Current Fellows

Ahmad Asaly is a dedicated educator and advocate for peace between Israelis  and Palestinians. With a B.A. in political science and media from Tel Aviv University and a teaching certificate in citizenship, he pursued a master's in management of educational systems at Ono Academic College.

Ahmad has been working as a high school teacher for media, politics, and Arabic at YOUNITED International School in Givat Haviva for the past four years . Ahmad's commitment extends beyond the classroom; as a volunteer with the Seeds of Partnership organization, he promotes Arab-Jewish collaboration through podcasts and lectures for youth, fostering understanding and unity.

Additionally, Ahmad works as a simultaneous translator in Arabic and Hebrew, bridging linguistic gaps and facilitating communication between communities.

Ahmad's diverse skill set and unwavering dedication to education and peacebuilding have earned him recognition, including a Fulbright FLTA fellowship, highlighting his potential to effect positive change globally.

Alon Saguy was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue his research project titled “Spike sorting of Neuropixel probe signals via contrastive learning”. In his research, Alon will examine electrical signals recorded in the brains of mammals and humans using Neuropixel probes. Alon will develop novel signal processing methods to track the neural activity across multiple brain regions in single neuron resolution and decode brain function.

During his PhD, under the supervision of Professor Yoav Shechtman, Alon focused on the challenge of tracking the dynamics of sub-cellular structures in super-resolution. Recently, he developed a groundbreaking method to visualize live-cell dynamics with several orders of magnitude better spatial and temporal resolution than the standard imaging methods.

Alon’s prominent publications include:

A. Saguy, O. Alalouf, N. Opatovski, S. Jang, M. Heilemann, Y. Shechtman. “DBlink: Dynamic localization microscopy in super spatiotemporal resolution via deep learning”. Nature Methods 20 (12), 1939-1948 (2023)

A. Saguy, T. N. Baldering, L. E. Weiss, E. Nehme, C. Karathanasis, M. S. Dietz, Mike Heilemann, Yoav Shechtman. “Automated analysis of fluorescence kinetics in single molecule localization microscopy data reveals protein stoichimetry”. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 125 (22), 5716-5721 (2021)

D. Allen, L. E. Weiss, A. Saguy, M. Rossenberg, O. Lancu, O. Matalon, C. Lee, K. Beider, A. Nagler, Y. Shechtman, A. Hendel. “High-throughput imaging of CRISPR and recombinant adeno-associated virus induced DNA damage response in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells”. The CRISPR Journal 5 (1), 80-94 (2022)

Barak was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue his research project titled “Wearable Medical Systems as a Source of Personalized Closed-Loop Therapies for Chronic Diseases". The research aims to explore selective conversions of chemical and biological recognition events into useful electrical signals, with the objective of developing flexible and stretchable bioelectronic devices for non-invasive on-body sensing and drug delivery. This research direction holds tremendous promise for revolutionizing healthcare in the future, offering personalized disease management and enhanced preventive care.

Barak completed his Ph.D. in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Under the supervision of Professor Gilad Yossifon. His Ph.D. research focused on studying micro/nano-fluidics and involved both fundamental investigations of electrokinetic transport processes within the nano and micro scales, as well as application-oriented studies aimed at developing novel tools and devices.

Barak was awarded several scholarships during his studies, including the Gutwirth and the Russel Berrie Nanotechnology Institute Scholarships, in addition to awards for his research contributions.

Among his publications:

"Designing with Iontronic Logic Gates─ From a Single Polyelectrolyte Diode to an Integrated Ionic Circuit." ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2023, 15, 19, 23361–23370

"Microvalve-Based Tunability of Electrically Driven Ion Transport through a Microfluidic System with an Ion-Exchange Membrane." Anal. Chem. 2023, 95, 16, 6514–6522

"Tunable nanochannels connected in series for dynamic control of multiple concentration-polarization layers and preconcentrated molecule plugs." Nano Lett. 2020, 20, 12, 8524–8533

Dana Golan’s career has encompassed academic study to a career in multidisciplinary art and work in informal education. Following a master's degree in art history at Tel Aviv University, Dana served for more than a decade as the manager and curator of a distinguished private art collection. She has also led art education activities and art-tours and delivered lectures at various cultural institutions and schools. 

Dana was awarded the Fulbright fellowship to pursue her master's degree in museum education studies, which relates to public engagement and visitor experience. She hopes to promote access to art content, to diverse audiences, and fostering space design and educational collaborations between museums and other cultural institutions.

Deborah Fischer’s interdisciplinary art practice integrates research-based installations within marginalized communities and periphery sites. She holds a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design  where she graduated Cum laude.  Via her work with communities and sites, she aims to serve as a medium for their local, intertwined narratives while reflecting her own understanding of it. During her MFA at RISD, she aspires to continue developing an art form dependent on place, giving voice to marginalized communities and generating a skewed version of reality based on the local perspective. She hopes to be part of a proactive force that fosters this art form, where the blend between the political and the fantastical is captured in a new provisional space.

