Danny Ben-Zvi,  a developmental biologist and postdoctoral fellow, is both a Rothschild Fellow and a Fulbright Scholar. His postdoctoral research, hosted by Prof. Douglas Melton and Prof. Sharad Ramanathan at Harvard University’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, focuses on diabetes.

Danny received his PhD in 2011 from the Weizmann Institute of Science. His dissertation in the field of developmental and systems biology, “Scaling of Morphogen Gradients,” written under the supervision of Prof. Naama Barkai and Prof. Benny Shilo, demonstrated how cellular differentiation patterns are generated in the developing embryo.  Using a combined theoretical and experimental approach, he showed how a morphogen gradient is generated and works in early embryogenesis,  providing an explanation to a fundamental question in developmental biology.

Danny also conducted an experimental study to try and identify the scaling mechanism in a more defined genetic system, the Drosophila wing imaginal disc, an additional model system where scaling was described. The coordination of pattern with growth is an exciting and fundamental topic with applications to the embryonic development of all animals and possibly to regenerative medicine.

Danny did his undergraduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the Talpiot program for students with outstanding academic abilities, graduating magna cum laude with a double major in physics and mathematics.

Danny’s work has been published in Nature, Bioessays and Cell.