Genomics and Precision Medicine Prof. Gil Ast

Alternative splicing & epigenetics in human disease

Prof. Ast’s team has made several breakthroughs in the field of alternative splicing, revealing how the human genome obtained some of its unique characteristics, how chromatin structure and epigenetics can regulate the splicing reaction, and the links between alternative splicing and certain genetic disorders and cancer. Prof Ast currently focuses on the link between alternative splicing, epigenetic changes, and Hi-C in

Prof. Ast, PhD, is the head of the laboratory of Genome Medical Research in Rare Genetics Disorders and Cancer. He is a member of the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, the Sagol School of Neuroscience and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Bioinformatics. Ast won many awards and prizes, and is an EMBO member, Human Genome Organization member, the International Union Against Cancer Fellow, and Head of the Israeli Society of RNA Biology, European Network of Excellence on Alternative Splicing member, and elected many times as ‘Best lecturer’ at the Faculty of Medicine. Ast mentored 36 Ph.D. students, 24 M.Sc. students, and 6 postdoctoral fellows. Of them, 10 now hold academic positions. astlab.tau.ac.il autism. His lab was the first in Israel and one of the first in the world to integrate computational biology and experimental bench work. His team’s mastery of both bioinformatics and molecular biology approaches enables the multidisciplinary work that has led to their leading position in the field of RNA processing.