Gad Vatine's Biography

Gad Vatine, Senior Lecturer, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Dr Vatine's research focuses studying mechanisms underlying rare genetic neurological disorders using patient-specific stem cells. The emergence of technologies to reprogram somatic cells back into a pluripotent state, termed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have opened a new era in human-relevant disease modelling. During his postdoctoral training he extensively used iPSCs and their derived cells to model two rare neurological disorders, namely, MCT8-deficiency and Huntington disease. Using microelectrode array (MEA), he investigated the neuronal performance of diseased neurons. The Vatine lab specializes in bioengineered platforms known as Organ-on-Chip (OoC) to improve the physiological relevance of iPSC-derived cells, thereby recreating interphases that are involved in disease causing mechanisms. Using this innovative approach, our group was able to interrogate the role of the neurovascular unit and found disease-causing mechanisms at the level of the blood brain barrier. These approaches can now be translated to additional neurological disorders.