Einat was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue her research project titled “Early Bias in Inter-Wealth Peer Context: A Pioneering Inquiry into Young Children’s Attribution of Intentions.” This project will be carried out in the Social and Moral Development Laboratory, led by Professor Melanie Killen.

Einat graduated with honors, receiving her BA and MA degrees in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at the University of Haifa. Einat's doctoral research, supervised by Professor Yair Ziv and Professor Maya Benish-Weisman, focuses on the role of personal values in early childhood and its implications for the social and academic adjustment of kindergarten children.

Throughout her studies, Einat earned numerous distinctions and scholarships, notably including the Azrieli Graduate Studies Fellowship Award (2020-2024), the Levtzion Scholarship Award (2019-2022), and the President Scholarship for Outstanding Doctoral Students (2017-2022).

Einat’s recent publications include:

Elizarov, E., Czik, A., & Ziv, Y. (2024). Kindergarteners' academic engagement: A dual pathway model including social information processing, social behavior in class, and teacher-child relationships quality. European Journal of Psychology of Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-024-00803-y

Elizarov, E., Benish-Weisman, M., & Ziv, Y. (2023). Teacher–child relational conflict and maladaptive social behaviors: The moderating role of children’s values. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 233, 105689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105689

Elizarov, E., Konshina, T., Benish-Weisman, M., Lee, T. K., Van Ryzin, M., Vos, R. S., & Schwartz, S. J. (2023). Family functioning, well-being, and mental health among new immigrant families. Journal of Family Psychology. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0001092

Elon received a master’s degree in mental health counseling from Northwestern University in March 2024, his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in biology and English, a masters in secondary education from Pace University, and a J.D. from Cornell Law School.  Elon’s project is titled “Extending Schema Therapy to a Transdiagnostic Model of Therapy.”  Elon’s research focuses on applying wellness-focused psychotherapy to populations whose needs extend beyond classic models of psychopathology, especially in the context of problems that arise for highly skilled professionals, such as doctors and lawyers. Elon’s interest arises in the context of his previous work as an attorney focusing on complex litigation and his ongoing interest and training in schema therapy, an attachment focused form of psychotherapy whose case conceptualization revolves around core emotional needs. During his Fulbright fellowship, Elon will contribute to ongoing research at Bar-Ilan University aimed at developing brief therapeutic interventions organized around core emotional needs.  He will also conduct independent research on how practicing psychotherapists adapt existing therapeutic approaches to clients presenting for therapy in search of improved wellbeing or in search of benefits beyond relief from psychopathology.

Gavriel Ben-Haim graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Open University with a BA in psychology and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Cambridge with distinction. During his studies, Gavriel served as chairperson and executive director of the Israeli Model UN Association, president of the Open University's Student Union, and as a member of the Open University's Learning Analytics Steering Committee. 

Prior to Fulbright, Gavriel worked as an advisor to the director general of the Education Ministry. He oversaw the implementation of the DG's policies and orchestrated strategic innovation efforts, including the ministry's initial AI strategy, policies, and regulatory framework, the 'higher education in school' initiative, and the ‘digital learning’ programs. 

Gavriel was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship to pursue a master's in education policy at Harvard. He aims to explore innovative and inclusive pathways to adapt systems for the evolving social, professional, and personal challenges of the 21st century.

Hananel was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue his research project titled “Ritual, Royalty, and Imperial Reality: Priestly Political Thought and Identity Formation".

Hananel received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in bible and archaeology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, both summa cum laude. He then pursued his Ph.D. in the Department of Bible at the Hebrew University and received the university's President’s Stipend and the Nathan Rotenstreich Scholarship from the Israeli Council for Higher Education, as well as the Joseph C. Shenker Endowed Scholarship Fund from the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies.

Hananel's dissertation, titled "Rituals Conducted Outside the Tabernacle in the Priestly Literature in the Pentateuch" (advisor: Dr. Naphtali Meshel; completed in 2023), was awarded the Mandel Institute for Jewish Studies Grant supporting its current preparation for academic publication as a monograph.

Currently, Hananel is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Zurich, where he is beginning to pursue his research on royal patronage over ritual procedures in the ancient Near East in general and in biblical priestly literature in particular, focusing on the political and theological implications of this notion.

Hananel's publications include:

• "Subversion through Allusion in Samuel's Call to Prophecy (1 Sam 3)." Vetus Testamentum (In-advance publication). https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-bja10161.
• "From Pre-Masoretic Idiolect to Pre-LXX Attestations: In Pursuit of MT-Jer's Origins." Vetus Testamentum (In-advance publication). https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-bja10150.
• "Making Sense of the Incense Altar: Location in Sacred Space and Text." Journal of Biblical Literature 142.1 (2023): 23–42. https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1421.2023.2.

