Curriculum Vitae
Personal data
Name: Rachel Cohen-Kupiec
Born: October 28, 1958, Israeli.
Marital status: married, two daughters
Home address: Aharon Becker St. 3/17, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Tel (home): 972-3-6477264; Cellular: 0523-561164
Email: mararush@hotmail.com
Army service in the Israeli Air Force from 1976-1978.
Education
1989-1994
Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology, Tel Aviv University. Supervisors:
Prof. Michael Gurevitz and Prof. Aviah Zilberstein.
Thesis title: "Regulation of nitrogen metabolism in the cyanobacterium
Synechococcus sp. 7942: the glutamine synthetase gene as a model".
1983-1985
M.Sc. in Plant Ecology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Supervisor: Prof. Avishai Schmida.
1979-1982
B.Sc. in Biology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Professional experience
Present: A senior researcher working with Dr. Miguel Weil, Dept. of Cell Biology and
Immunology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Research projects: Cell function
of the IKAP gene in Familal Dysautonomia AND Biomarkers for ALS disease.
2001- 2006 : A senior scientist with Prof. Beka Solomon, Dept. of Molecular
Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Subject:
Immunotherapy of hAPP transgenic mice (Alzheimer's Disease mouse model) using
phage displayed antibodies towards beta amyloid peptide; molecular genetics,
biochemical and histopathological aspects.
2000-2001: Visiting scientist, with Prof. Ann Hochschild, Dept. of Microbiology and
Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston. MA, USA. Subject: Expression
and aggregation of the yeast prion, Sup35 in E. coli.
1998-2000
R&D group leadre in Insight Ltd., a Biotech company in the Rabin
Science Park, Rehovot, Israel. Project: Cloning, production and bioassays of
coagulation factors for the pharmaceutical industry.
1996-1998 Postdoctoral fellow, Dept. of Plant Diseases, Faculty of Agriculture,
The Hebrew University, Rehovot, Israel. Supervisor: Prof. Ilan Chet. Project title:
"Isolation and heterologous expression of genes of the mycoparasite fungus
Trichoderma harzianum."
1994-1996
Postdoctoral fellow, Dept. of Microbiology, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA, USA. Supervisor: Prof. John Leigh. Project title: "Transcriptional
regulation of Nitrogen fixing genes of the archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis."
1986-1988
Research in the Dept. of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology,
University of Chicago, IL, USA. With Prof. Malcolm Casadaban. Project title:
"Genomic instability induced by illegitimate recombination in mammalian cells".
1985-1986
Research in the Dept. of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology,
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. With Prof. Lily Vardimon (currently a
professor. in the Biochemistry Dept. at Tel-Aviv University, Israel). Project title:
"Sarcoma induction in embryonic neural tissue by the v-src gene".
1980-1982 (as an undergraduate student) Research in the Dept. of Biochemistry, The
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. With Prof. Moshe Benziman. Project title:
"Extracellular synthesis of cellulose by Acetobacter xylinum."
Professional skills
In the course of my career I have conducted projects that involved genetic,
biochemistry and cell biology strategies using a variety of microorganisms and
mammalian systems. My professional experience includes molecular biology,
immunology and biochemistry techniques, various expression systems and the use of
bioinformatics tools.
During all of these years I have mentored and supervised students and technicians.
My studies and early professional experiences were in molecular biology and genetics
of microorganisms, however, since I came back from Boston (end of 2001), I have
been working on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, MS,
Familial Dysautonomia (FD) and Amyolateral sclerosis (ALS).
Teaching experience
2008-present Teaching a Microbiology course at Ruppin College, School of Marine
Sciences.
1994-1995
Teaching assistant at the Dept. of Microbiology, University of
Washington, Seattle USA.
1989-1994
Teaching assistant at the Dept. of Plant Sciences, Tel Aviv University.
1983-1985
Jerusalem.
Teaching assistant at the Dept. of Botany, The Hebrew University,
Special Courses
1989 "DNA manipulations", hands-on workshop, EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany.
