I completed my graduate studies in plant breeding and genetics at the Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot. My career began with a focus on tomato breeding and bioinformatics, and later shifted to melons. Prior to joining the Cucurbit Unit at Newe Yaar to study cucurbit genomics, I conducted postdoctoral research in maize genetics at the Buckler Lab, Cornell University.
Education
2007-2010
B.Sc. in Plant Sciences at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture
2011-2013
M.Sc. in Plant Genetics and Breeding at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture
2016-2021
Ph.D. in Plant Genetics and Breeding at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture
Research Interests
My primary goal is to develop resilient and nutritious cucurbit cultivars by leveraging genomic approaches and our extensive germplasm collection. I aim to bridge traditional breeding methods with innovative approaches to accelerate crop improvement and address global agricultural challenges. I am particularly interested in predictive phenotyping for variety development and the use of DNA and protein language models to improve genome annotation and enhanced genomic selection for specialized metabolites.
