Prof. Uri Ashery

Prof. Ashery is the head of the learning and memory lab and leads an interdisciplinary research team focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, and their link to neurodegenerative diseases. Ashery’s lab focuses on two of the most common diseases in an aging society: Alzheimer’s disease( AD )and Parkinson’s disease( PD .) His lab investigates the mitigating effects of Hyperbaric oxygen treatment( HBOT ,) a medical administration of 100% oxygen at environmental pressure greater than 1 Atmosphere absolute, on different AD mouse models. They demonstrated that HBOT ameliorates AD-related pathologies including a reduction in neuroinflammation ,improvement in vascular dysfunction, reduced hypoxia and beta-amyloid plaques and improvement in behavioral tasks. His lab is also developing a new platform to allow early diagnosis of PD. This is achieved by applying a combination of super-resolution microscopy and AI and advanced analysis on skin biopsies from PD patients as part of a collaboration with several medical centers affiliated with TAU.

Prof. Ashery completed his BSc in biology and chemistry with distinction, and his PhD in 1996 in neurobiology cum laude at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He completed his post-doctoral studies at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany. Ashery spearheaded the establishment of the TAU Sagol School of Neuroscience, a unique multidisciplinary “ecosystem” and served as Head of School from 2011–2020. The School is now Israel’s largest and leading neuroscience institute, with over 100 research groups led by internationally renowned scientists and clinicians. Prof. Ashery has published over 70 papers and has won awards including the Bernard Katz Prize for Neurosciences and the Rector list for best lecturer and he is supported by major grant agencies including ISF, BSF, Teva and NIH.