Prof. Ittai Ben-Porath
Ittai Ben-Porath completed his B.Sc. degree in Biology in the years 1992-1995, and continued his studies towards a Ph.D. in the department of Genetics at the Hebrew University Silberman Institute for Life Sciences, completed in 2001. From 2001 to 2007 Ittai performed research as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Robert A. Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this period Ittai expanded his interest in the biology and genetics of cancer. In October 2007 Ittai joined the faculty of the Hebrew University Medical School, and established a laboratory focusing on cancer and aging research. Ittai Ben-Porath’s research aims at uncovering genes that promote the development of cancers and their progression to a malignant state, and to understand the mechanisms by which they function.
Since the aggressive nature of cancers derives from the activity of specific genes, the discovery of these genes and their functions is critical for the development of new-line therapies, which are directly aimed at interfering with their aberrant activity. A central part of this work addresses the roles of a cellular program called senescence, that is activated in cells that are exposed to stress, damage, or cancer-driving signals. The senescence program plays a crucial role in blocking cancer growth, in tissue aging, and in other diseases, yet its roles are poorly understood. The lab has developed genetically engineered mice that allow dissecting the roles of senescence in tumor development and in aging. The lab is studying how senescent cells are formed in aging and in cancer, and how they influence the development of cancer, as well as of other diseases, in particular diabetes. The lab is also studying how senescent cells can be targeted by drugs that aim to eliminate them, and to understand in which settings such drugs could improve therapy.