Inbar Chityat graduated summa cum laude from the Technion with a BSc. in mechanical engineering, specializing in control and robotics, and was a member of the "Reamim" excellence program.

During her studies she led a multidisciplinary team in the Biodesign Israel HealthTech innovation program and became a mechanical design instructor in the program's technological team.

Inbar has been working as a control systems engineer in the electro-optic division of Elbit Systems (Elop) for the past two years. In her previous role, Inbar was part of the R&D department at Via Surgical, a medical startup developing fixation solutions for hernia repair and before that part of the SCALPEL lab in the Technion, focused on evaluating clinical performance using sensors.
Inbar was awarded the Fulbright fellowship to pursue her MS in mechanical engineering at MIT.

Israel Gabay was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue his research entitled "Theoretical and experimental investigation of the coupling of hydromechanical and electrophysiological processes in mediating long-distance signals in crops." In his research, Israel aims to enhance our understanding of the inner communication system in plants and to leverage this understanding to guide crop improvement and plant bioengineering.

Israel completed his bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) in mechanical engineering at the Technion and pursued a Ph.D. in the same faculty under the supervision of Professor Moran Bercovici and Professor Amir Gat. During his graduate studies, Israel studied the dynamics of liquid films. His findings include fundamental and technological implications, ranging from the creation of smooth microstructures to the development of giant space telescopes made of liquid. Israel has received several awards for his research and teaching activities and is an alumnus of two prestigious Ph.D. fellowships, ISEF and Azrieli.

Israel’s publications include:

• Gabay I., Bacheva V., Illsar D., Bercovici M., Ramos A., and Gat A., "The non-self-adjoint thin film problem: dynamics of fixed-volume pinned films" Journal of fluid mechanics (2023).
• Gabay I., Paratore F., Boyko E., Ramos A., Gat A., and Bercovici M., "Shaping liquid films by dielectrophoresis" Flow 1 (2021).
• Luria O., Elgarisi M., Frumkin V., Razin A., Ericson J., Gommed K., Widerker D., Gabay I., Belikov R., Bookbinder J., Balaban E., Bercovici M., “Fluidic Shaping and in-situ Measurement of Liquid Lenses in Microgravity”, npj microgravity (2023).

Itay received a BA in chemistry from the Open University and started working as a science teacher in schools in Jerusalem. Later, Itay completed his master’s degree in technology systems in education and received a teacher’s certificate from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Itay has been working at the Hand in Hand bilingual high school for Arabs and Jews for the last 14 years, teaching both chemistry and physics and preparing students for their final state exams.

Lev is a graduate of the three-year program at the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio, Tel Aviv, a B.Ed. in theater directing and teaching from the Kibbutzim College, and an MFA graduate from Tel Aviv University. He is a graduate of the Mandel Foundation Regional Leadership Program.

Lev focuses on creating works dealing with geographic and social periphery with the aspiration for accurate representation. His work focuses on underrepresented communities, narratives and characters. He aims to strengthen the periphery as a base for diverse and local creative work. His films have been screened and awarded at festivals worldwide.

Lev was awarded the Fulbright fellowship to pursue his MFA degree with a focus on dramatic writing for the stage and screen at NYU.

Maayan was awarded the Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue her research project titled ‟Cultural Variability and Cultural Dynamics in the Upper Paleolithic Period of the Near East (~40 30 ky BP): Synchronic and Diachronic Insights Based on the Comparative Study of Flint Technologies from the Zagros and the Southern Levant”. This project tests social interactions between prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups from different regions of the Near East, reconstructing the evolutional and dispersal patterns of ancient societies.

Maayan received her BA in archaeology from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev (BGU) and her MA with a specialization in the study of ancient lithic industries from the University of Haifa.

Her PhD research, conducted at BGU, focused on the study and cultural characterization of hunter-gatherer groups that inhabited the Levant ca. 40–30 kya based on case studies from Israel and the comparative study of archaeological collections from key sites in the region and in west Europe.

Recent publications:

Shemer, M., et al., 2023. Early Upper Paleolithic cultural variability in the Southern Levant: New evidence from Nahal Rahaf 2 Rockshelter, Judean Desert, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution 178, 10334 [awarded the MHR Award for Excellent Publication in the Social Sciences and Humanities, Ben-Gurion University]. 

 Shemer, M., et al., 2024. Cultural dynamics in the Levantine Upper Paleolithic, ca. 40–33 ky BP: Insights based on recent advances in the study of the Levantine Aurignacian, the Arkov-Divshon, and the Atlitian. Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, 7, 10

Margaret Oganezov graduated from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem with an LL.B. and an MBA in business administration in strategy and entrepreneurship. She has practiced commercial and corporate law in the private sector and took part in an exchange program at the Center for Transnational Legal Studies, which provided the opportunity to engage with and experience different cultures. Margaret believes that languages are windows to new worlds and ways of thought.

