Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1994, Vladimir immigrated to Israel at age 13 through the NAALE program and officially made Aliyah in 2012. Today he lives in Rehovot with his wife, Ksenia, and child, Michael.  Vladimir was drafted into the IDF in 2013, and after completing his military service, he pursued academics.

After earning a BSc in biochemistry and food science from the Hebrew University, Vladimir did his MSc studies at the Weizmann Institute of Science under Prof. Naama Barkai’s guidance, where he is now a PhD student. His doctoral research focuses on understanding how transcription factors locate and regulate their target genes.

Vladimir is investigating how specific genomic programs are exerted by transcription factors inside different genomes. Specifically, he is exploring the roles and mechanisms of disordered regions of the transcription factors – the parts that were thought to be not functional until several years ago and now are of major research interest.

His motivation is to further knowledge about the fundamental process of gene regulation, as alterations can play a role in diseases like cancer. Vladimir hopes that his findings will lead to potential investments and startups and contribute to scientific progress in Israel.