Prof. Chen[Chen Varol] Varol

Professor Chen Varol has served since 2009 as the Director of the Center for the Study of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases at the Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov), a university-affiliated research center. In addition, he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Clinical Immunology at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at Tel Aviv University.

Professor Varol completed his undergraduate studies in Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University and continued with a Master’s degree (MSc) in the Department of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute in the laboratory of Professor Steffen Jung. After about a year, he entered a direct PhD track in the same laboratory. He completed his studies at the Weizmann Institute with highest honors, earning the Daniel Brenner Prize from the Feinberg Graduate School as well as the Young Investigator Award from the International Society of Mucosal Immunology. His doctoral research was groundbreaking in characterizing subtypes and functions of immune cells-monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells-in various tissues under both normal and disease conditions.

In 2009, Professor Varol was appointed Director of the Center for the Study of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases at Ichilov, a university research center comprising seven different research groups conducting multidisciplinary research in gastrointestinal diseases and the metabolic syndrome.

In recognition of his academic achievements in the field of immunology of gastrointestinal diseases, Chen Varol was appointed Adjunct Member of the Department of Microbiology and Clinical Immunology in 2017 as a Senior Lecturer, and in 2023 as an Associate Professor.

In 2025, he was appointed to a 50% position in the Department of Microbiology and Clinical Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University.

Academic education:

2000-2003, BSc in life sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Israel

2003-2004, MSc in Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

2004-2009, PhD (Direct track) in Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

2017-2023, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Israel

2023-current, Associate Prof., Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Israel

Employment:

2009-current, Director of the Research Center for Digestive Tract & Liver Diseases, Sourasky Medical center and Tel-Aviv University

2025-current, 50% position at the Department of Clinical Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Israel

Phagocytic type of innate immune cells, such as macrophages and dendritic cells, play key tissue-specific homeostatic roles in organs of the digestive tract. Yet, they also fuel the pathological inflammatory sequence of digestive tract diseases, while preserving the potential to facilitate recovery. Our group strives to decipher the cell-specific immunoregulatory mechanisms that dictate the pathological versus restorative behavior of these innate immune cells in health and disease. We study the involvement of these cells in diseases of the digestive tract and metabolic syndrome, such as: colorectal cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver fibrosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), obesity-induced type 2 diabetes, and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). We combine state-of-the-art in vivo transgenic mouse models with human patient samples and apply advanced immunological, genetic, molecular and imaging approaches. Our studies have greatly contributed to the field of gut and liver immunology with the functional definition of phagocyte subsets in these organs and their involvement in the respective diseases. We believe that mechanistic insights derived from our research would enable the design of more sophisticated cell-specific therapeutic approaches.