Dr.OferYizhar

DepartmentofNeurobiologyDr.Ofer Yizharwas awardedaBSc inbiologywithdistinctionatthe Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2001 and a PhD inneurobiology with distinction at Tel Aviv University in 2008. Hedidhis postdoctoral research at StanfordUniversity in Californiafrom2008to2011.In2011,hejoinedtheWeizmannInstituteofScience.Dr. Yizhar focuseshis investigationsonunraveling themysteries of theprefrontal cortex.Prefrontal cortical regions contribute tomany higher brain functions, including language,workingmemory,emotionalregulation,andgoal-directedbehavior.Thisisalsooneoftheregionsmoststronglyimplicatedinseveraltypesofpsychiatricdiseases.To investigate the physiology of neural circuits, his lab develops and uses a technicalapproach called optognetics, which gives scientists new tools for directly investigatingneuronfunctions.Heplayedapivotalroleinthedevelopmentofmanyoftheoptogenetictoolsbeingusedtodayworldwideinbrainresearch.Throughtheuseoflight-activatedionchannels, pumps and receptors, optogenetics allows temporally and spatially precisecontrol over the activity of defined circuit elements. By perturbing the physiology of acircuit,Dr.Yizharcanlearnaboutitsfunctionandestablishcausallinksbetweenpatternsofcircuit activity and animal behavior. Dr. Yizhar uses this method to test hypothesesregarding the neural circuit dysfunction associated with autism and schizophrenia. Hisresearch has vast implications for the study and treatment of brain-related diseaseincludingschizophrenia,mooddisorders,neurodegenerativediseases,epilepsy,andautism.Dr.Yizhar’sacademicandprofessionalawardsincludethe2004WolffFoundationPrizeforExcellent Graduate Students, the 2005 JorgeDeutsch Prize for Research in Bio-Medicine,long-term postdoctoral fellowships from the European Molecular Biology Organization(EMBO), the Human Frontiers in Science Program (HFSPO), the 2011 Sieratzki Prize forNeuroscienceResearchandaCareerDevelopmentAwardfromtheHFSPO.

Curriculum Vitae, Ofer Yizhar, Ph.D.

Weizmann Institute of Science

Department of Neurobiology

Rehovot, 76100 Israel

Education

Postdoctoral research scholar, Stanford University

February 2008 – September 2011

Advisor: Prof. Karl Deisseroth, M.D. Ph.D.

Graduate studies – Neurobiology, Tel Aviv University

Awarded Ph. D. with distinction, April 2008; Advisor: Dr. Uri Ashery

Thesis title: “Elucidating the role of Tomosyn in neurotransmitter release”.

B. Sc., Hebrew University of Jerusalem

B. Sc. with distinction, September 2001 Life Science Honors Program (“Etgar”)

Employment history

Senior Scientist, Weizmann Institute of Science

October 2011 – Present

Department of Neurobiology

Honors and Awards

2012 Awarded the ‘Alon Fellowship’ for returning scientists, granted by the Israeli Council for Higher Education

2012 Incumbent of the Gertrude and Philip Nollman Career Development Chair, Weizmann Institute

2011 Recipient of the Sieratzki Prize for Advances in Neuroscience

2008 Long term postdoctoral fellowship, Human Frontiers in Science Program (HFSP)

2007 Long term postdoctoral fellowship, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

2006 Teaching Award for Graduate Students, Life Science Faculty, Tel Aviv University

2005 Jorge Deutsch Prize for Research in Bio-Medicine

2004 Wolff Foundation Prize for Excellent Graduate Students

2002 Dean’s scholarship for PhD studies, Tel Aviv University

2000 Winokur scholarship for undergraduate research in genetics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Teaching

2013-2015 Weizmann Institute of Science – Methods in Neuroscience

2013-2015 Weizmann Institute of Science – Neurogenetics

2013-2015 Weizmann Institute of Science – Introduction to neuroscience

Invited talks

Sept. 2009 Invited speaker, “Optogenetics – tools and development”, in DISC1 and Schizophrenia meeting,

CA, USA.

May 2010 Invited speaker, “Optogenetic modulation of cortical microcircuits”, in “Channelrhodopsin and

Light-Gated Enzymes” symposium, Hiddensee, Germany.

