Naama Barkai () is an Israeli systems biologist and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

for

Molecular Genetics Molecular genetics is a branch of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the st ...

and

Physics of Complex Systems A complex system is a system composed of many components that may interact with one another. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication sy ...

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 ...

Rehovot Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and a member of the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

(EMBO).

Education and career

In 1995, Barkai earned a PhD ''summa cum laude'' in

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

at the

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. ...

, on the statistical mechanisms of learning. Barkai pursued a post-doc in the group of

Stanislas Leibler Stanislas Leibler (born 1957) is a Polish-French-American theoretical and experimental biologist and physicist. He is Systems Biology Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the Gladys T. Perkin Professor and Head of the L ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, where she worked on theoretical analysis of biochemical networks. During this time, she was supported by the Robert H. Dicke Fellowship. From 2001 to 2004, Barkai was an EMBO young investigator. Her work on deciphering mechanisms of control in complex biological systems combining experimental work with mathematical modelling shaped the field of

systems biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological system ...

. From 2005 to 2006 she was a visiting professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 2007, she was elected as EMBO member. She is on the scientific advisory board of Evogene Ltd.

Awards and honours

* Rothschild Prize (2018) * FEBS/EMBO Women in Science Award (2008) * Helen and Martin Kimmel Award for Innovative Investigation (2007) * Teva Prize for Research in Systems Biology (2005) * Morris L. Levinson Biology Prize from the Weizmann Institute of Science (2004) * Michael Bruno Memorial Award (2004)

Selected publications

* Barkai, Naama (December 2014)
"Loss of growth homeostasis by genetic decoupling of cell division from biomass growth: implication for size control mechanisms."
''Molecular Systems Biology.'' 10: 769. * Barkai, Naama (April 2008)
"Two strategies for gene regulation by promoter nucleosomes."
''Genome Research.'' 18: 1084–1091. * Barkai, Naama (September 2002)
"Robustness of the BMP morphogen gradient in Drosophila embryonic patterning."
''Nature.'' 419: 304–308. * Barkai, Naama (June 1997)
"Robustness in simple biochemical networks."
''Nature.'' 387: pages913–917 .

References

External links

Barkai lab web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barkai, Naama 20th-century Israeli women scientists 21st-century Israeli women scientists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)