Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases

Prof. Motti Gerlic

Prof. Gerlic , PhD, is head of the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology. He obtained his PhD (Direct track) at Ben Gurion University, followed by a CCFA postdoctoral fellowship at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP), San Diego. Prof. Gerlic joined Tel Aviv University following a research officer position at WHEI & Melbourne University.

https://www.gerliclab.sites.tau.ac.il

Cell death and disease

Cell death, an essential cellular process, facilitates the removal of damaged or infected cells, and is necessary for the resolution of immune responses. Cell death is long suggested to act as an innate immune response by killing infected cells to prevent dissemination of pathogens. Using animal models and genetics approaches, the Gerlic laboratory focuses on several projects including:

Investigating the mechanisms of the inflammatory cell death pathways, necroptosis and pyroptosis, studying the immunological consequences of inflammatory cell death pathways during allergic and inflammatory disease in the skin, lung, liver and intestinal, studying the role of inflammatory cell death pathways during infectious diseases; and developing cancer immunotherapy based on non-apoptotic cell death. The Gerlic lab focuses on learning the mechanisms of necroptosis and pyroptosis to ultimately harness this knowledge to fight cancer and improve the health of infectious and inflammatory diseases patients.