Ruth Shalgi, Ph.D.

Vice Dean for Preclinical Affairs

Sackler Faculty of Medicine
Tel Aviv University
Department:
 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology,
Sackler School of Medicine
Telephone:
972-3-640-6526/8685
Fax:
 972-3-640-6149
email:
 shalgir@post.tau.ac.il


Ruth Shalgi is a professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Sackler School of Medicine. Her research centers on fertilization and early development in animal models and in humans.

Born in Israel, Ruth received her B.Sc. (in Biology), M.Sc. (in Zoology - With distinction) and Ph.D. from TAU. In 1980, after two years of post doctoral training in NY USA, she joined the academic staff of TAU. In 1997 she has been appointed Dean of Students of Tel Aviv University and in 2001 as Dean and Vice President for Research and Development of Tel Aviv University.

Prof. Shalgi has held a variety of academic and consulting positions, served in national and international boards and is presently the Head of the Switzerland Institute of Developmental Biology and holds the Gabriel Pinkas Chair for the prevention and diagnosis of congenital anomalies. She has supervised over 40 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students and has authored over a 100 publications in scientific journals and books.

Research:
Ovulated mammalian eggs remain arrested at the metaphase stage of the second meiotic division (MII) until fertilization. At fertilization, the spermatozoon overcomes the arrest and initiates within the egg a sequence of biochemical events, collectively referred to as 'egg activation'. The earliest observable change within the activated egg is a transient rise in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) followed by resumption of the second meiotic division (RMII) and by cortical granule exocytosis (CGE) which renders the eggs impermeable to extra sperm. To date, the mechanism by which the fertilizing spermatozoon activates the signaling pathways upstream to the Ca2+ release, and the way the signals downstream to Ca2+ release are transduced to evoke CGE and RMII are not yet resolved. Non fertilized eggs are capable of either activate spontaneously or undergo apoptosis. The current research directions investigated in the laboratory are:
  1. The involvement of Src family kinases (SFKs) and its interaction with PKC pathway during early events of mammalian egg activation, from Ca2+ release, to RMII and CGE.
  2. The signaling pathway leading towards apoptosis in aging eggs and eggs exposed to chemotherapy treatments.
  3. The mechanisms leading to development of gametes from stem cells.