Team

Elhanan Borenstein received his BSc in physics and computer science and his PhD in computer science from Tel-Aviv University, and held a joint postdoctoral position at Stanford University and the Santa Fe Institute. In 2010, he joined the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington as a faculty member, and in 2018, moved to Tel Aviv University with a joint appointment in Medicine and in Computer Science. Prof. Borenstein is the recipient of various prestigious awards including the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and the NIH New Innovator Award. He is currently a Full Professor at the Blavatnik School of Computer Science and at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, and the head of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Bioinformatics at Tel Aviv University. He is also an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute and an affiliate professor at the department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. Prof. Borenstein’s research focuses on the computational study of the human microbiome, spearheading research in microbiome systems biology. His group develops novel computational methods inspired by data science machine learning, metabolic modeling, and network theory to model the microbiome and to analyze high-dimensional metagenomic and multi-omic microbiome data. His research ultimately aims to provide a systems-based understanding of the microbiome in health and in disease and to inform microbiome-based therapy.

Tal Bamberger is an MD-PhD student investigating gut microbiome dysbiosis and the progression of aging in dogs—despite her fear of dogs. Before her medical studies, she studied computer science and computational biology at the Hebrew University. Tal has never lost a game of Set and is still looking for a worthy opponent.

Alisa Greenberg is a PhD student investigating the interplay between functional and taxonomic microbiome characteristics in health and disease. Previously, she earned her Master's degree while conducting research in the laboratory of Tzachi Pilpel at the Weizmann Institute and worked as a computational biologist at the med-tech startup "Immunai". Alisa enjoys spending time with her husband, Eden, and their dog, Dubi, whom she fondly mentions often. Outside of academia, her hobbies include hiking, singing (mostly on-key!), and engaging in Dungeons & Dragons sessions with friends.

Guy Lurie, an MSc student, is exploring disease connections using multi-omics and microbiome techniques. He completed his BSc at Ben-Gurion University and engaged in bioinformatics research during his time at Emedgene, Illumina. Beyond his academic pursuits, he is deeply passionate about sports, whether competing at the international level as part of the Israeli team in Spikeball, or simply shooting some hoops at the park.

Efrat Muller is a PhD Student focusing on integrating metagenomic and metabolomic data for human microbiome research. Prior to joining the Borenstein lab, she worked at Medial EarlySign and at Intel, using data science to tackle healthcare challenges. When she’s not crunching data she enjoys spending time with her curly-haired boys (Yotam and Ido) and partner, Omri, yoga, and board games. Ah – and she hates most white foods.

Mor Tsamir is a PhD student exploring the dynamics and influences of the vaginal microbiome. Previously, she studied plant science at The Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot. Outside academia, Mor loves traveling with her husband and son.

Yadid Algavi is an MD-PhD student exploring microbiome dynamics during medical treatments. Before joining the Borenstein lab Yadid studied chemistry at the Weizmann Institute and Bar Ilan University. For the benefit of all, he no longer explodes stuff but is still fascinated by all things molecular. While not doing science he enjoys photography, jazz, and traveling with his family, his wonderful wife Sara, and their sweet newborn daughter Shaked.

Omri Peleg is a PhD student focusing on developing algorithmic tools for microbiome analysis. Before he joined the lab, he was a cyber analyst and a student at the Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Program for Outstanding Students. He is a part-time number cruncher, full-time election guesser, and excels in shouting at referees from his couch.

Noa Mark is a Master's student focusing on closing the translation gap between mouse and human microbiome research, specifically in a multi-omic setting. She comes from a mathematical and computational background, eager to apply it to biological data. Other than her passion for science, Noa, raising her beloved dog Billie, has a weakness for Hebrew poetry, and running and dancing are musts in her weekly routine.