Dr. Danielle Karo-Atar | Photo: Dani MachlisMy life before BGU:
I was born in Ramat-Gan and graduated from high school in Rishon LeZion. I got all three degrees at Tel Aviv University: a bachelor’s in biology, a master’s in genetics and a doctorate in immunology.
Why BGU?
The first thing students and faculty members mention when talking about BGU is the incredible atmosphere at the University. One of the things that are most important to me is feeling at home and working with a team, and I hope to precisely find that at BGU, because I believe this is the environment I need to really succeed scientifically.
My research:
My primary interest is understanding how intestinal resilience is maintained during parasitic infections. More specifically, I study the relationship between helminths (parasitic intestinal worms) and intestinal stem cells. The most exciting discovery I made during my postdoc was finding that these worms secrete proteins that directly affect the intestinal epithelium and activate a genetic program in gut stem cells that promoted the regeneration of the epithelial tissue. My lab will focus on identifying these pro-regenerative proteins and gaining a deeper understanding of the various mechanisms through which parasitic worms regulate the intestinal epithelium.
An insight from my research:
Motivation, curiosity, and persistence are no less important (sometimes even more important) than getting particularly high grades.
Something that doesn't appear on my CV:
I am the mother of three, love hiking, true crime TV series, and dislike just about every kind of sport.
A source of inspiration:
My mentors: Hagit, my history teacher in middle school; Sylvie, my biology teacher in high school; Ophir, my youth movement counselor; and my PhD and postdoc advisors, Ariel and Irah. They all showed me what dedication to the profession, kindness, and caring are about. They exposed me to new worlds of interests and knowledge and enabled me to grow into the researcher I am today.
When I grow up:
As a child I wanted to become a journalist. When I grow up, I want to feel that I left my own small mark on the world around me.
If I wasn’t a researcher, I would...
To be honest, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else but science.
In Brief:
- Fauda or Big Brother? Fauda
- Yoga or CrossFit? Yoga
- Hapoel or Maccabi? Not a big fan of soccer or basketball
- Ravid Plotnik or Noa Kirel? 1970-90s rock
- Steak or tofu? Steak
- Trekking or the spa? Trekking and then the spa!
- Car or train? Depends where, if there is a well-functioning train, then totally the train
- Classical Europe or India? India
- Ocean or pool? Ocean for fun, pool for exercise
- Night or morning? Morning
- Winter or summer? Winter
- City or country? Country
- Film or play? Film
- Phone call or text message? Texts for the brief stuff, for long important things, a phone conversation
- Savory or sweet? Sweet, without a doubt
- Android or iPhone? I recently converted to iPhone
- Cat or dog? Cat
- Facebook or Twitter? Twitter
