Noam Siegelman

Dr. Noam Siegelman is a new faculty member in the Departments of Psychology and Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Noam’s research is concerned with how high-level behaviours are determined by individuals’ learning abilities and the structure of the input to which they are exposed.

His recent research has focused on the intersection between reading and learning, looking at the immense variability between individuals’ literacy skills in light of their learning capacities and the properties of their native language’s writing system. As an Azrieli Fellow, he will continue and expand this line of research, tracking children as they learn to read to examine how they gradually assimilate the regularities characteristic of their writing system and how success or failure in this process predicts their emerging reading skills. To achieve this aim, Noam plans to establish cognitive science laboratories in schools in Israel, tracking beginning readers “in the wild.”

Noam completed his BA, MA, and PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His PhD dissertation under the supervision of Prof. Ram Frost focused on individual differences in statistical learning, namely, the mechanism underlying the human ability to extract regularities from sensory inputs. He conducted postdoctoral work at Haskins Laboratories, a non-profit research institute affiliated with Yale University and the University of Connecticut, with funding from the Rothschild Foundation and the Israel Science Foundation. This is where Noam became fascinated with reading and the prospect of understanding reading from a learning perspective. Noam lives in Tel Aviv with his spouse, Maya. In his spare time, he enjoys music and learning to play unconventional instruments like the accordion and the banjo.

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Monika Witzenberger

Dr. Monika Witzenberger is an Azrieli International Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, where she studies RNA modifications under the supervision of Prof. Schraga Schwartz.

Since the development of new sequencing technologies over the last few decades, the detection and mapping of RNA modifications has leaped forward, uncovering an additional layer of gene regulation in human cells.

In her current research, Monika plans to explore the working principles of the enzyme machinery that installs RNA modifications in the hope of leveraging these findings to develop biotechnological tools or therapeutic approaches.

Monika was born in Germany and obtained her BSc and MSc in molecular biotechnology at the Heidelberg University, with research visits to the University of Cambridge and Tel Aviv University. She then pursued her PhD at Helmholtz Munich under the supervision of Prof. Dierk Niessing. While exploring an underexplored RNA modification enzyme, using structural biology and biochemistry tools, she also worked on a novel drug target for the treatment of Huntington’s disease. Outside the lab, Monika volunteers for an NGO that aims to connect young researchers and professionals with current leaders in the biotech industry. Besides science, Monika enjoys swimming, yoga, learning new languages and playing the guitar.

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Milica Denić

Dr. Milica Denić is an Azrieli International Postdoctoral Fellow in the Linguistics Department at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Prof. Roni Katzir.

In her current research, Milica is working on a central question about human cognition: what are the building blocks of human thought?

To answer this question, she is developing novel approaches, combining tools from linguistics, cognitive science, and computational modelling and applying them to numerical and logical concepts.

Milica was born in Serbia and moved to Slovenia, where she studied for a BA in linguistics at the University of Ljubljana. She pursued her MSc and PhD in cognitive science at École normale supérieure in Paris under the supervision of Dr. Emmanuel Chemla and Dr. Benjamin Spector. She then held a postdoctoral position at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation at the University of Amsterdam under the supervision of Prof. Jakub Szymanik. Besides research, Milica enjoys inline skating, films, and chess.

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Meital Pascal

Meital Pascal is a PhD student in the Constantiner School of Education at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Dr. Orly Lahav.

Her research takes a capacity building approach and focuses on the strengths of adults on the autism spectrum – a field which remains under-researched.

Meital aims to develop a practical online learning program to improve current intervention programs for this target group. Her strength-based learning program strives to promote awareness among adults on the autism spectrum of their own strengths, increase their self-esteem, and contribute to their well- being. Meital hopes that her research approach will help change dominant perceptions about autism and thereby contribute to the integration of adults with autism into society.