In 2024, Margaret will be teaching Hebrew at Northwestern University, aiming to instill a deeper understanding and appreciation for the language among her students.

May Jbali received her LL.B. from Tel Aviv University. During her studies, she served as an editorial board member of the Tel Aviv University Law Review ("Iyunei Mishpat.

Upon graduation, May clerked in the High Court of Justice Department at the State Attorney's Office. There, she assisted in representing State authorities in proceedings filed in the Supreme Court in the fields of administrative and constitutional law.

For the past two years, May has worked as an advisor to the Director of Courts. In this capacity, she provides consultation for formulating policies governing the administrative functioning of the Israeli judicial system.

May was awarded the Fulbright fellowship to pursue her LL.M. degree at Harvard University. 

Maya Gayer is a content creator and editor with vast experience in the media field, specializing in making academic knowledge accessible to the general public.

Before receiving the Fulbright grant, she worked as a senior director of programming and editor at  Galei Zahal radio, serving for the past seven years as editor-in-chief of “Ha-Universita Ha-Meshuderet”, and co-editor of the program's book series. In the past few years, she also held the position of director of the Persitz Program in arts management at the Tel Aviv–Jaffa Municipality and head content editor of the science documentary series “The Future is Already Here” aired on KAN (the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation). Additionally, Maya was an adjunct professor and lecturer for a podcasting workshop at Sapir Academic College and the University of Haifa. 

Maya received an MA (magna cum laude) and a BFA (summa cum laude) in film and television studies from Tel Aviv University.

Maya was awarded the Fulbright fellowship in Public Humanities to pursue an MA in oral history at Columbia University.

Natalia was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue her research project titled "The Role of Clean Beauty Products in Shaping Personal and Social Perception." Her project will explore ethical consumerism in the beauty market, specifically focusing on the psychological impacts of green products on self and social perception. Incorporating experimental and marketing analysis techniques, the study aims to enhance the competitive market position of these products.

Natalia received a BA in psychology from Reichman University, an MA in social psychology, an MA in gender studies, and a PhD in marketing (consumer behavior) from Tel Aviv University. Her PhD research explores the underlying psychological mechanisms that explain the association between morality and beauty from a consumer perspective.

Her recent publications: 
Kononov, N., Ein-Gar, D., & Puntoni, S. (2024). Physical appearance improvements increase prosocial behavior. International Journal of Research in Marketing.‏
Kononov, N., & Ein‐Gar, D. (2024). Prosocial behaviour enhances evaluation of physical beauty. British Journal of Social Psychology.‏
Kononov, N., & Ein-Gar, D. (2023). Beautiful Strangers: Physical Evaluation of Strangers Is Influenced by Friendship Expectation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 01461672231180150.‏
‏

Natan Tayachew graduated from the University of Haifa with an LL.B. During his studies, Natan took part in the university debate team, while also serving as spokesperson for the headquarters of The Struggle to Promote the Aliyah of Ethiopian Jews.

 Natan served as a senior advisor to the former Israeli Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Pnina Tamano-Shata, Israel's first black minister. His role entailed framing and promoting policies on behalf of the minister, including managing the agenda of the Ministerial Committee for the Advancement of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

As a Fulbright Master's fellow, Natan will pursue his master’s degree in public policy at Brandeis University.   

Nermin’s project is titled " Preventing Suicide through Smartphone Applications - Examining the Effectiveness of the Integrated Care to Help At-Risk Teens (iCHART) through Mobile Sensing Indicators". He will examine the utilization of Digital Health interventions in preventing suicide thoughts and behaviors among adolescents at a high risk for suicide.

Nermin completed his PhD in the Department of Psychology at Bar-Ilan University and received the Presidential Scholarship. His PhD research focused on examining the predictive utility of the Death/Suicide- Implicit Association Test on short-term suicide risk among adolescents.

He was recently awarded the Institutional Scholarship for his post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Community Mental Health at the University of Haifa, leading innovative research aimed at enhancing imminent suicide risk identification during clinical assessment through the use of machine learning techniques and computerized screening tools.

His recent publications include:

Toukhy, N., Gvion, Y., Barzilay, S., Apter, A., Haruvi-Catalan, L., Lavidor, M., ... & Hamdan, S. (2024). Implicit or explicit self-associations with life and death? Predicting short-term self-injurious thoughts and behaviors among adolescents. Death Studies, 1-12.

