At the forefront of biomedical research, personalized medicine integrates genetic, molecular, and clinical data to deliver more targeted and effective healthcare solutions
OUR STORY
Despite unprecedented scientific breakthroughs made in recent years, a dramatically wide gap remains between understanding biological processes in the human body and practical tools used in conventional medicine. Translational medicine may be compared to “Esperanto”, as it is accepted by both medical and research communities for combining efforts and facilitating advanced scientific, sophisticated and productive solutions for real life applications.
IPTM, established in 2014 by Dr. Igor Koman at Ariel University, aims to enrich translational technologies by evoking the philosophy of personalization to find exclusive solutions for individual patients’ unmet clinical needs. Our team, which includes experts in biological sciences and medicine, views the patient as a complete holistic system, in which all individual parameters are linked to one another, each having equal value and the potential to influence the final outcome. By adhering to a patient-centered approach, we develop two parallel, but tightly interrelated arms of our research activities: identification of unique individual therapeutic targets and an intensive search for safe and highly effective agents acting towards these targets.
RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
OUR ARTICLES
How Inherited Stress Traits Modify the Impact of Prenatal THC Exposure
We tested how prenatal THC exposure affects offspring from stress-resilient Dominant and stress-vulnerable Submissive mice. We evaluated behavior, body weight, and brain gene expression. We found that THC effects were not the same in both phenotypes: Dominant offspring showed more anxiety-like behavior, while Submissive offspring showed improved sociability and reduced anxiety-like behavior. These findings suggest that inherited stress-coping traits can shape how prenatal THC exposure affects offspring development.
Targeting the Maternal Gut to Improve Offspring Health
We tested whether sodium propionate could improve maternal health and offspring outcomes in stress-vulnerable Submissive mice. Treated mothers showed better maternal care and improved gut- and inflammation-related markers. Their offspring showed improved behavior, gut-related gene expression, and metabolic outcomes. These findings suggest that targeting the maternal gut–brain axis may help shape healthier offspring development.
Patient-Derived Tumor Assembloids Recapitulate Tumor and Associated Stromal Heterogeneity
Our researchers developed a new lab model that mimics a patient’s stomach cancer more accurately by combining tumor cells with surrounding support cells. This approach better reflects how tumors behave in the body and may help predict which treatments will work for each individual patient.
RESEARCH GROUPS LEADERS
Prof. Albert Pinhasov
Head of the institute, Rector
Behavioral and Molecular Psychiatry Lab
Dr. Igor Koman
Founder of the Institute, research fellow
Data Science
Prof. Izhak Michaelevski
Head of the lab
Molecular & Functional Neurobiology Lab
Dr. Elimelech Nesher
Head of the lab
The Tumor Cells Biology Lab
Dr. Natalya Kogan
Head of the lab
Endocannabinoid research and Metabolomics Lab
Dr. Gabriela Rozic
Head of the lab
Personalized Oncology
STEERING COMMITTEE
Prof. Sam Mil’shtein
Senior professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. at UMass Lowell since 1987. Since 1990 he has been the director of the Advanced Electronic Technology Center (AETC) at UMass. In 1998 - 1999, he served as Assistant Dean College of Engineering for Research. From 2020 as Professor Emeritus, he continues research with his students.
Dr. Inna Ketsler Mil’shtein
Inna spent many years in private practice while leading Intensive Care and Respiratory Departments and Sleep Lab at the local hospital and providing consultative services for medical institutions in Central Massachusetts.
COLLABORATIONS
