People
Nir Hananya
Principal Investigator
Nir did his PhD with Doron Shabat at Tel Aviv University, working on magical compounds that convert a chemical signal to a light emission output. For his postdoc, he traveled to Princeton, New Jersey, to work with Tom Muir, where he played with artificial chromatin to study the secrets of DNA repair. In addition, he developed a photochemical system that operates inside living cells, shedding light on interactions between proteins.
Outside the lab, Nir likes to spend time with his family, mostly reading books to his kids.
nhananya@technion.ac.il
Bella Ben-Oz
Research associate & lab manager
Bella obtained her PhD in Biology from the Technion, where she worked on the cellular responses to DNA damage. Her research focused on characterizing the role of RRM-containing proteins in regulating gene expression, DNA damage repair, and cancer. Besides her love for science, she also enjoys teaching.
Outside the Technion, Bella loves spending time with her family.
sbellag@technion.ac.il
Yuval Gilad-Barzilay
Ph.D. student
Yuval completed his bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biochemistry at the Technion. He then pursued his master’s degree in the Amdursky Group, where his research focused on photoacid molecules and their role as mediators in dynamic chemical systems. Currently, Yuval is a Ph.D. candidate working on the development and improvement of photochemical systems to study the interactions between proteins.
Outside the Technion, Yuval enjoys geopolitics, playing strategy games and taking ballet lessons.
yuval.g@campus.technion.ac.il
Nurit Samuel
Ph.D. student
Nurit is an M.Sc. student at the Hananya lab.
She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at Ben Gurion University.
She is interested in Epigenetics, and her research focuses on developing chemical tools for studying chromatin regulation mechanisms.
Outside the lab, she likes to experiment with cooking and baking.
nuritaharoni@campus.technion.ac.il
Gal Lipson
M.Sc. student
Gal completed her BSc in Chemistry and Biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
where she conducted an undergraduate research project in the field of the origins of life
and chemical evolution. She is currently pursuing an MSc in Chemistry, focusing on protein
editing and biochemical design. She previously worked with the bioprocess research team at Remilk, a leading company in cultured dairy innovation, contributing to experimental
development and analysis. In addition, she gained experience in molecular genetics at the
Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute, where she collaborated on DNA
barcoding of marine species. Gal brings an interdisciplinary perspective to her work and
enjoys painting, music and exploring philosophy.
gal.lipson@campus.technion.ac.il
Hagar Daniels-Ozeri
M.Sc. student
Hagar is an M.Sc. student at the Hananya lab.
She obtained her bachelor’s degree in a double major program: Biology and Psychology emphasis on Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University.
She is interested in Epigenetics, and her research focuses on synthesis of modified histones and Establishing a chemical biology system for utilizing designer chromatin in living cells in order to study chromatin regulation mechanisms.
Outside the lab, she likes spending time with her daughter, taking their two dogs and a cat for long walks in nature.
hagarozeri@campus.technion.ac.il
Mernan Taha
M.Sc. student
Mernan is an M.Sc. student in the Hananya lab. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Biology at the Technion.
She is working on developing and optimizing proximity labeling techniques to study protein–protein interactions in living cells.
Outside the lab, Mernan enjoys doing Pilates and spending time with her family.
mernan.taha@campus.technion.ac.il
Hadas Israel
M.Sc. student
Hadas completed her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During her studies she conducted an undergraduate project where she studied the protein-protein interactions of a mutant tumor supressor.
Hadas is an M.Sc. student at the Hananya lab. Her reseach focuses on identifying readers of semisynthetic histons containing PTMs in living cells using affinity labeling.
Outside the lab, Hadas enjoys running, pottery and drawing.