Toukhy, N., Gvion, Y., Barzilay, S., Apter, A., Haruvi-Catalan, L., Bursztein-Lipsicas, C., Shilian, M., Mijiritsky, O., Benaroya-Milshtein, N., Fennig, S. & Hamdan, S. (2023). Implicit Identification with Death, Clinician Evaluation and Suicide Ideation among Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatients- The Mediating Role of Depression. Archives of Suicide Research, 1-13.

Toukhy, N., Barzilay, S., Hamdan, S., Grisaru-Hergas, D., Haruvi-Catalan, L., Levis Frenk, M., Apter, A., Benaroya-Milshtein, N., Fennig, S. & Gvion, Y. (2023). Implicit Identification with Death Detects and Predicts Short Term Suicide Risk among Adolescents discharged from the Emergency Room. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviors, 53(3),499-509.

Noa received a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research in gravitational physics.

Noa graduated cum laude with a BSc in physics-mathematics from the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, where she then pursued her PhD, titled "Semiclassical effects in black hole interiors”, under Professor Amos Ori. Her research focused on the interior of a black hole, which is the region concealed beyond the event horizon – the famous “point of no return” defining a black hole. Classical general relativity predicts that rotating black holes contain a traversable passage through an inner horizon, potentially leading to another external universe. But does this prediction still hold when considering the quantum nature of matter, or even of the vacuum? Motivated by this long-standing question, Noa performed pioneering computations that demonstrate, firmer than ever, that vacuum quantum effects induce a curvature singularity at the inner horizon. Her findings set the stage for further investigation during her fellowship.

Alongside her research, Noa is dedicated to science communication, engaging in outreach activities for various audiences.

Partial publication list:

N. Zilberman, M. Casals, A. Ori and A. C. Ottewill, “Quantum fluxes at the inner horizon of a spinning black hole”, Physical Review Letters, 129, 261102 (2022).

N. Zilberman, M. Casals, A. Ori and A. C. Ottewill, “Two-point function of a quantum scalar field in the interior region of a Kerr black hole”, Physical Review D, 106, 125011 (2022).

N. Zilberman, A. Levi and A. Ori, “Quantum fluxes at the inner horizon of a spherical charged black hole”, Physical Review Letters, 124, 171302 (2020).

Nofar received her LL.B. magna cum laude, from Tel Aviv University. During her studies, she served as an editor of the Journal of Law & Social Change, worked as a research assistant in the law faculty and at the Israel Internet Association, and volunteered at the National Council for the Child’s Child Victim Assistance Center.

Nofar completed her legal internship at the High Court of Justice Department, in the State Attorney's Office, where she assisted in crafting the State's response to legal petitions concerning governmental acts and regulations. She recently joined the Haruv Institute, where she researches the offense of child psychological abuse, and concurrently takes part in the Dinah Project, a civil initiative focusing on investigating sexual crimes committed on October 7.

Nofar was awarded the Fulbright fellowship to pursue her LL.M. in NYU's Legal Theory program, where she plans to continue her previous research in modeling ‘consent’ for various digital regulation implications. She aspires to create a sexually safer virtual world by shaping the Israeli digital sexual crimes regulation.

Nofar's recent publication:

Fields of Consent: Non-Consensual Intimate Photography – Between Privacy Offense to Sexual Offense, Iyunei Mishpat Forum (2023).

Winner of the annual competition for exceptional student papers.

Nurit Canetti produces and hosts news and current-affairs programs and documentaries for the public radio of Galei-Zahal. She is a senior journalist, who has worked in several news desks as a news reporter and editor. She writes articles and opinion columns for various newspapers and magazines in Israel.

Nurit is the chairperson and one of the founders  of the Israeli Journalists Union, an organization that brings together about 3,000 journalists and advocates for their rights, promoting freedom of press.

Omer Maliniak was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue his research on the changing musical syntax and form in eighteenth-century music, from the Baroque stylistic period to the Classical one.

Omer earned his Ph.D. in musicology at Bar-Ilan University under the supervision of Professor Yoel Greenberg, researching the formal evolution of concerto first movements in the eighteenth century from a diachronic perspective and using qualitative measures, unlike the traditional synchronic and qualitative approaches in the field of musical research. The article that stemmed from this research, Maliniak, Omer, and Yoel Greenberg, "Follow the Solo: The Formal Evolution of the Concerto in the Eighteenth-Century," Music Theory Spectrum 44/2 (2022): 231-259 was selected by the Society of Music Theory for the Outstanding Publication Award.

Aside from his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in music, Omer also holds a B.A. in psychology and has a background in cognitive science research.

Alongside his research work, Omer is an educator, teaching in multiple high school music programs, also developing learning materials in several projects on behalf of the Israeli Ministry of Education.

Oren graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration and theater studies with a specialization in the management of cultural institutions. He has worked as a director of institutions and projects in the fields of art and culture, actor, musician, choreographer, and owner of a digital startup for managing processes in manufacturing companies.

Oren was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship to pursue a master’s in arts management at Carnegie Mellon University.

