Stem Cell Epigenetics

Prof. Meshorer is the Arthur Gutterman Family Chair for Stem Cell research. He completed his PhD at the Hebrew University and performed his post-doctoral studies at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. In 2007, he returned to the Hebrew University as an Alon Fellow and is currently heading the 'Epigenetics, Stem cells & Neurons' laboratory in the Department of Genetics and the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC). Meshorer's lab research focuses on single cell and genome-wide approaches to understand chromatin plasticity and epigenetic regulation in embryonic and neuronal stem cells, during reprogramming, and in pluripotent models of neurodegenerative diseases. Meshorer's lab identified the unique features of chromatin plasticity in pluripotent stem cells, the mechanisms supporting chromatin plasticity in pluripotent cells, developed epigenomic tools for the stem cell community, and established unique neurodegenerative disease models in human pluripotent stem cells. In recent years, Prof. Meshorer co-pioneered the field of Paleo-epigenetics, having reconstructed the first DNA methylation maps of ancient genomes, including the Neanderthal and the Denisovan, a method which led to the first reconstruction of the Denisovan and the 2019 'Breakthrough of the year' award by Science magazine. Prof. Meshorer has been a past and/or present member of five European consortium's, one of which (EpiSyStem), he currently coordinates. He also currently serves on the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Publication Committee, is a board member of several national societies, and he is the current Head of the Department of Genetics, institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University. where he is also Deputy Principal Investigator in the Research Unit on Biomedical Humanities. He is the cofounder of the interdisciplinary PhD program FOLSATEC (Foundations of the Life Sciences and Their Ethical Consequences) in Milan. His lab focuses on modeling disease through cell reprogramming, epigenetic regulation of neural fate, and aberrant genome programming in brain cancer, and he has received funding from various Italian and international organizations including European Research Council Consolidator Grant, the Italian Association for Cancer Research, the Italian Health Ministry, the Association for International Cancer Research, the Italian National Research Council, and the Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Dr. Meshorer has published widely in the fields of stem cell epigenetics and molecular medicine, with over forty-five papers published in peer reviewed journals.