The object of my research is to apply a quantitative approach in the interpretation of important biological concepts that figure in philosophical-biological discourse. Using mathematical tools and models, especially from statistical learning and information theory, I strive to produce novel formulations that may enable a deeper appreciation, and also assist in the application, of otherwise very technical concepts.

Recent Publications:

Tal O, 2013. Two Complementary Perspectives on Inter-Individual Genetic Distance. BioSystems. Volume 111, Issue 1, Pages 18–36

Tal O, 2012. Towards an Information-Theoretic Approach to Population Structure. Proceedings of Turing-100: The Alan Turing Centenary. p353-369

Tal O, 2012. The Cumulative Effect of Genetic Markers on Classification Performance: Insights from Simple Models. Journal of Theoretical Biology. Volume 293, 21 January, Pages 206-218.

Tal O, 2011. The impact of Gene-Environment Interaction and Correlation on the Interpretation of Heritability. Acta Biotheoretica. Volume 60, Issue 3, pp 225-237.

Tal O, Kisdi E, Jablonka E, 2010. Epigenetic contribution to covariance between relatives. Genetics 184: 1037-1050

Tal, O, 2009. From heritability to probability. Biol. Philos. 24: 81–105

Submitted Papers:

-- On the Non-Equivalence of Two Measures of Population Differentiation

Work in Progress:

-- Information and Decision-Theoretic Aspects of Population Structure
-- Short Commentary: SNPs Shared vs. SNPs not Shared
-- Revisiting Sarkar's Heritability
-- The Natural History of the Modern “French” Chanson

Awards and Fellowships

The Rothschild Fellowship 2012-2013 (taken at the LSE)

Talks at Conferences & Presentations:

June 2008: Biological Explanations of Behavior: Philosophical Perspectives - "From Heritability to Probability"

April 2009: Israel Society for History & Philosophy of Science - "Heritability, Genetics & Environment"

July 2009: ISHPSSB 2009 - "Heritability, Probability and Epigenetic Extension"

October 2010: "Revisiting Lewontin's Fallacy" - Presentation at the Open U, Tel Aviv.

January 2011: "Classification and Clustering" - Presentation at the Van Leer Inst., Jerusalem

March 2012: Invited presentation at the Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem. International Workshop - Explanatory Styles in the Life Sciences. "Explanatory Models: The Perils of Oversimplification."

June 2012: Poster session presentation at the Turing-100 Conference, Manchester, UK - "Towards an Information-Theoretic Approach to Population Structure."

Oct 2012: Talk at CPNSS, LSE -- "Lewontin's Fallacy Revisited: Keep it simple, but not too simple"

Jan 2013: Talk at CPNSS, LSE: 'From Shannon's Axiomatic Approach to a New Sense of Biological Information'

Feb 2013: Invited talk at Egenis, University of Exeter. 'Lewontin's Fallacy Revisited: Keep it simple, but not too simple'

Feb 2013: Invited talk at Bristol University,  'From Shannon's Axiomatic Approach to a New Sense of Biological Information'

Planned Talks:

March 2013: Invited talk at the 5th Workshop on the Philosophy of Information, University of Hertfordshire.

April 2013: Invited talk at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP).

Academic Education:

• Bsc Mathematics and Computer Science, Tel Aviv University.
• MA Philosophy of Science, Tel Aviv University, Summa cum laude.
• PhD Awarded December 2012; Novel interpretations and quantifications of Heritability and Classification