Oren believes that professional and ground-breaking management of cultural institutions allows different voices in society to be heard and the different arts to become relevant. Studying in the USA will allow him to acquire  new management methods that encourage inclusion and connection between the center and the periphery.

When he returns Oren hopes to allow creators from all spectrums to find a home in cultural institutions, express their unique voice, while connecting to their ancient heritage, toward progress and peace.

Orr was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue a research project, titled: “Hydrodynamic instabilities in aerial firefighting” at Brown University. The project goal is to study the fluid mechanics principles governing the complex dynamics of fire-retarding liquids after their release from aircraft, seeking to improve the efficiency of aerial firefighting techniques.

Under the joint supervision of Dr. Yuval Dagan and Professor Eran Sher, Orr pursued his PhD in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Orr’s research focused on modeling the dynamics of liquid-vapor phase change under extreme thermodynamic conditions, e.g., absolute negative pressures and near-critical temperatures. Alongside his Ph.D. research, Orr explored the nonlinear behavior of phase-changing droplets within vortical flows, which may serve as a simplified model for complex turbulent droplet-laden flows.

Orr's recent publications include:

Avni, O. & Dagan, Y. Droplet dynamics in Burgers vortices. I. Mass transport. Physical Review Fluids 8, 083604 (2023).

Avni, O. & Dagan, Y. Droplet dynamics in Burgers vortices. II. Heat transfer. Physical Review Fluids 8, 083605 (2023).

Avni, O., Dagan, Y., Bar-Kohany, T. & Sher, E. Bubble dynamics under negative pressures: A missing link? Thermal Science and Engineering Progress 46, 102162 (2023).

Orr was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue a research project, titled: “Hydrodynamic instabilities in aerial firefighting” at Brown University. The project goal is to study the fluid mechanics principles governing the complex dynamics of fire-retarding liquids after their release from aircraft, seeking to improve the efficiency of aerial firefighting techniques.

Under the joint supervision of Dr. Yuval Dagan and Professor Eran Sher, Orr pursued his PhD in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Orr’s research focused on modeling the dynamics of liquid-vapor phase change under extreme thermodynamic conditions, e.g., absolute negative pressures and near-critical temperatures. Alongside his Ph.D. research, Orr explored the nonlinear behavior of phase-changing droplets within vortical flows, which may serve as a simplified model for complex turbulent droplet-laden flows.

Orr's recent publications include:

Avni, O. & Dagan, Y. Droplet dynamics in Burgers vortices. I. Mass transport. Physical Review Fluids 8, 083604 (2023).

Avni, O. & Dagan, Y. Droplet dynamics in Burgers vortices. II. Heat transfer. Physical Review Fluids 8, 083605 (2023).

Avni, O., Dagan, Y., Bar-Kohany, T. & Sher, E. Bubble dynamics under negative pressures: A missing link? Thermal Science and Engineering Progress 46, 102162 (2023).

Osher was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue his research project titled "The Future of Robotics: Learning Multimodal Policies for Human-Level Dexterity". In the proposed project, Osher seeks to develop a learning framework that enables robots to perform complex manipulation tasks with a level of dexterity and adaptability comparable to human capabilities.

Osher received his B.Sc. (cum laude) and M.Sc. degrees in mechanical engineering from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2019 and 2020, respectively. He earned his Ph.D. from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Tel Aviv University, focusing on learning manipulation skills with adaptive robotic hands. Throughout his studies, Osher was recognized with several awards, including the Nehemia Levtzion Scholarship, the KLA scholarship, and the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Research Award.

Osher’s recent publications include:

O. Azulay et al., "AllSight: A Low-Cost and High-Resolution Round Tactile Sensor With Zero-Shot Learning Capability," in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 483-490, Jan. 2024

O. Azulay, M. Monastirsky and A. Sintov, "Haptic-Based and  SE(3) -Aware Object Insertion Using Compliant Hands," in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 208-215, Jan. 2023

O. Azulay, I. Ben-David and A. Sintov, "Learning Haptic-Based Object Pose Estimation for In-Hand Manipulation Control With Underactuated Robotic Hands," in IEEE Transactions on Haptics, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 73-85, 1 Jan.-March 2023

Rawan Asali holds a degree in linguistics and English literature from Tel Aviv University, where she also obtained a teaching certificate in English. She has been engaged in teaching English since the age of 16 and has experience as a teaching assistant at Tel Aviv University.

Currently, Rawan serves as a tutor for the AMER and YAAEL exams at an institution in the Arab sector in Israel. Additionally, she is the head of materials development at the same institution, contributing to the advancement of educational resources and methodologies.

Safa Naamneh is an attorney specializing in criminal law and advocating for the rights of marginalized communities within the criminal justice system. Safa holds an LL.B from the University of Haifa, and an LL.M. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem focusing on constitutional and international law.

