I am currently a principal investigator at the Neurobiology department, University of Haifa, Israel.In my lab, we will focus on studying the neural basis of social communication, using a multidisciplinary approach. That is, using brain imaging, neural tracing, behavioral genetics and computational tools for data analysis and modeling. I believe that such an integrated approach will allow us to dive into one of the most fascinating questions in neurobiology: how do brains give rise to social communication?After completing a BSc and MSc in electrical engineering, I joined the Neurobiology department at the Weizmann Institute, where I did my PhD under the supervision of Prof. Ehud Ahissar and Prof. Elad Schneidman. I used fine behavioral quantification to reveal how brains control the senses actively, when collecting information about the environment. I used the rat whisker system as a model.During my post-doctoral studies at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, in Mala Murthy's lab, I studies the neural basis of social communication, using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. During courtship, the male fly is using a multimodal display to court a female. This dynamic process involves multiple decisions both at the male and at the female side. The male needs to make moment by moment courting decisions, while the female makes the ultimate decision: to mate or not to mate. During my post-doc I found a group of cells that is responsive for specific parts of the male's courtship song. These cells respond similarly to the courtship song in both sexes, but interestingly, they drive different behaviors in males and females. In a separate study, I found a group of central neurons in the female brain whose activation drives the female into a high-arousal state, that enhances both here receptivity and aggression. I performed neural imaging (using two-photon microscopy), fine behavioral quantification (using machine learning) and neural tracing (in an electron-microscopy scan of the female brain) to suggest a circuit motif for the control of a persistent motivational state in the female brain.Following my own work, and many other works in the field, my lab will focus on revealing the neural basis of social communication. How are sensory signals integrated over time during a social encounter? How is social communication influenced by environmental context, internal motivation, and previous experience? To achieve this goal I intend to build a collaborative and multidisciplinary group, where people from different backgrounds team together.