Prof. Irit Sagi, Department of Biological Regulation
Dean, Feinberg Graduate School
irit.sagi@weizmann.ac.il
Prof. Sagi and her lab focus on the cell microenvironment which includes the extracellular matrix; a collection of extracellular molecules secreted by cells that provides structural and biochemical support to the surrounding cells (ECM) and multifunctional neighboring cells.
They have found that ECM enzymes, which can induce morphological changes in the matrix, affect cellular programming.
This provides significant opportunities to influence cellular programming and interfere in disease processes that affect intimate cellular communications in the microenvironment of cancer and inflammatory cells.