Eran Segal ( he, ערן סגל; born 15 November 1973) is a

computational biologist Computational biology refers to the use of data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer science, biology, and big data, the field also has fo ...

professor at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...

. He works on developing quantitative models for all levels of

gene regulation Regulation of gene expression, or gene regulation, includes a wide range of mechanisms that are used by cells to increase or decrease the production of specific gene products (protein or RNA). Sophisticated programs of gene expression are wi ...

, including

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

chromatin Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important roles in r ...

, and

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

. Segal also works as an epidemiologist. He gained his BA in

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

and

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

in 1998 and his PhD from Stanford University under a Fulbright Scholarship in 2004 advised by

Daphne Koller Daphne Koller ( he, דפנה קולר; born August 27, 1968) is an Israeli-American computer scientist. She was a professor in the department of computer science at Stanford University and a MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient. She is one ...

. In 2007 he was awarded the

Overton Prize The ISCB Overton Prize is a computational biology prize awarded annually for outstanding accomplishment by a scientist in the early to mid stage of his or her career. Laureates have made significant contribution to the field of computational biolo ...

by the

International Society for Computational Biology The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) is a scholarly society for researchers in computational biology and bioinformatics. The society was founded in 1997 to provide a stable financial home for the Intelligent Systems for Mole ...

. In 2011 he was made a professor at the

. Over the years, Segal published more than 140 articles in scientific and medical journals, of which about 20 in the journal ''

Nature Cell Biology ''Nature Cell Biology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was established in 1999. The founding editor was Annette Thomas. The current editor-in-chief is Christina Kary. According to the ''Journal C ...

''.

Personalized Nutrition

Segal claims there is no "One size fits all" diet, in the sense that people will respond differently to certain types of food. Through a study utilizing continuous glucose monitoring and food journals, he produced some evidence that the glucose response to specific foods differ significantly between people. He hypothesized that personalized food plans based on further research could be beneficial in reducing the occurrence of diabetes. Later, he employed blood DNA testing, feces analysis (gut bacteria) to gather data which was analysed with a machine learning method to create personalized diets that were expected to improve glucose responses after eating. This method was tested on a population size of 26, the results of the study supported his hypothesis, though required further testing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segal, Eran Living people Overton Prize winners Israeli bioinformaticians Stanford University alumni Tel Aviv University alumni Academic staff of Weizmann Institute of Science 1973 births Israeli epidemiologists