Faculty of Biology Retreat 2026 – Scientific Program

Scientific Session 1 – Tuesday 3 Feb 2026 | 10:00–11:30 | Chair of session: Dr. Shirley Larom

10:00–10:40 | Special Lecture | Prof. Dina Ron | TBD

Eva Benshushan (PhD) | Noga Ron-Harel | T cell aging and the heme paradox

Kira Kondratyeva (Postdoc) | Lindell | Cyanophages in cells: Latent, arrested or undergoing infection

Shahar Levi (PhD) | Glickman | USP15: the fourth Proteasome-associated DUB

Shaked Dery (MSc) | Kishony | computational long-read-based identification of IS-associated genomic architectures

Yael Iosilevskii (Postdoc) | Podbilewicz | Mechanisms of dendritic response to injury, repair failure and degeneration in C. elegans

Zhongyang Lin (PhD) | Aran | Tumor Immune Microenvironment Remodeling Predicts Response of Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy

Dharanibalan Kasiviswanthan (PhD) | Shenhav Shemer | Muscle cells trigger their own atrophy

Valentin Umperovich (MSc) | Béjà | The Microbial Rhodopsin Database (MRDB)

Alma Sophia Barisaac (PhD) | Nabieh Ayoub | RBM15B coordinates METTL3 chromatin occupancy

Ronnie Voskoboynik (MSc) | Keren | Dynamic Fiber Organization and Successful Regeneration in Hydra vulgaris

14:00–14:30 | Invited PI Talk | Prof. Sigal Savaldi-Goldstein | TBD

Lior Laufer (PhD) | Stern | Neuronal circuit required for the consolidation of synchronized behavioral patterns across C. elegans development

Hiba Hassanain (PhD) | Mandel-Gutfreund | Unveiling the role of lncRNAs on SOX2 binding landscape

Satyarth Pandey (PhD) | Noga Ron-Harel | Functional Iron-Deficiency Impairs Activation Induced Metabolic Reprogramming

Noor Hamoud (PhD) | Sagi Levy | Neuronal Interactions Regulating Navigation Behaviors

Amit Felach (MSc) | Assaf Bester | Unraveling the lncRNA Language

10:00–10:30 | Invited PI Talk | Prof. David Meiri | TBD

Mahasen Sarji (Postdoc) | Glickman | Characterization of signaling abnormalities in a sporadic model of AD

Yuval Kalman (PhD) | Mandel-Gutfreund | Alternative polyadenylation in human embryonic stem cell differentiation

Muhammad Makhzumy (PhD) | Ayala Shiber | Ribosome-Associated Factors’ Dynamics Through Combinatorial RNA Editing

Gil Golan (PhD) | Melamed | TF-Mediated Transcriptional Regulation of Neonatal Gonadotrope Differentiation

Shahar Lavid (MSc) | Podbilewicz| Structure Prediction and Sequence Phylogeny of Fusion Family (FF) Proteins