Dr. Debi Rapaport has been awarded First Prize in the III-Annual Scientific Meeting of The Association for the Advancement of Professional Laboratory Workers of Israel (Amuta Bacham).

Dr. Debi Rapaport, who recently joined us at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine as the Safety Manager and Manager of the Sentinel Diagnostic Laboratory, was awarded the First Prize for her Scientific Research during the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Professional Laboratory Workers of Israel (Amuta Bacham), which took place at the Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, in October 2018. At the time she was the Lab Manager in the laboratory of Prof. Mia Horowitz at the School of Molecular Cell Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University.

Debi presented scientific work based on the molecular characterization of CEDNIK syndrome, in collaboration with Prof. Eli Sprecher from the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. During her talk, Dr. Rapaport explained the cellular phenotype of the rare neurocutaneous genetic disease Cerebral Dysgenesis Neuropathy Ichtyosis and Keratoderma – CEDNIK, caused by a mutation in the SNAP29 gene. She emphazised that SNAP29 regulates golgi and focal adhesion structures. SNAP29 is a phospho-protein that modulates its membrane association and SNARE fusion dependent processes.

"A prize means scientific recognition by our colleagues", said Dr. Rapaport. "Lab managers in the Sector Bacham are Scientists that have the opportunity to present their scientific work during this meeting and this is the true reward of a scientist."

Dr. Yael Ziv, Chair of the Biochemistry and Microbiologist sector at the University Administrative Committee, and a scientist from the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, said "There are few opportunities available to us where we can present our part in the scientific research that we all deal with as managers and laboratory workers."

Dr. Rappaport has demonstrated that excellent lab work and presentation to a large audience is an integral skill in our job and that we ourselves are an integral part of the laboratory in which we spend most of our day, with all that it implies.

Good luck to Debi, in her new positions in our Faculty!