During her studies, Safa served as an editorial board member at the "Mishpat U'Mimshal" law review, and as a research assistant of a study on women's rights in Sharia Law throughout the Middle East. Additionally, Safa provided tutoring sessions for Arab students during their first year of law school, as part of "Career Project" which aims at promoting equality in higher academic education.

For the past eight years, Safa has worked as an attorney at the Public Defender's Office, where she specializes in defending the rights of individuals facing criminal charges and representing defendants in community courts. Safa's role extends beyond legal representation; She has been an advocate for alternative solutions, particularly for defendants from vulnerable communities. Her work focuses on promoting the legal rights of the Arab community, advocating for rehabilitative and holistic approaches of justice.

Safa was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship to pursue an LL.M at Fordham University.

Samah Wattad, a journalist, completed her BA in journalism & sociology at Oranim College of Education in 2016. She was among the 70 students who were selected for her significant contribution to society in 2022.

Samah has worked for various local and international media outlets, serving as a news editor and reporter at Nas radio station and a TV reporter for the Musawah Channel, as well as working as an investigative journalist at KAN Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation in the past. Her coverage on political and economic news, particularly women’s roles in both fields, has been notable.

Samah's passion for volunteering led her to participate in the youth newsroom covering the World Press Freedom Day conference in Ghana in 2018, as part of the UNESCO Middle East NET-MED Youth project. She is also an active board member of the Tishreen Association for activism and empowerment.

Samah was awarded the Fulbright fellowship to pursue her MA in communication management at George Washington University.

Sapir was awarded a Fulbright-ISEF Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue her research project titled "Electrochemical RAM for analog in-memory neural network accelerators".

She completed her B.Sc. in electrical engineering from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and continued in the joint M.Sc. and Ph.D. track under the supervision of Professor Nir Tessler.

Sapir’s research focused on organic electronic devices based on electronic-ionic conduction. During her studies, Sapir and her supervisor presented, for the first time, the effect of ionic reactions on the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells, as well as the role of counterions in organic electrochemical transistors.

She received several awards, including the Ariane de Rothschild Women’s Doctoral Scholarship for outstanding female Ph.D. students, and the Yablonovitch Research Award for excellence in micro/nanoelectronics, photonics, and electromagnetism.

Sapir’s publications include:

• S. Bitton and N. Tessler, Perovskite ionics – elucidating degradation mechanisms in perovskite solar cells via device modelling and iodine chemistry. Energy & Environmental Science, 2023. 16(6): p. 2621-2628.
• S. Bitton and N. Tessler, Unveiling the Impact of the Electrolyte's Counter Ions on Organic Electrochemical Transistor Performance. Advanced Electronic Materials, 2024. p. 2300766.
• S. Bitton and N. Tessler, Electron/hole blocking layers as ionic blocking layers in perovskite solar cells. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2021. 9(6): p. 1888-1894.

Shadi Omar holds a BA in archeology and ancient Near Eastern cultures from Tel Aviv University and a teaching certificate in Land of Israel studies from Beit Berl College.

Shadi aspires to contribute to the development in the field of heritage of residents of the area and especially in Arab society, the tangible and intangible heritage, connecting it to the global context, - the cultural heritage of humanity, to help local communities tell their own story, which is everyone's story.

Shadi’s ambition is to establish creative museums and exhibitions in cooperation with local society, to preserve the history of the past for the betterment of present and future generations.

Shadi was awarded the Fulbright fellowship to pursue an MA in museum anthropology at Columbia University.

Shlomo Gedamo, studied for a LL.B at Bar-Ilan University, graduating in 2022.
As part of his studies in the Faculty of Law, Shlomo was active in several social and academic settings, including the Legal Clinic for the Promotion of Equality, which provides legal assistance in matters of violation of equality, discrimination, exclusion, and racism, as well as the student committee at Bar-Ilan University to raise awareness of diversity on campus.

Before receiving the Fulbright scholarship, Shlomo completed his legal internship in the legal department of the Patent Authority of the Israeli Ministry of Justice.

Shlomo aspires to continue to engage in issues related to law, society, and technology.
Shlomo received a Fulbright award  to study  in the LL.M program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Tamer received his B.A in government, diplomacy and strategy from Reichman University.

After graduating from his BA program, he started working as a content analyst at Cyberwell, which is the world’s first live database of online antisemitism.

Tamer was awarded the Fulbright fellowship to pursue an MBA program at Brandeis University.

Tom Koren graduated from Tel Aviv University with a bachelor’s degree in art history and English literature, Summa Cum Laude. While studying she served as an artistic director, curator, content writer and music journalist at various cultural institutions. Since her graduation she has been working as a digital marketing manager and content creator for Teder.FM. 

