Research Interests

My research interest for the last 25 years has been the biology of neural stem cells (NSC) and their application in restoring connectivity and recovery of function after spinal cord injury. The lab has an history of research in identifying the best strategies for cellular transplantation and in the application of gene therapy methods to introduce therapeutic genes into the injured spinal cord as a member of spinal cord research group. My research is now focused on the use of multifunctional scaffold in transplantation with neural stem cells and progenitors. My laboratory is also studying the structure and function of Big tau a variant of tau that is expressed in neurons of peripheral and autonomic nervous systems and specific regions of the CNS exploring its potential role in neurodegeneration.

Project 1 – Structure and function of Big tau relevant to neurodegeneration (with Dr. Baas).

Project 2 - Developing multifunctional scaffold for treatments of spinal cord injury (with Dr. Galie).

Biography

Education

• 1970 - BS in Chemistry from Israel Institute of Technology; Haifa, Israel
• 1976 - MS in Biology from Israel Institute of Technology; Haifa, Israel
• 1981 - PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from University of California, Irvine
• 1983 - MS in Computer Science from University of California, Irvine

Positions

• 1983-1986 - Postdoctoral Fellowship; Department of Biological Chemistry, Harvard
• 1986-1988 - Assistant Biochemist; E.K. Shriver Center; Boston, MA
• 1989-1991 - Assistant Professor; Depart. of Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA
• 1991-1995 - Associate Professor; Medical College of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA
• 1995-now - Professor; Medical College of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA
• 1999-2024 - Chair, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy; Drexel University College of Medicine; Philadelphia, PA