Dr. Tom Levy (pictured below while in Alaska), a postdoc in BGU's Department of Life Sciences, has been awarded a prestigious Rothschild Fellowship.
Levy graduated from the Marine Biology and Biotechnology program at BGU. Upon completing his BSc he joined the direct track to Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Amir Sagi in the Department of Life Sciences where he focused on genomic, transcriptomic and physiological aspects that control crustacean sex differentiation. His work included functional gene silencing experiments and extensive fieldwork over three continents, from the Australian Outback to as far as Alaska.
He was involved in the whole-genome sequencing project of the giant freshwater prawn and in the development of a novel biotechnology, using endocrine manipulation, to turn female prawns into functional males and the production of all-female prawn populations. The latter benefits sustainable aquaculture which is a highly important food source for the rapidly increasing world population and may serve biocontrol missions as predators over parasites hazardous to humans and fish.
Supported by the Rothschild postdoctoral fellowship, Levy will embark on his postdoctoral research at Stanford University in the US.
The Rothschild Fellowship program was established in 1979 to help young scholars of outstanding academic merit and potential to advance in their respective fields. The first Selection Committee was chaired by Sir Isaiah Berlin. More than 650 Fellowships have been awarded to date. The majority of Fellows have pursued academic careers in Israel, with many becoming leading figures in their fields. Fellowships are awarded in the Natural, Exact and Life Sciences, Engineering and in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
