First degree in Medicine at the Technion.

Participated in the Technion Excellence Program: October 2005- July 2008.

Atalya took a couple of courses from other faculties.

She did a project in Prof. Adi Salzberg’s lab at the faculty of medicine. Atalya wanted to learn about the regulation on a gene named delilah in the fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster.

This gene participates in the development of the fly wing, the tendon cells and the peripheral nervous system of the Drosophila. “I wanted to learn about the genes working upstream and downstream to delilah by producing transgenic flies.

At first I did not quite understood the connection between the research in the fruit fly to medicine. However, the advisor which the program assigned to me, Prof. Mandel (from the Metabolic Unit at Meyer Children’s Hospital, Rambam Medical Center), showed me the great number of diseases that were being studied in the fruit fly (degenerative diseases, metabolic diseases and more)”.

Recommendation to Program participants: “I recommend every student to experience in research. Not only doing research is very interesting and intriguing, better than any mystery book I have ever read, but it makes you use your brain, think for yourself, explore a certain subject and discover new things that no-one knows but you. While doing a project you might want to share what you are doing with your friends from the program; You would be amazed with the different points of view that students from different faculties have, and you might even get some new ideas for your project!”.

Today (2012): My research was so very interesting, that I decided to continue working in the lab and to expand my project. Therefore I joined the MD/PhD program in which I took a recess from the medicine studies and I am currently doing my MSc. According to the program after one more year in research I will return to finish my medicine studies (a thing I am looking forward to). My research is very interesting and I enjoy my time in the lab very much. I feel I learnt a lot about the limits of the research, and what can and cannot be done in the lab; I learnt to read articles with a critical eye, and to question their conclusions. I hope this knowledge will help me be a better Doctor for my patients.