Michal Hod

Michal Hod is an attorney and a PhD candidate. Her research focuses on the structure of financial regulation in Israel and other countries, particularly in the context of cryptocurrency (crypto). “Crypto” is a broad term that refers to digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, along with the technologies that support them, which challenge traditional financial sectors and regulators worldwide. As a global phenomenon, crypto offers a unique opportunity to examine regulatory structures, their adaptability to innovation, and their overall effectiveness.

Michal’s research on crypto offers a unique opportunity to examine regulatory structures, their adaptability to innovation, and their overall effectiveness.

Michal holds an LLB in law and political science from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an LLM from the University of Pennsylvania. Originally from Rishon LeZion, she now lives in Kibbutz Gesher with her husband and three children. She served as an infantry training officer in the IDF and currently chairs the executive board of her kibbutz. Michal enjoys reading, bicycling, and spending time with her family.

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Alexandra Danzig

Alexandra Danzig is a PhD candidate in the field of communication and journalism, where she specializes in visual culture, media theory, and the evolving intersections of photography and technology. With an interdisciplinary foundation that spans media studies, visual communication, and the photographic medium (material technologies and social-aesthetic conventions that produce, circulate, and make light-recorded images), Alexandra’s research critically examines the theoretical, cultural, and social implications of AI-generated photorealistic imagery in contemporary visual environments. Her research aims to define what an AI-generated “photograph” is and to explore the implications in journalism and photography education.

Alexandra aims to define what an AI-generated “photograph” is and to explore the implications in journalism and photography education.

Alexandra received a BFA in photography from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and an MA in communication and journalism from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is from Jerusalem and currently resides in Ramat Gan. Alongside her research, she enjoys creating photographic art, reading poetry and travelling.

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Tehila Dahan

Tehila Dahan is a PhD candidate in machine learning and optimization, developing algorithms that enhance the reliability and efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Her research is inspired by stochastic optimization theory—the study of how to make the best decisions when dealing with randomness or uncertainty in data and processes. She applies these ideas to AI, working to ensure that systems perform well even when data is corrupted or parts of the system fail, an issue that is especially important in large-scale systems spread out over many computers. Her work aims to safeguard AI technologies from potential threats and support their deployment in real-world, high stakes scenarios.

Tehila aims to safeguard AI technologies from potential threats and support their deployment in real-world, high-stakes scenarios.

Tehila earned her BSc and MSc in data science from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.She mentors undergraduate students, helping them navigate their academic pursuits. She was born in Yokneam Illit, where she currently lives with her husband.

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Dana Dahan Lahav

Dana Dahan Lahav is a PhD candidate in psychology whose research explores the biological foundations of post-traumatic symptoms. Her work focuses on both genetic factors—the inherited variations in DNA that may predispose individuals to stress responses—and epigenetic factors—chemical changes that regulate how genes are switched on or off in response to life experiences. Together, these factors help identify which biological systems are involved in the development of post-traumatic stress. Dana’s goal is to build a coherent biological narrative for trauma and recovery and to examine how genetic vulnerability and biological changes over time relate to the presence or absence of symptoms.

Dana’s goal is to build a coherent biological narrative for trauma and recovery and to examine how genetic vulnerability and biological changes over time relate to the presence or absence of symptoms.

Dana received her BA and MA in clinical psychology from Reichman University. She is from Tel Aviv and currently resides there with her husband. She volunteered at the Heroes for Life organization as a coordinator of volunteering expeditions to Guatemala every year, alongside establishing a pre-military preparatory school for lone soldiers who are without immediate family support in Israel. To relax, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, travelling, surfing, and running.

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Levana Chajes

Levana Chajes is a PhD candidate in the field of Jewish thought. Her research explores the material and intellectual transmission of Ma’arekhet ha-Elohut, an essential work of medieval Jewish mysticism. Through analyzing its commentaries and translations as well as its controversial journey into print, she reveals how this text became a crucial nexus for the transformation of kabbalistic thought in Early Modern Europe. Her work provides new insights into how ideas traverse cultures and how texts shape intellectual traditions across cultural boundaries.

Levana provides new insights into how ideas traverse cultures and how texts shape intellectual traditions across cultural boundaries.

Levana received a BA from Tel Aviv University and an MA from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she was a Mandel Fellow. She grew up in Zikhron Ya’akov and now lives in the Galilee region with her husband and children. She has volunteered with Holocaust survivors, playing violin in old age homes, and facilitated women’s empowerment workshops in remote Nepali villages. Levana also enjoys hiking in the mountains and baking.

