Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor), Department of Human Molecular Genetics & Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University

Research
Cancer Aneuploidy

Aneuploidy – the presence of an abnormal number of chromosomes in cancer cells — is characteristic of most tumors, and is rarely observed in normal tissues. It is not fully understood how aneuploidy contributes to tumor formation and progression. Moreover, there are currently no therapeutics that target this hallmark of cancer to  eliminate tumors. We apply a variety of genomic and functional approaches to studying this phenomenon.

Genomic evolution of cancer models

The study of the complex genetics of human cancer depends on reliable cancer model systems. However, these models reflect the biology of actual human tumors only to a certain extent, and they evolve in ways that pose both risks and opportunities for cancer research. We study the genomic stability and evolution of cancer model systems, in order to improve their use in basic research, with an emphasis on aneuploidy research.

Stem cells and cancer

Human stem cells share fundamental characteristics with human cancer cells, and thus make for a unique model system for the study of cancer genetics. We use human stem cells as a tool for aneuploidy research, taking advantage of their inherent chromosomal instability and of their amenability to genome editing.  We also use human stem cells as a tool for the identification of cancer vulnerabilities.