Guest: Prof. Uri Ben-David, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University & Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry.

Prof. Uri Ben-David is our guest for this episode of TAU Unbound. He is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and a researcher in the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry. He obtained his doctorate from the Hebrew University and his post-doctoral work at the Broad Institute of Harvard University and MIT.

His work at the "Ben David Lab” at TAU focuses on a unique, understudied trait of cancer. Changes in the chromosomal composition of the cell, also known as aneuploidy, make for a fundamental difference between normal and cancer cells. The lab combines experimental and computational approaches to uncover the basic biology underlying this hallmark of cancer, track its origins and understand its cellular consequences. By doing so, the lab strives to expand our understanding of the genetic basis of cancer, and to make aneuploidy a therapeutic target for precision cancer medicine.

In this episode Aharoni & Ben David cover the main elements of Ben David’s work:

CANCER ANEUPLOIDY Aneuploidy – the presence of an abnormal number of chromosomes in cancer cells — is characteristic of most tumors, and is rarely observed in normal tissues.
EVOLUTION OF CANCER MODELS The study of the complex genetics of human cancer depends on reliable cancer model systems.
STEM CELLS & CANCER Human stem cells share fundamental characteristics with human cancer cells, and thus make for a unique model system for the study of cancer genetics.

Episode: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/telaviv360/episodes/Ido-Aharoni--Uri-Ben-David-On-the-Cutting-Edge-of-Cancer-Research-e2t2vql

Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/telaviv360