Book cover of From the Wilderness and Lebanon

Asael Lubotzky (; born 21 January 1983) is an Israeli physician, author, and

molecular biologist Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

. Formerly an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), he is a combat veteran of the Second Lebanon War.

Military service

Asael Lubotzky grew up in

Efrat Efrat (Hebrew: אפרת) is a name with Hebrew origins that can also refer to: * Efrat (given name), Israeli given name * Efrat (surname), Israeli surname *Efrat (Israeli settlement) Efrat (), or previously officially Efrata (), is an Israeli s ...

, studied at the

Hesder Hesder ( "arrangement"; also Yeshivat Hesder ) is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework. The program allows Orthodox J ...

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

Ma'ale Adumim Ma'ale Adumim (; ) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991. In 2015, its population was . It is located along Highway 1, whi ...

, was accepted to

Shayetet 13 Shayetet 13 () is a naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary sayeret, reconnaissance units of the Israel Defense Forces. Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence ...

, but chose to enlist in Golani's 51st

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

. He underwent a training course as a combat soldier and was chosen as the outstanding company cadet. After completing

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. H ...

Asael served as an officer commanding a

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

of the

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade (, ''Hativat Golani'') is an Israeli military infantry brigade. It is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Is ...

. He led his platoon in operations in Gaza and, during the Second Lebanon War, fought in many battles in which many of his comrades were killed and wounded, until his own severe injury in the Battle of Bint Jbeil left him with a disability.

Medical and research career

Following his rehabilitation, Lubotzky pursued a medical degree at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

Hadassah Medical School Hadassah Medical Center () is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem (one in Ein Karem and one in Mount Scopus) as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology a ...

, qualified as a doctor, and specialized in

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

at the Shaare Zedek Hospital in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. and continued to a Neurology Fellowship. Additionally, Lubotzky completed a fellowship in Neonatal Neurology at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Lubotzky conducted research in the lab of professor Haim Cedar and became a PhD student under Professor Yuval Dor and Ruth Shemer at the Hebrew University's Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, who works on methylation patterns of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA). Lubotzky was recognized for his studies on cfDNA as cancer diagnostic markers, and his research has earned him several honors, including the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) cancer grant and in 2019, he was awarded The James Sivartsen Prize in Cancer Research by The Hebrew University. In 2020 his research team received a prestigious grant of $500,000 from the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

and Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation towards their research on early diagnosis of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

based on blood tests. In 2021 he received the Joint Award of the National Institute of Psychobiology in Israel (NIPI) and the Israeli Society of Biological Psychiatry. In 2021 he was awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

for a thesis entitled: "Liquid Biopsies Reveal Collateral Tissue Damage in Cancer and Brain Damage in Neural Pathologies". His findings demonstrated that metastatic tumors cause collateral tissue damage, releasing cfDNA from affected organs, and that cfDNA methylation patterns can help pinpoint metastases and their tissue origins. In 2022 he received The

Rothschild Fellowship The Rothschild Fellowship program is a prestigious grant awarded annually by Yad Hanadiv (The Rothschild Foundation). The Rothschild Scholarship for Outstanding Young Researchers is a awarded since 1979 with the aim of helping outstanding youn ...

for young scholars of outstanding academic merit. In the same year, Lubotzky and his colleagues published a study showing that brain cells die during

psychotic In psychopathology, psychosis is a condition in which a person is unable to distinguish, in their experience of life, between what is and is not real. Examples of psychotic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized or incoher ...

episodes, with higher levels of brain-derived cfDNA detected in patients experiencing psychotic symptoms, compared to healthy controls. The finding would serve as a proof of concept for brain-derived cell-free DNA as biomarkers of psychosis. In 2023, Lubotzky received the Ben Barres Spotlight Award by

eLife ''eLife'' is a not-for-profit, peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal, science publisher for the Biomedicine, biomedical and life sciences. It was established at the end of 2012 by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Max Planck Society, ...

for his research towards understanding brain dynamics.

Writing

Lubotzky's first book, '' From the Wilderness and Lebanon'', recounting his wartime experiences and rehabilitation, was published in 2008 by

Yedioth Ahronoth (, ; lit. "Latest News") is an Israeli daily mass market newspaper published in Tel Aviv. Founded in 1939, is Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation and has been described as "undoubtedly the country's number-one paper."

, The book became a best-seller, received critical acclaim and was translated into English. His second book, ''

Not My Last Journey Iser Lubotzky (Lubocki) (; 13 December 1922, in Vilnius – 27 February 2009, in Ramat Gan) was a member of Betar, the Vilna Ghetto, Vilna ghetto's Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye, underground and a Jewish partisans, Jewish partisan fighter. He ...

'', which chronicles the life story of his grandfather, the

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

and

Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...

officer Iser Lubotzky, was published in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

in 2017 by

Yedioth Books (, ; lit. "Latest News") is an Israeli daily mass market newspaper published in Tel Aviv. Founded in 1939, is Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation and has been described as "undoubtedly the country's number-one paper."

and

Menachem Begin Heritage Center The Menachem Begin Heritage Center is the official state memorial commemorating Menachem Begin, Israel, Israel's List of Prime Ministers of Israel, sixth Prime Minister. The center is located on the Hinnom Ridge, overlooking Mount Zion and walls of ...

. Lubotzky won the Leitersdorf Prize for the Arts for 2017. Lubotzky lectures on various topics in Israel and internationally.

Personal life

Asael Lubotzky is the son of Alex Lubotzky and grandson of Murray Roston. He lives in

, is married to Avital (Schimmel), a medical psychologist and they have six children.

Books

* '' (Min HaMidbar VeHaLevanon)'',

, 2008 * '' From the Wilderness and Lebanon'', The Toby Press,

Koren Publishers Jerusalem Koren Publishers Jerusalem is an Israeli publisher of Jewish religious texts. It was established in 1961 by Eliyahu Koren, with the aim of publishing the first Hebrew Bible designed, edited, printed, and bound by Jews in nearly 500 years. It prod ...

, 2016. English translation of the previous book by Professor Murray Roston * '' (

)'',

, 2017

External links

Dr. Asael Lubotzky

Dr. Asael Lubotzy, MD, PhD, Hebrew University
Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, 2021
Dr. Asael Lubotzky, MD

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, Israel Cancer Research Fund
Dr. Asael Lubotzky

Rohr Jewish Learning Institute The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) is a division of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. It offers adult Jewish courses on Jewish history, law, ethics, philosophy and ...

Devastating war injury turns Israeli soldier into best-selling author and doctor

Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service that primarily covers Judaism- and Jewish-related topics and news. Described as the "Associated Press of the Jewish media", JTA serves Jewish and non-Jewish news ...

, Larry Luxner. November 18, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubotzky, Asael 1983 births 2006 Lebanon War Jewish physicians Living people Jewish writers Israeli writers The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School alumni Israeli people with disabilities Writers with disabilities Israeli pediatricians Hebrew-language writers Israeli soldiers Autobiographers Physicians with disabilities