Eran Segal (; born 15 November 1973) is a

computational biologist Computational biology refers to the use of techniques in computer science, data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer science, biology, and d ...

professor at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

. He works on developing quantitative models for all levels of

gene regulation Regulation of gene expression, or gene regulation, includes a wide range of mechanisms that are used by cells to increase or decrease the production of specific gene products (protein or RNA). Sophisticated programs of gene expression are wide ...

, including

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, often th ...

chromatin Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryote, eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important r ...

, and

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

. Segal also works as an epidemiologist.

Education

He gained his BA in

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

and

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

in 1998 and his

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 ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

under a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

in 2004 advised by

Daphne Koller Daphne Koller (; born August 27, 1968) is an Israeli-American computer scientist. She was a professor in the department of computer science at Stanford University and a MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient. She is one of the founders of Cour ...

Career

In 2007, he was awarded the

Overton Prize The ISCB Overton Prize is a computational biology prize awarded annually for outstanding accomplishment by a scientist in the early to mid stage of his or her career. Laureates have made significant contribution to the field of computational biolog ...

by the

International Society for Computational Biology The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) is a scholarly society for researchers in computational biology and bioinformatics. The society was founded in 1997 to provide a stable financial home for the Intelligent Systems for Mo ...

. In 2011, he was made a professor at the

. Over the years, Segal published more than 140 articles in scientific and medical journals, of which about 20 in the journal ''

Nature Cell Biology ''Nature Cell Biology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was established in 1999. The founding editor was Annette Thomas. The current editor-in-chief is Christina Kary. According to the Nature Cell B ...

''. Segal is a proponent of the idea there is no "one size fits all" diet, in the sense that people will respond differently to certain types of food. Through a study utilizing continuous glucose monitoring and food journals, he produced some evidence that the glucose response to specific foods differ significantly between people. He hypothesized that personalized food plans based on further research could be beneficial in reducing the occurrence of diabetes. Later, he employed blood DNA testing, feces analysis (gut bacteria) to gather data which was analysed with a machine learning method to create personalized diets that were expected to improve glucose responses after eating. This method was tested on a population size of 26, the results of the study supported his hypothesis, though required further testing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segal, Eran Living people Overton Prize winners Israeli bioinformaticians Stanford University alumni Tel Aviv University alumni Academic staff of Weizmann Institute of Science 1973 births Israeli epidemiologists