Former members

Nadav Ahituv is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and the Institute for Human Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco, CA, US. He received his Ph.D. in Human Genetics from Tel Aviv University, working on hereditary hearing loss in our laboratory. He then did his postdoctoral fellowship, specializing in human genomics, in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the DOE Joint Genome Institute in Dr. Edward M. Rubin’s laboratory. His current work is focused on discovering gene regulatory elements in the human genome and linking mutations within them to human disease (http://bts.ucsf.edu/ahituv).

Ella was in our lab between 2003-2005 for her Master’s studies. Her M.Sc. research focused on the genetic mapping and characterization of the mouse mutant ‘Tailchaser’. She received her B.Sc. degree in Biology at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. After graduation Ella moved to London and worked in the pharmaceutical industry, both in pharmacovigilance (research of adverse effects of medicines) and in clinical research. She then decided to pursue a career in Medicine. She is now studying for her medical degree at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK.

Lilach received her Bachelor’s degree in Medical Science from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel; her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel; and her Master’s degree in Pharmacology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She performed her graduate studies in Immunology and Biological Regulation at the Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel, where she characterized the conditions to improve the anti-tumor effect of antibodies to ErbB receptors, and found that a combination of non-competing antibodies to the same receptor has a synergistic effect compared to individual antibodies. As a Post-doctorate Fellow and Research Associate in our laboratory, Lilach studied the roles of microRNAs in the mouse inner ear and used massively parallel sequencing to identify deafness-linked mutations in hearing impaired persons. Today, Lilach is a Senior Genome Analyst at Pronto Diagnostics Ltd. (www.prontodiagnostics.com).

Keren was in our lab from 2002 to 2004 for her Master’s studies. Her thesis focused on an ENU-induced mutation in the AP-2 alpha transcription factor leading to middle ear and ocular defects in Doarad mice. Keren received her B.Sc. degree at the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Faculty of Chemistry of Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. In parallel to her bachelor’s studies, she worked as a laboratory assistant in Dr. Ari Brazilai’s Laboratory (Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv). After her exposure to the world of mouse models for human genetic diseases, she decided to pursue her studies towards a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Her Ph.D. project focused on studying the molecular fingerprints in the eyes of an evolutionary conserved Polychaete. Her work shed light on the evolutionary history of the different cell types (e.g. pigment cells vs. photoreceptor cells) of the adult and larval eyes in the Polychaete Platynereis dumerilii. Today she is working as research coordinator at the Genetics of Autism Research Program at the University of California San Francisco, CA, USA.

Ronna Hertzano M.D. Ph.D. received both of her degrees from Tel Aviv University and was part of our laboratory from 1999-2006. She then pursued a residency in Otolaryngology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Dr. Hertzano is now a surgeon-scientist in the department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Her clinical practice is focused on diseases of the ear and lateral skull base, with a particular interest in hearing restoration and genetic hearing loss. Her research focuses on genetic hearing and balance impairment, and molecular cascades essential for inner ear development.

Orit was in our lab from 2005-2007 for her M.Sc. Orit received her B.Sc. degree in Biology and Psychology at Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Her M.Sc. project aimed to study auditory and vestibular pathways by using both knock-in and chemically-induced mouse mutants. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant in a lab for molecular epidemiology, studying antibiotic resistant bacteria at the Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel. She then decided to pursue her studies abroad in the field of mRNA localization and is currently working on her Ph.D. thesis in the lab of Professor Ralf Peter Jansen at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. Her Ph.D. project focuses on the molecular mechanism of translation-independent mRNA targeting to the tubular and cortical endoplasmic reticulum network.

Thomas graduated in Medicine in Vienna, Austria, where he also worked as a clinician prior to joining our laboratory. He explored the role of microRNAs in the auditory and vestibular system, as well as identified mutations for deafness following massively parallel sequencing. His work was supported by an EMBO Fellowship. He is currently a resident physician in Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery in Vienna, Austria .

Dorith received her Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she also continued to her Master’s degree in Chemical Biology, researching phototransduction in Drosophila flies. Dorith joined our lab in 2006 for her graduate studies. Coming across a paper titled “From flies’ eyes to our ears” (Walsh et al. 2002) describing mutations in myosin IIIA, she decided to continue in thisdirection. Her research focused on the myosin IIIA protein interaction network and its role in the hearing process, using a knock-in mouse model that was generated in collaboration with Prof. M.-C. King’s laboratory at the University of Washington that mimics the human mutation in MYO3A. Upon her graduation, Dorith moved to the north of Israel and is currently working as a research associate at the Institute of Human Genetics, Western Galilee Hospital-Naharia.