Cellular Mechanisms of Aging
Multiple biological processes have been implicated with cellular breakdown due to age. Using state-of the-art, high-resolution methodologies, this research theme focuses on understanding those mechanisms, slowing and reversing them by studying molecular changes at the individual cell level and at single-molecule resolution — spurring the discovery of novel therapeutic directions.
This research theme is led by Associate Prof. Ayala Shiber and Prof. Oren Caspi.
Assoc. Prof. Ayala Shiber is the head of the Molecular Protein Biogenesis Lab, focused on the research of protein folding and misfolding in health and in neurodegenerative diseases, in the Faculty of Biology at the Technion.
Her main research objective is to resolve the long-standing question: How do cells direct their proteome to fold to their native, functional state and avoid misfolding diseases characteristic of neurodegeneration.
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Asst. Prof. Oren Caspi is a cardiologist specializing in heart failure and a cardiovascular scientist developing advanced experimental and computational tools to uncover mechanisms of complex heart diseases and identify new therapies. He founded and directs the Heart Failure Unit at Rambam Health Care Campus and leads the Cardiovascular Research and Innovation Center and the Cardiovascular Precision Medicine Laboratory at the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and the CRIR institute.
His research focuses on creating stem cell–derived cardiovascular organoid models to advance drug discovery, evaluate cardiotoxicity, and study genetic, cellular, and molecular disease mechanisms. He concentrates on cancer therapy–related cardiomyopathies and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a common and difficult-to-treat condition in older adults. His work deepens understanding of cardiac aging and why the heart becomes more vulnerable to systemic stress over time.
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THEME LEADER
Ayala Shiber
Assoc. Prof.,
Faculty of Biology
Focus protein synthesis, folding and misfolding
THEME LEADER
Oren Caspi
Assistant Prof.,
Faculty of Medicine
Focus on strategies for myocardial regeneration using human stem cells