One of the studies deals with the connection between gut bacteria and violence and the other in the field of optics Prof. Aryeh Tsavan, President of Bar-Ilan University: "Our researchers are groundbreaking and I am proud of the vote of confidence we received from the European Union. Prof. Zadok and Prof. Koren, each in their field succeed in influencing the world of science and put us in line with the leading universities in Europe."
The European Union's major research fund announced yesterday (Wednesday) that it will grant approximately 4 million euros (16 million NIS) to two researchers from Bar-Ilan University: Prof. Avi Zadok from the Nanotechnology Institute and Prof. Omri Koren from the Faculty of Medicine in Safed. Each of the researchers won a personal grant of 2 million euros. The grants are given as part of "Horizon 2020" - the European Union's flagship program for research and development, and are among the largest and most prestigious in the world.
The University's Research Authority, led by Prof. Shulamit Michaeli, Vice President for Research, who closely accompanies the researchers to maximize their abilities and ensure the winning of grants: "The guidance is done in an orderly process with the cooperation of external consultants, which includes encouraging the researchers to make the research accessible, formulating the idea, Meetings related to how to write and present in front of an audience and a camera, and more, even those who went through the preparation process and were not accepted, gain important knowledge. The researchers who win these grants are the strongest in Israel in the field."
Prof. Aryeh Tsavan, President of Bar-Ilan University: "Our researchers are groundbreaking and I am proud of the expression of confidence we received from the European Union. Prof. Zadok and Prof. Koren, each in their field succeed in influencing the world of science and put us in line with the leading universities in Europe."
Prof. Omri Koren is an international microbiome expert and came to Bar-Ilan University from Cornell University. The research that won the grant deals with aggression and the effect of gut bacteria on violent behavior. Understanding the underlying network pathways leading to aggression remains a major challenge. Although there has been some progress in deciphering genetic factors and neural mechanisms that influence aggression, the exact networks and environmental factors that control aggression remain a mystery. Prof. Koren researched and found that aggressive behavior may be influenced in part by the bacteria of the digestive system. Prof. Koren from Bar-Ilan University's Faculty of Medicine said: "Recently we and others have linked the intestinal bacteria to behaviors such as risk-taking, mating and sexual behavior, as well as regulating production and secretion of hormones. Here, we aim to characterize the effects of antibiotics, germ-free model animals and specific bacteria on aggression in flies and mice. We further hypothesize that these processes are mediated by pheromones, bacterial and host gene products, and brain hormones of the model, so we will test the involvement of these factors.
Treating the microbiota as a new element involved in aggression is a groundbreaking idea. However, we demonstrated in a preliminary study that elimination of the gut microbiota significantly increases levels of aggression in both flies and mice, and these preliminary results provide strong initial support for our hypothesis that the microbiota is involved in the regulation of aggression. The results of this study will lead to a better understanding of the effects of the microbiota on behavior in model systems, and will open new horizons as recognition of the pathways linking microbiotics, hormones and aggression."
Prof. Avi Zadok has been a faculty member at the Faculty of Engineering and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials since 2009. The research group he leads deals with technological applications of light: communication and sensing over optical fibers, and integrated nanotechnological components over silicon for data communication. The research group makes extensive use of the combination of light waves and sound waves for sensing and information processing needs. This week Prof. Zadok won a prestigious personal research grant: Consolidator Grant, on behalf of the European Research Council - ERC. The grant, for a total of 2 million euros, was given for the purpose of developing innovative methods for creating ultrasonic sound waves as part of integrated circuits of light propagation in silicon. The research program may lead to breakthroughs in communication and information processing, as part of data networks and cellular networks.
This is Prof. Zadok's second ERC grant win, after winning a Starter Grant in 2015. At the same time as his research work, Prof. Zadok headed the Israeli Young Academy of Science.
