for the rumen microbiome (2012) I. Mizrahi Mobile Genetic Elements
• Effects of adding a concentrated pomegranate-residue extract to the ration of lactating cows on in vivo digestibility and profile of rumen bacterial population (2012) E. Jami, A. Shabtay, M. Nikbachat, E. Yosef, J. Miron and I. Mizrahi Journal of Dairy Science

• 2011

  The Role of the Rumen Microbiota in Determining the Feed Efficiency of Dairy Cows (2011) Mizrahi, I. Beneficial Microorganisms in Multicellular Life Forms, E. Rosenberg, and U. Gophna
• Calcium handling in human induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (2011) Itzhaki, I., Rapoport, S., Huber, I., Mizrahi, I., Zwi-Dantsis, L., Arbel, G., Schiller, J., and Gepstein, L. PLoS One
• Scalable production of cardiomyocytes derived from c-Myc free induced pluripotent stem cells (2011) Zwi-Dantsis, L., Mizrahi, I., Arbel, G., Gepstein, A., and Gepstein, L. Tissue Eng Part A

• 

  Lab retreat to northern Israel 31/05-01/06
• 

  Masquerade BBQ at Itzik’s place 4/11/20
• 

  Lab BBQ at Itzik’s 17/6/20
• 

  Thai street food cooking class! 20/11/19
• 

  Lab Poyke at Itzik’s firepit 15/5/19
• 

  BGU-MIT course 8-20/1/18
• 

  NIBN Retreat 30/11-01/12/2017
• 

  Lab Retreat 11-12/5/17

ALUMNI

• 

  Dr. Tamar Zehavi

  Currently: Scientist at 1e Therapeutics

  Motto: Short people are just the same as you and I

• 

  Inbal Ashkenazi MSc student

  Currently: Scientist at “Evogene”

  Motto: Kindness is a virtue

  ashkenai@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Dr. Fotini Kokou Post Doc

  Currently: Assistant professor Whchinigen university Netherlands

  Motto: You can always swim your way out of it

   

  fkokou@gmail.com
• 

  Dr. Elie Jami PhD student

  Currently: PI at the ARO, Volcani Center

  Motto: Lets talk about it, even though I’m right
  

  Web link

   

  eliejamie@gmail.com
• 

  Yoav Shaani MSc student

  Currently:  Researcher and consultant at the Ministry of Agriculture

  Motto: No worries
  

  Web link 

  yoav.shaani@mail.huji.ac.il
• 

  Eran Shriker MSc student

  Currently: CTO & Co-Founder – BioTech Elements

  Motto: “Ask, believe, receive” -Rhonda Byrne “The Secret”
  

  Weblink

  shrikeran@gmail.com

• 

  Dr. David Bogumil Post Doc

  Currently:  Bioinformatics Analyst at BiomX Ltd

  Motto: Beer. Now there’s a temporary solution.

  LinkedIn

   

   

  dbogumil82@gmail.com
• 

  Dr. Sheerli Kruger Ben Shabat PhD student

  Currently: Human microbiome researcher at Biomica Ltd

  Motto: The only way is up
  

  LinkedIn

  sheerlik@yahoo.com
• 

  Dr. Nir Friedman PhD student

  Currently: Independent

  Motto: Mark the target, I will get there

  Hobbies: Growing children

  LinkedIn

  frinir.1@gmail.com
• 

  Dr. Thomer Durman Veterinary medicine student

  Currently: Profesor university of Estadual de Maringá Brazil

  Motto: I did not say it would be easy, I said it would worth it

  Weblink

  thomerdurman@hotmail.com
• 

  Stav Eyal MSc student

  Currently: Researcher at BiomX Ltd

  Motto: Just flow

  stav3eyal@gmail.com

• 

  Dr. Maraike Probst Post Doc

  Research interests: Rumen plasmids
  Motto: Phenomenal cosmic powers. Itty-bitty living space
  Hobbies: Moving fast

  maraikep@post.bgu.ac.il
• 

  Dr. Sasha Kugel Post Doc

  Research interests: Genome Assembly

  Motto: Stand back – I’m gonna try science!

  Hobbies: Drowning (water, data, ice-cream, you name it…)

  sasha.kugel@gmail.com
• 

  Naama Shterzer

  Research interests: Mobilizable plasmids

  Motto: Procrastinate now, don’t put it off

  Hobbies: Playing squash

• 

  Dr. Aya Brown Kav PhD student

  Research interests:  Characterization of rumen plasmids

  Motto: Get to the point
  

  Hobbies: Kite surfing
  

   

  aya.brown@gmail.com
• 

  Goor Sasson PhD student

  Research interests: Rumen metagenomics

  Motto: There must be an easier and smarter way to do it

  Hobbies: In my spare time I like to practice modern dance

   

  goor.sasson@gmail.com
• 

  Adi Israel Undergraduate student

  Research interests:  Characterization of rumen methanogens

  Motto: There is order in everything
  

  Hobbies: Smiling
  

  adi.israel84@gmail.com
• 

  Eitai Landou MSc student

  Research interests: Metabolic engineering

  Motto: There is order in chaos
  

  Hobbies: Collecting reptiles

  l_eitai@yahoo.com
• 

  Chagai Davidovich Technician

  Motto: You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore

  Hobbies: Traveling, basketball, playing guitar

  chagaida@post.bgu.ac.il