Naomi Habib

Dr. Habib opened her lab at the Hebrew University in 2018, where she focuses on aging-related brain pathologies, particularly Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), and the intricate cross-talk between neuro-glia-immune cells. She has an interdisciplinary scientific approach, integrating computer science, neuroscience, and genomics, by applying high-throughput measurements with single-cell resolution and advanced computational modeling to understand the regulators and dynamics driving aging and disease. Her recent publications have elucidated the role of the brain’s cellular environment in AD and aging, specifically highlighting astrocyte cells as potential driver of disease outcomes, the unique cellular cascade of AD that deviates from brain aging, and the role of peripheral immune cells in the progression of the disease (e.g. Habib et al. Nature Neuro 2020; Cain et al. Nature Neuro 2023; Suzzi et al. Nature Commun 2023; Green et al. Nature 2024).
Dr. Habib obtained her B.Sc. M.Sc and Ph.D. in Computational Biology at The Hebrew University, working in the labs of Professor Nir Friedman and Professor Hanah Margalit. During her postdoctoral fellowship working with Dr. Feng Zhang and Dr. Aviv Regev, she was part of the emergence of two transformative technologies: A team effort to develop the CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering technology (Cong et al. 2012) and its implementation to study the adult brain; and leading the development of the single nucleus RNA-Sequencing technology (Habib et al. Science 2016, Habib et al. Nature Methods 2017). Dr. Habib has a track record of publications in high impact journals and was awarded several prestigious fellowships, awards and research grants throughout her academic career, including an ERC starting grant.