1992 "The molecular biology of cyanobacteria", a workshop, Bristol, England.
2002 "Molecular Neurology and Neuropathology", Cold Spring Harbor, USA.
During the years I participated in Scientific meetings and workshops once or twice a
year.
Publications
Aloni Y., Cohen R., Benziman M., and Delmer D. (1983). Solubilization of the
cellulose synthetase from Acetobacter xylinum. J. Biol. Chem. 258:4419-4423.
Vardimon L., Fox L., Cohen-Kupiec R., Degenstein L. and Moscona A. A. (1991).
Expression of v-src in embryonic neural tissue alters cell adhesion, inhibits
histogenesis and prevents induction of glutamine synthetase. Mol. Cell. Biol.
11:5275-5284.
Cohen-Kupiec R., Gurevitz M., and Zilberstein A. (1993). Expression of glnA in the
cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942 is initiated from a single nif-like
promoter under various nitrogen conditions. J. Bacteriol. 175:7727-7731.
Cohen-Kupiec R., Zilberstein A., and Gurevitz M. (1995). Characterization of cis
elements that regulate the expression of glnA in Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942.
J. Bacteriol. 177:2222-2226.
Cohen-Kupiec, R., Blank C. and Leigh J. (1996). Transcription regulation in
Archaea: In vivo demonstration of a repressor binding site. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
USA. 94: 1316-1320.
Cohen-Kupiec R., Friesem D., and Chet I. (1998). Improving biocontrol activity of T.
harzianum by molecular biology techniques. Proceedings in Molecular Approaches in
Biological Control. 21:233-239.
Cohen-Kupiec R. and Chet I. (1998). The molecular Biology of chitin digestion (a
review). Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 9:270-277.
Cohen-Kupiec R. and Leigh J. (1999). Function and regulation of glnA in the
methanogenic archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis. J. Bacteriol. 181:256-261.
Cohen-Kupiec R., Sandback K., Kupiec M. and Leigh J. (1999). Isolation and
characterization of the argH gene of Methanococcus maripaludis. FEMS Microb.
Letters 173: 231-238.
Cohen-Kupiec R., Broglie K., Broglie R., Friesem D. and Chet I. (1999). Molecular
characterization of a novel beta-1,3-exoglucanase related to mycoparasitism of
Trichoderma harzianum. Gene 226:147-154.
Ramot O., Cohen-Kupiec R. and Chet I. (2000). Regulation of -1,3-glucanase by
carbon starvation in the mycoparasite T. harzianum. Mycol. Res. 104:415-420.
Lavie V., Becker M., Cohen-Kupiec R., Yacoby I., Koppel R., Wedenig M., HutterPaier B.and Solomon B. (2004). EFRH–Phage Immunization of Alzheimer's Disease
Animal Model Improves Behavioral Performance in Morris Water Maze Trials. J.
Mol. Neuroscience 24:105-114.
Valensi-Kurtz M, Lefler S, Cohen MA, Aharonowiz M, Cohen-Kupiec R, Sheinin A,
Ashery U, Reubinoff B, Weil M (2010). Enriched population of PNS neurons derived
from human embryonic stem cells as a platform for studying peripheral neuropathies.
PLoS One. 2010 Feb 18;5(2):e9290.
Cohen-Kupiec R., Weinstein S., Kantor G., Peer D., and Weil M. (2010).
IKAP/hELP1 down-regulation in neuroblastoma cells causes enhanced cell adhesion
mediated by Contactin over - expression. Cell Adhesion and Migration. To be
published this October. (Volume 4, issue 4).
Patents:
1. Single Chain Antibodies against beta amyloid peptide. 2006
Solomon B. and Cohen- Kupiec R. Patent number: PCT/US2006032319
Publication number WO/2007/022416
2.Filamentous bacteriophage displaying protein A as a binder of antibodies and
immunocomplexes for delivery to the brain. 2007.
Solomon B. and Cohen-Kupiec R. Publication number WO/2007/095616