Personnel | Zaidel-Bar Lab

Prof. Ronen Zaidel-Bar

Principal Investigator

Dr. Ronen Zaidel-Bar is a professor at the department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, Tel Aviv Univesity. He completed a B.Sc. in Life Sciences from the Open University, a Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology at the Weizmann Institute, and post-doctoral training at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He started his own group at the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore in 2010, was awarded the National Research Foundation Fellowship, and in 2017 he joined Tel Aviv University. Professor Zaidel-Bar is a world leader in the field of cell and tissue mechanobiology. His group is discovering molecular mechanisms of cytoskeletal control underlying embryonic development and healthy physiology. With cutting edge microscopy and genome editing tools his group is also using the nematode C. elegans as a model for human disease. He has over 50 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and has mentored 15 PhD students and postdocs.

Dr. Anat Nitzan

Lab Manager

Anat did her PhD in the field of ophthalmology under the supervision of prof. Arieh Solomon, from the faculty of medicine and Prof. Ari Barzilai, from the faculty of life sciences at Tel-Aviv University, Israel. Her research focused on the analysis of cellular and molecular events associated with optic nerve degeneration and regeneration in a rat model of optic nerve axotomy. After graduation she became prof. Solomon’s lab manager at the Goldcshleger Eye Research Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Israel. Ultimately, after seeking new challenges, she came back to Tel-Aviv University to join Dr. Zaidel-Bar’s lab. In addition to her lab manager duties, she is taking part in the “Modeling human genetic disease in C. elegans” project and enjoys CRISPRing worms for a living.

Dr. Priti Agarwal

Postdoctoral fellow

Priti did her PhD in the area of genetics and developmental biology with Dr. K. Subramaniam at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. Her graduate studies were focused on understanding meiosis: a specialized type of differentiation germ cells undergo to form mature gametes – oocytes and sperm, using C. elegans as a model organism. While studying the role of biochemical signals during germ cell development, she became interested in the biophysical features of the C. elegans germline. To investigate it, she joined Dr. Zaidel-Bar’s lab as a Post-doctoral fellow and recently found that syncytial architecture of the C. elegans germline is maintained by the contractility of a tissue-level actomyosin regulators enriched corset like structure (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07149-2). She is currently exploring the role of mechanical forces during distal tip cell migration essential for gonad morphogenesis.

Meghna Suhag

PhD Student (joint with Dr. Limor Brodaay)

I did my Masters in Biotechnology from MNNIT Allahabad (India) where my project was focused to analyse the epigenetic landscape specifically DNA methylation in the context of epithelial ovarian cancer. During this time, I developed an inclination towards understanding the intricate regulatory pathways which maintain cellular integrity and functionality. After that, I worked with Drosophila which sprouted my interest in genetics and disease models. I joined Prof. Ronen and Dr Limor in 2019. Here I am working to develop a disease model and understanding the associated regulatory landscape while using the genetic toolkit available for C. elegans.

Anupreet Saini

PhD Student

Anu received her bachelors and masters degrees from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali, India. For her masters thesis, she worked on characterising DELLA-WUSCHEL protein-protein interactions in Arabidopsis thaliana. She then moved to Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany, where she was involved in an ERC funded project concerning mRNA mobility in Arabidopsis thaliana. In the Zaidel-Bar lab she is working on gastrulation in Caenorhabditis elegans and her PhD research focus is on molecular mechanisms underlying cell ingression in embryos.

Jerushah Emerald

PhD Student

Jerushah Emerald holds her master’s degree in Biomedical Genetics (VIT University - India) and Regenerative Biology and Medicine (TU Dresden - Germany). During her masters she explored topics such as Alzheimer’s disease, and the degenerative aspects of sleep loss in accelerating aging. At Prof. Zaidel Bar’s lab, she continues to pursue her interest in understanding the neurodegenerative processes using C.elegans models for various repeat-associated disorders. The changes occurring in the neuronal cytoskeletal elements leading to neuronal dysfunctions are her current focus.