Meital grew up in Holon and currently lives with her spouse and two children in Kibbutz Nahsholim in the Hof HaCarmel region. She received a BA in education and MA in learning disabilities from Tel Aviv University. She has extensive experience working with children on the autism spectrum both as an educator in a school environment and on an individual basis. Her work in the field led her to research challenging notions concerning the empowerment of adults on the autism spectrum. In addition to her research, Meital teaches in the Department of Special Education at Kibbutzim College. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, practising yoga, and hiking in the woods near her home.

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Maximilian Knott

Dr. Maximilian Knott is an Azrieli International Postdoctoral Fellow in the Sagol School of Neurosciences at Tel Aviv University.

Under the supervision of Prof. Oded Rechavi, he is investigating the impact of small RNAs on genomic integrity and mutagenesis.

Small RNAs have been identified as site-specific regulators of chromatin organization and accessibility in response to environmental stimuli. The fidelity of DNA repair mechanisms has been shown to vary among different chromatin states, leading Maximilian to claim that temporally limited small RNA-mediated adaptation to environmental change might be genetically hardwired by mutations of the genome. This has tremendous implications for evolution as well as for tumorigenesis and chemoresistance of cancer.

Maximilian was born and raised in Munich. He studied medicine at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and the University of Queensland. He completed his MD thesis under the supervision of Prof. David Anz and focused his research on the interplay of the immune system and solid tumours with special focus on immune-evasion of tumour cells. During his residency in surgical pathology, he proceeded to study tumour-specific oncogene-enhancer interactions and their therapeutic potential in pediatric soft tissue tumours at LMU’s Institute of Pathology under the supervision of Prof. Thomas Gruenewald. Besides his research, Maximilian participates in the Skype a Scientist program and enjoys literature, poetry, and travelling with friends.

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María del Carmen Marín Pérez

Dr. María del Carmen Marín Pérez is an Azrieli International Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Biology at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Oded Béjà.

Her main area of research is rhodopsins. Many organisms sense light using rhodopsins, photoreceptive proteins containing a retinal chromophore.

Her host laboratory recently found a previously uncharacterized rhodopsin family dubbed bestrhodopsins. Bestrhodopsins are found in marine unicellular algae and have unprecedented architecture. In her current research, María aims to further characterize this recently detected bestrhodopsin family and to examine the interplay between architecture and role. She will use various OMICS (genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and metatranscriptomics) to search for hidden rhodopsin architectures. She hopes that the new advances and knowledge will have significant direct and indirect influence on the fields of optogenetics and rhodopsins.

María was born in Quesada, Spain. She studied for her BSc in chemistry at the University of Jaén and her MSc in the characterization of chemical systems at the University of Alcalá. She then completed her PhD in chemical and pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Siena under the supervision of Prof. Massimo Olivucci. After years of training in computational chemistry and several collaborations with well- known biophysics groups around the world, María became interested in the biophysics characterization of photoreceptors and thus became an interdisciplinary researcher. For this reason, she moved to Tokyo to work with Prof. Keiichi Inoue, supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Outside the laboratory, María has had a professional career as a rugby player. She also loves photography and travelling around the world.

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Maayan Roichman

Dr. Maayan Roichman is an Azrieli International Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Dr. Michal Kravel-Tovi.

She is also a postdoctoral affiliate in the Department of Industrial Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Eran Toch. As an anthropologist, Maayan’s research explores the production of culture, values, and ideas.

In her current research she is planning to employ ethnographic methods to examine the different values that shape the production of AI-infused technologies. She hopes that this work will contribute to our understanding of the deep connection between computational reason and human work, inform normative debates on AI ethics, and promote the development of ethical engineering pedagogies.

Maayan was born in Tel Aviv, and commenced her BA in Tel Aviv University’s Multidisciplinary Program in the Arts at the age of fifteen. She later joined its Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Program for Outstanding Students, where she earned her MA in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. She was chosen as one of the two inaugural Israeli Rhodes scholars and completed her DPhil in anthropology at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Dr. Dace Dzenovska. Her doctoral research focused on the ethical and political dimensions of film production in Israel. While at Oxford, Maayan worked in the Rhodes Artificial Intelligence Lab (RAIL), which she co-directed from 2019 to 2020. In her free time, Maayan enjoys travelling, dancing, and spending time at the beach with family and friends.

