I am a practicing Oncologist treating lung cancer patients and a researcher studying tumor-host and specifically tumorimmune interactions. I have begun my training as a researcher as a graduate student the lab of Prof. Moshe Oren at the Weizmann Institute. During the PhD as well as in the following years as an independent researcher, I have studied the role of the tumor suppressor gene p53 in tumor-host interactions. Following the PhD period I have returned to a full-time clinical position as an Oncology resident at the Sheba MC. During the residency and ever since I have been active as an independent researcher, combining clinical, translational and basic research. The focus of my research has been the role of the tumor’s microenvironment in cancer progression and response and resistance to therapy. In parallel, I have performed a fellowship in the field of lung cancer therapy in Ottawa, Canada, and returned to a clinical leadership position in Israel. Following the emergence of immunotherapy for cancer, I have directed the focus of my research to the study of the immune system in cancer.

My current research activities include planning and conducting investigator-initiated clinical studies using novel drugs and technologies. In my lab, translational studies are carried out whereby tumor samples are collected from donor patients and the response to various treatments is studied in vitro. Using ex vivo models we have developed of lung cancer specimens, we are studying immunotherapy in real tumors in real-time. Recently I have completed a clinical study of neoadjuvant immunotherapy for early-stage lung cancer, with results in par with similar clinical studies ongoing. Importantly, analysis of the tumor samples from this study point to a novel and important finding, of a role of B-cells in the response to checkpoint inhibitors (NCT02938624, not published yet, presented in major scientific conferences, DOIs: 10.1016/j.jtho.2021.08.068; 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2022-CT154; 10.1016/j.annonc.2024.08.1276). 

Translational research focusing on analysis of real-world data, imaging data and biospecimens is another approach I am leading, recently accumulating by the establishment of the Sheba OncoDataLab. The OncoDataLab is a concentration of data experts working in parallel with leading oncologists, allowing unprecedented abilities to provide replies to clinical questions (recent examples of resulting presentations: DOI: 10.1016/j.annonc.2024.08.1381; DOI: 10.1016/j.jtho.2023.09.567). Automatic data extraction from various EMR systems including NGS results is currently available regarding all cancer patients at Sheba MC. This data is coupled with evolving large language models (LLMs) to enhance and verify data validity and accuracy. Additional methods being developed at the OncoDataLab are digital pathology analysis by LLMs (see DOI: 10.1016/j.annonc.2024.08.1342).