During her MA studies Tom aims on expanding her experience in the music scene and crossing over to the visual art field, focusing on the intersection between the two. She will explore the possibilities of curating multi-disciplinary events and live, participatory art as a way of keeping art fresh, cutting-edge and forward-thinking, while also creating unique platforms for human encounters, as a means of bringing different communities closer together. 

During her Fulbright fellowship, she will pursue an MA in curatorial studies at the School of Visual Arts, New York.

Tomer was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue his research project titled “Tri & Bi Metallic Anticancer Prodrugs that Combine Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy”. He received his B.Sc. in Pharmacy and M.Sc. in Medicinal Chemistry from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the IDR excellence program[ES1]  and is the recipient of several awards including Clore Foundation Scholarship for outstanding PhD student, Aharon and Ephraim Katzir Grant from the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Kaye Innovation Award.

Tomer’s PhD research, under the supervision of Professor Dan Gibson, focused on bio-inorganic chemistry aiming to develop novel oral platinum-based metal complexes for cancer treatment with improved anticancer efficacy and minimal side effects.

In his postdoctoral studies, he aims to further develop the field of metals in medicine by combining several metal complexes to a single prodrug that have the ability of shrinking primary tumors as well as induction of the adaptive immune system that can drastically suppress metastatic neoplasm to allow the long-sought goal of creating a cancer vaccine. Tomer’s recent publications include:

• Oral Anticancer Heterobimetallic PtIV-AuI Complexes Show High In Vivo Activity and Low Toxicity. Angewandte Chemie-International Edition (2023)

• Are Pt(IV) prodrugs that release Combretastatin A4 true multi-action prodrugs? Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2021)

• Expanding the Arsenal of Pt-IV Anticancer Agents: Multi-action Pt-IV Anticancer Agents with Bioactive Ligands Possessing a Hydroxy Functional Group. Angewandte Chemie-International Edition (2019)

Tzur received his LL.B concentrating in business and B.A in  history concentrating in global post world wars trends.

In 2015, Tzur established the organization representing the families of Israel’s hostages in Gaza and leading the public campaign for Israel’s hostages return home. In 2016, Tzur established the Bystander Israel, an NGO focusing on bystander impact in the context of public sexual harassment.

Tzur is currently an associate at Herzog Fox & Neeman specializing in corporate and commercial transactions.  He was awarded the Fulbright fellowship to pursue his MPP at the  Kennedy School at Harvard University.

Tzvi was awarded a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue his research project titled "Mysticism, Psychology, and Science: Early Modern Kabbalah and the Proto-Scientific Discourse on Psychology during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries".

Tzvi completed a BA in education at Herzog College and a MA in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, both summa cum laude. He pursued his PhD dissertation in the Department of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Garb. As a doctoral student he received an award from the Hebrew University, Mandel School Scholarship for Outstanding Doctoral Students. During this time, he was awarded the Jewish Memorial Foundation Doctoral Grant and The Sir Sigmund and Lady Hazel Sternberg Prizes for Interfaith Understanding. Tzvi also organized and directed a Ph.D. student’s deliberation group and taught a BA course in the Department of Jewish Thought.

Tzvi’s publications include:

2023.  Anti-Catholicism in Jewish Garb: Criticism of the Catholic Church in the 'Seven Days of Truth' – the Italian Composition of Rabbi Moshe David Valle, Zion [Hebrew]

2022.  `“Repulse The Crooked” – Why Did R. Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto (Ramchal) Compose Mesilat Yesharim?` Daat: A Journal of Jewish Philosophy & Kabbalah (forthcoming in Volume 93) [Hebrew]

2021.   ` “The Secret of That Herb”: Mystical Smoking from Italian Sabbateanism to Hasidism`, Modern Judaism - A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience, Vol. 41, No. 3, (2021), pp. 317–338

Uria Gan is C.E.O of the Neve Malkishua Association, the largest association in Israel dealing with the recovery, treatment, education, and rehabilitation of people coping with addictions. He is an expert in the field of addictions and in the management of therapeutic-educational systems, and a former lecturer in welfare policy and addiction treatment at Western Galilee College.

Uria holds a bachelor's degree and a teaching certificate from Herzog College, and master's degrees in both Jewish philosophy and education from Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

As a Hubert H. Humphrey fellowship scholar Uria aims to pursue research on data collection, analysis and assessment tools that rely upon strong data and how to use this data to facilitate evidence-based treatment. He hopes to integrate neurobiology, and psycho-social factors to develop tailored treatment approaches. This involves combining medication-assisted treatments, cognitive-behavioural therapies, family-based interventions, and community support programs. Uria also aims to pursue effective interventions for behavioural addictions. Through this, Uria hopes to advance addiction treatment, improve outcomes, and deepen our understanding of addiction dynamics for the welfare and health of Israel society and people who struggle with addiction throughout the world.