Yuval Shaked, PhD
Principal Investigator
Department of Cell Biology and Cancer Science, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion.
Former Head of the Rappaport Technion Integrated Cancer Center (RTICC).
Office: +972-73-3785215
Prof. Shaked’s lab pioneered the term “host response to anti-cancer drugs”— a patient’s response to cancer treatments, which may explain therapy resistance and cancer metastasis. He found that anti-cancer drugs, including chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, targeted drugs, and even immunotherapy, can contribute to cancer cell resistance or spread by provoking the body to protect its cancer cells from the toxic effects of treatments. This research has paved the way for new combinations of cancer treatments that block the body’s protective patterns, increase therapeutic outcome, and further support precision medicine in oncology.
Prof. Shaked founded the company OncoHost, a next-generation leader in precision oncology, which utilizes the host response effects to predict a patient’s outcome to therapy. Using data generated by OncoHost, Prof. Shaked published a study in November 2021 predicting lung patients’ response to immunotherapy. OncoHost, which won the Frost & Sullivan 2021 Technology Innovation Leadership Award, has raised at least $50 million and has a branch in North Carolina.
Prof. Shaked also co-founded RemedyCell Ltd., a biotech company that takes the findings of the host response to anti-cancer treatments to other pathologies. The company is currently focusing on a novel therapeutic strategy for the devastating and incurable disease, pulmonary fibrosis.
Prof. Shaked is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and earned his doctorate from the Department of Neurology at Hadassah University Hospital. He completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Toronto and joined the Technion in 2008 as a Landau Fellow in the Leaders in Science and Technology Program.
A prolific author, Prof. Shaked has published more than 140 scientific papers. He holds more than 10 U.S. patents (in different stages of approval), and has received numerous scholarships, such as the prestigious European Research Council award and research grants including the Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research.
Ziv Raviv, PhD
Research Associate & Lab Manager
Shahaf Saad
PhD Student
The role of PTPRO in extracellular matrix remodeling in the tumor microenvironment and its impact on tumor progression.
Abhilash Nitin Deo, PhD
Post Doctoral Fellow
Host response to immune checkpoint inhibitors and its implication on brain metastasis.
Yuval Mogilevsky, MD
PhD Student
The properties of site-specific heterogeneity of ECM on melanoma aggressiveness.
Rotem Menachem, PhD
Post Doctoral Fellow
Developing a targeted therapy for bone diseases.
Elian Far, MSc
PhD Student
Studying the role of neutrophils in pulmonary ECM remodeling following immunotherapy.
Bar Manobla, MSc
PhD Student
ECM remodeling following immunotherapy – developing antibody-drug conjugate to improve immunotherapy outcome.
Chen Buxbaum, MD
PhD Student
Deciphering the mechanisms underlying spontaneous regression of neuroblastoma (NB) - developing suitable murine NB models.
Sapir Levin, MSc
PhD Student
The role of progenitors and mature hematopoietic cells in cancer immunotherapy – utilizing in-depth bioinformatics analyses.
Kate Petrenko
PhD Student
Investigating sex differences in the tumor microenvironment and their impact on cancer immunotherapy response.
Daria Gerasimova
MSc Student
Investigating the role of the ECM in the spontaneous regression of neuroblastoma.
Former Members
Liat Benayoun, PhD
Michal Munster, MSc
Dvir Shechter MD, PhD
Hila Berkovich, MSc
