Dr. Ithai Rabinowitch is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, HUJI, and a member of the Department of Medical Neurobiology at the Faculty of Medicine in Ein Kerem. Dr. Rabinowitch holds a B.A. in Industrial Engineering from TAU, and a PhD in Computational Neuroscience from HUJI.  

Ithai has done extensive postdoctoral work on neural circuits and behavior using the miniature roundworm C. elegans. One of the highlights of my work has been the successful genetic insertion of mouse electrical synapses between C. elegans neurons as a tool for manipulating neuronal connectivity.

Ithai's lab studies basic mechanisms of brain operation with emphasis on the role of synaptic connectivity in determining neural circuit function. We use the compact brain of C. elegans, which comprises only 302 neurons, as a simplified model for unraveling fundamental principles of how the brain orchestrates whole animal behavior. To do this we combine genetics, behavior, calcium imaging, optogenetics and synthetic biology.