Shaping the Future of Biomedical Research: Five Students Join the BRAVO Excellence Program

Born and raised in France, Dr. Nathan Schiffmann-Katsap earned a B.Sc. Med. magna cum laude in Bio-Medical Sciences from the Hebrew University – Hadassah Medical School. He went on study dental medicine at Tel Aviv University Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, and completed his D.M.D. graduation thesis under the guidance of Prof. Lihi Adler-Abramovich at the Laboratory of Bioinspired Materials and Nanotechnology. In parallel, Nathan pursued his M.Sc. studies at the Weizmann Institute of Science with Prof. Lia Addadi and Prof. Steve Weiner, pioneers of the field of Biomineralization.

Nathan is now conducting his Ph.D. in the Craniofacial Ossification Laboratory of Dr. Benjamin Coyac, and is currently studying bone repair mechanisms using the canonical model of genetic rickets. Nathan's vision is to combine the practice of dentistry with his passion for scientific research in order to participate in shaping the future of oral healthcare.

Tzoran completed his B.Sc. in the "Extended Life Sciences" Program at Bar-Ilan University at the Faculty of Life Sciences. Tzoran is performing his Ph.D. in Prof. Neta Erez's lab. He is studying the sex disparities in the microenvironment of melanoma brain metastases and comparing the brain ECM composition in metastatic versus normal brain tissue.

Ori completed her B.Sc. in Medical Laboratory Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev at the Faculty of Health Sciences and began her M.Sc. at Tel Aviv University at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, where she studied axonal transport as an underlying mechanism of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Ori is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in our lab, studying the role of TDP-43 in axonal RNA transport and local synthesis in ALS.

Stav completed her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biotechnology with great honors in the Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University. During her M.Sc., she studied the impact of UPF2 overexpression on NMD efficiency. Currently, Stav is pursuing her Ph.D. in the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, in prof. Carmit Levy’s lab, where she is investigating the role of melanosomes in melanoma immune recognition.

Rina Sevostianov completed her dual BSc in Physics and Chemistry (Summa cum laude) and began her M.Sc. in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro. Her research focuses on developing novel small molecule inhibitors for pancreatic cancer therapy using Computer-Aided Drug Design. She began her career in scientific research through the “Alpha” program, working in Prof Ehud Gazit`s and Prof. Lihi Adler-Abramovich’s labs. She was among the authors of a scientific paper and a patent and won several medals and awards in international competitions by the age of 18. During this time, she was listed on the Israeli Forbes' "30 Under 30" list for her achievements.