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Nitzan Caspi Shiloni

Nitzan Caspi Shiloni is a PhD researcher in Jewish law and gender studies. Her research focuses on the perspectives of rabbinical court judges in Israel toward women who are unable to obtain a religious divorce due to their husbands’ refusal—commonly referred to as the agunah problem. Taking a narrative rather than a legal outcome approach, her interdisciplinary work offers a new lens through which to understand rabbinical rulings. The research also holds potential to inform feminist legal activism in Israel.

Nitzan’s research offers a new lens through which to understand rabbinical rulings, and also holds potential to inform feminist legal activism in Israel.

Nitzan holds an LLB from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an LLM from Bar-Ilan University. She also completed a thesis in gender studies at Bar-Ilan University. Before starting her PhD program, she worked as a lawyer and legal manager for an organization promoting women’s rights and continues to provide legal counsel to human rights organizations. She lives in Modi’in with her partner and their four children.

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Amichai Berman

Amichai Berman is a PhD candidate in plant biology. His research focuses on developing CRISPR-based gene-editing tools to better understand how plants sense and respond to water availability. He aims to uncover genes that play key roles in water-sensing mechanisms. This work could help address agricultural challenges related to drought and water use by revealing how plants sense and adapt to changing environments.

Amichai is helping to address agricultural challenges related to drought and water use by revealing how plants sense and adapt to changing environments.

Amichai earned his BSc from the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and completed his MSc in the same lab where he is now pursuing his PhD. Originally from the Jerusalem area, he lives in Ra’anana with his wife and son. During his military service, he served as an officer, training combat medics, and later volunteered in a student village in Lod, focusing on community engagement. He enjoys hiking, astronomy, woodworking, and family time.

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Yuval Barzilay

Yuval Barzilay is a PhD candidate in the field of molecular biology, exploring how animals use organic crystalline materials to produce colours essential for camouflage, communication, vision, and more. He combines advanced techniques from materials science—such as electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and spectroscopy—alongside cellular biology tools to achieve a comprehensive understanding of biological crystallization. Gaining insights into organic crystal formation may unlock new bio-inspired materials and potentially lead to novel therapeutics for human diseases such as gout and kidney stones.

Yuval’s research may unlock new bio-inspired materials and potentially lead to novel therapeutics for human diseases.

Yuval was born in Israel and grew up in Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut, and currently lives in Rehovot with his wife. He completed his BSc in life sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and earned his MSc at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Outside the lab, Yuval volunteers with the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, and enjoys outdoor activities like scuba diving, hiking, basketball, and photography.

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Eduardo Balbo

Eduardo Balbo is a PhD candidate in Arabic dialectology and sociolinguistics. His research examines the endangered Arabic dialects spoken by Tunisian Jews—known as Tunisian Judeo-Arabic dialects—with a focus on those once spoken near the island of Djerba. Eduardo also focuses on the contact of Tunisian and Libyan Judeo-Arabic dialects with Modern Hebrew in immigrant communities in Israel. By analyzing the unique linguistic features of these dialects, he aims to provide new data on early linguistic Arabization in North Africa—the gradual shift of communities to speaking Arabic under historical Islamic rule—while helping preserve a disappearing linguistic and cultural heritage.

Eduardo aims to provide new data on early linguistic Arabization in North Africa while helping preserve a disappearing linguistic and cultural heritage.

Eduardo holds a BA in English and Arabic from the University of Palermo and an MA in Arabic and Modern Hebrew from the University of Naples “L’Orientale.” Originally from a small village in Sicily, Italy, he has volunteered with refugee minors in Italy and Palestinian high school students in East Jerusalem. In his off hours, he enjoys baking, singing, and playing guitar and ukulele.

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Matan Aviel

Matan Aviel is a PhD candidate in art history researching funerary monuments in southern Italy between the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. He focuses on unique or unusual monuments, such as tombs that demand visitors walk under or around them or tombs that invite visitors to sit on them. The project aims to reconsider special tomb monuments and understand their significance and what they can reveal about the experiences they enveloped their beholders in.

Matan aims to understand the significance of special tomb monuments and what they can reveal about the experiences in which they enveloped their beholders.

Matan earned a joint BSc in mathematics and art history and an MA in art history from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He grew up in Sunnyvale, California, and Tel Mond, and now lives in Jerusalem with his partner. He volunteered with the Jewish Agency for Israel as a young emissary in greater New Haven, Connecticut, and as an educational guide in Gondar, Ethiopia. Outside academia, Matan enjoys pottery making and dancing.

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