MICHAL MEIR LAB
Mycobacterial Infections Research Lab
Clinical Research Institute in Rambam
MICHAL MEIR'S LAB
Mycobacterial Infections Research Lab
Clinical Research Institute in Rambam
LAB MEMBERS
Michal Meir, MD.
Principle Investigator
Dr. Michal Meir completed her medical doctoral degree at the Tel-Aviv University Faculty of Medicine in 2007, and Pediatrics residency at Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, in 2012, following which she went on to continue her training as a post-doctoral fellow in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas. During her fellowship, Dr. Meir has developed a special interest in host-pathogen interactions, especially in the immune-compromised population, and gained experience in translational research in the field of microbiology and infections in immune-compromised hosts.
In 2015, Dr. Meir returned to Israel, where she joined the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit in the Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital in Rambam. As an infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Meir has repeatedly encountered cases of severe infections with Mycobacterium abscessus, a non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), especially in patients with chronic lung diseases. Seeking knowledge and a cure for these devastating infections, she has joined the Mycobacterial Genetics research laboratory in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as an associate researcher. Among Dr. Meir’s achievements in mycobacterial research were establishment of a NTM infection model in Galleria mellonella, evaluation of novel antibiotic therapies for NTM infections, studies relating to transmissibility and antibiotic resistance patterns of NTM, and several studies relating to the molecular determinants of NTM pathogenesis. In 2021, Dr. Meir joined the Clinical Research institute at Rambam (CRIR) as an associate member, and in 2022, she became the head of the Mycobacterial Infections research laboratory.
Dr. Meir is an active senior physician in pediatric infectious diseases, and a Senior Clinical Lecturer in the Ruth Rapport Faculty of Medicine in the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.
As a physician-scientist, Dr. Meir continues to pursue knowledge and understanding of the host-pathogen interactions in mycobacterial infections, to develop novel disease models, and search for new therapeutics, in hope of advancing care for patients suffering from these devastating infections.
Reli Rachel Kakun, PhD.
Lab Manager
Reli completed her PhD in medical science in 2022 at the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine (Haifa, Israel), where her doctoral thesis focused on drug development in the aspect of Ovarian Cancer.
As the lab manager, Reli is responsible for the lab administrative aspects and leads research projects.
Mai Bashir MSc.
PhD. student
Mai Bashir earned her M.Sc at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she studied the microenvironment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.
Mai is a Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Medicine, Technion, conducting her research in our lab. Her work involves investigating the intricate interplay of infection, inflammation, microenvironment, and therapeutics in non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung infections among Cystic Fibrosis patients, employing lung-on-chip models
Alumni
Michal Bar Oz, PhD.
Michal completed her PhD in microbiology in 2023 in the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine in The Hebrew University, where she studied molecular factors in the virulence of Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM).
In Meir's lab, Michal studied the prevalence of pathogenesis- associated genes in NTM clinical isolates and molecular analysis of virulence-associated transcription factors.
Pinhas Isakov
MD. Student
Pinhas is an MD. student in the Faculty of Medicine, Technion. During his pre-clnical research project in our lab, Pinhas studied genetic variations of key regulatory elements in mycobacteria.