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Liat Ariel

Liat Ariel is a PhD student in the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the supervision of Prof. Tal Gilead.

Liat’s field is the philosophy of education, and she focuses on the characteristics of the post-truth era and the challenges they bring to education for democratic citizenship in post-truth societies.

She is particularly interested in the extent to which existing democratic theories and pedagogies remain relevant to the education of future citizens who will need to become the gatekeepers of democracy in a post-truth world. Liat hopes that her findings will provide practical implications for education for democracy and serve as a starting point for constructing a new pedagogy for citizenship and democratic education that will protect and promote the democratic values of freedom, justice, peace, and equality in light of the threats posed by the post-truth era.

Liat was born and raised and currently lives in Nahariya. Throughout her life, she has worked and volunteered in diverse educational settings with children and youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. She completed her BA in special education and English language and literature at the University of Haifa. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and studied for an MA in cultural and educational policy studies at Loyola University Chicago. As an English teacher, Liat is eager to generate a change in the Israeli educational system; she dreams of bringing philosophical educational theories into practice and thus reduce the gaps between the academic and practical fields of education. Liat is also an educational entrepreneur and initiated Fly High, a program which encourages disadvantaged youth to achieve a full matriculation certificate in English and aims to make English literacy accessible for underprivileged youth in the periphery. In her free time, Liat enjoys writing, exercising, and travelling with her family.

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Katarzyna (Kasia) Młodzikowska-Pieńko

Katarzyna Młodzikowska-Pieńko is an Azrieli International Postdoctoral Fellow in the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Renana Gershoni-Poranne and Azrieli alum, Prof. Graham de Ruiter.

Her research focuses on the design of new organometallic catalysts by employing computational chemistry to obtain an understanding of their fundamental electronic properties.

Modern catalysts based on noble metals are extremely efficient but are also rare, expensive, and toxic. The continuous push toward sustainability has led to a renaissance in the use of earth-abundant metals in catalysis. Katarzyna is probing the relationship between the aromatic character that evolves during the catalytic cycle and the performance of the catalyst in the hopes that this research will enable the design of new sustainable and environment-friendly catalysts.

Katarzyna was born in Poland and obtained an MSc in pharmacy from the Medical University of Warsaw. After working briefly as a pharmacist, she pursued her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Bartosz Trzaskowski in the Centre of New Technologies and the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Warsaw. During her PhD, she applied computational chemistry tools to investigate the properties of ruthenium catalysts. When not researching, Katarzyna is a plant- lover and enjoys reading. She is also a sports enthusiast and regularly practices yoga, running, and swimming.

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Karma Ben Johanan

Dr. Karma Ben Johanan is a senior lecturer in the Department of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

She is a historian of late modern Christianity and Jewish–Christian Relations, specializing in how conservative religious communities interact with each other and negotiate their traditions in changing political and cultural settings.

As an Azrieli Fellow, Karma will research the global Roman Catholic discourse on Mission and evangelization in light of secularization processes and postcolonial critique.

Karma completed her PhD in the Zvi Yavetz School of Historical Studies at Tel Aviv University. She was a Fulbright postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, and a postdoctoral fellow at the Polonsky Academy for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. Subsequently, she was engaged in research and teaching positions at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII in Bologna, and the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften in Bad Homburg. In 2019, Karma was appointed the first chair of Jewish–Christian relations in the Faculty of Theology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where she served until the summer of 2022. Karma’s book, Jacob’s Younger Brother: Christian–Jewish Relations after Vatican II (Tel Aviv University Press, 2020), won the Shazar Prize for Research in Jewish History in 2021. Karma is an associate editor for the journal Political Theology. When not engaged in research, Karma can be found with her children, Lavi, Boaz, and Dror.

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