May 2012 Invited speaker, “New tools and approaches in optogenetics research” – Institute of Anatomy

Seminar in ETH Zurich (Host Hans-Peter Lipp)

June 2012 Invited speaker, Max Planck seminar, Gottingen MPI Experimental Medicine (Host Nils Brose)

June 2012 Keynote speaker, RMN2 Neuroscience meeting, Oberwesel, Germany

Sept. 2012 Invited speaker, “Brain Circuits” course, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Oct. 2012 Keynote speaker, CITA 2012 conference, IMEC/KU Leuven, Belgium.

Dec. 2012 Course faculty, FENS-IBRO-Hertie Winter School in Neuroscience, Austria.

Jan. 2013 Invited speaker, Winter conference on Brain Research, CO, USA.

March 2013 Keynote speaker, Israeli Society for Biological Psychiatry, Hagoshrim, Israel.

Aprli 2013 Invited speaker, 15th International Neuroscience Winter Conference, Soelden, Austria

June 2013 Invited speaker, 11th World Society for Biological Psychiatry, Kyoto, Japan.

July 2013 Invited speaker, 37th International Society for Physiological Sciences, Birmingham, United

Kingdom.

July 2013 Conference organizer, “Optogenetics: from Cells to Circuits and Behavior”; Weizmann Institute

of Science, Israel

August 2013 Invited speaker, SFB 936 lecture series, UKE Hamburg; Host Andreas Engel.

Sept. 2013 Invited speaker, KOSMOS workshop on post-stroke depression. Host: Katja Werheid, Humboldt

University

Feb. 2014 Invited speaker, University of California Irvine Annual Epilepsy Conference.

March 2014 Invited speaker, Cosyne 2014 workshop on “Rogue states: Altered dynamics of neural circuit

activity in brain disorders”

July 2014 Invited speaker, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (Munich).

Sept. 2014 Invited speaker, Frontiers in Neuroscience international summer school, Hebrew University,

Israel.

Sept. 2014 Invited speaker, Photobiology meeting, Cordoba, Argentina.

Sept. 2014 Keynote speaker, SULSA Research Symposium, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Nov. 2014 Invited speaker, Molecular Biology Society of Japan annual meeting, Yokohama.

Nov. 2014 Invited speaker, University of Tokyo, Dept. of Pharmacology seminar.

Jan. 2015 Conference organizer (with Yadin Dudai), “Advances in Brain Science” at the Weizmann

Institute.

Jan. 2015 Invited speaker, Winter Conference on Brain Research, MT, USA.

Feb. 2015 Invited lecturer, EMBO School on Neurotechniques, Padova University, Italy.

Aug. 2015 Invited speaker, Gordon Research Conference: The amygdala in health and disease, MA, USA.

Sept. 2015 Invited lecturer, “Brain Circuits” course, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Sept. 2015 Invited speaker, Bernstein Conference 2015 on computational neuroscience, Heidelberg,

Germany

Oct. 2015 Invited speaker, FENS Forum Regional Meeting, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Dec. 2015 Invited speaker, OPTOGEN2015 meeting, Lecce, Italy.

Peer review activity:

Nature, Neuron, Journal of Neuroscience, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Methods, Biophysical Journal, Nature

Protocols, Nature Communications, Frontiers in Neural Circuits, Neurophotonics, Nature Reviews Drug

Discovery, Trends in Neuroscience, Trends in Genetics.

Publications

1. Mahn M., Prigge M., Ron S., Levy R., Yizhar O. Biophysical constraints of optogenetic

inhibition at presynaptic terminals. In press, Nature Neuroscience.

2. Scott N, Prigge M, Yizhar O*, Kimchi T*. A sexually dimorphic hypothalamic circuit controls

maternal care and oxytocin secretion. Nature 2015, Sep 16. doi: 10.1038/nature15378. (* co-

corresponding)

3. Yamamoto K, Tanei Z, Hashimoto T, Wakabayashi T, Okuno H, Naka Y, Yizhar O, Fenno LE,

Fukayama M, Bito H, Cirrito JR, Holtzman DM, Deisseroth K, Iwatsubo T. (2015) Chronic optogenetic

activation augments aβ pathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer disease. Cell Reports 11(6):859-65.

4. Pashaie R, Anikeeva P, Lee JH, Prakash R, Yizhar O, Prigge M, Chander D, Richner TJ, Williams J..

“Optogenetic brain interfaces”. IEEE Review of Biomedical Engineering. 2014, 7 :3-30.

5. Liang L, Li Y, Potter CJ, Yizhar O, Deisseroth K, Tsien RW, Luo L. GABAergic projection neurons

route selective olfactory inputs to specific higher-order neurons. Neuron 2013 Sep 4;79(5):917-31.

6. Barak B, Okun E, Ben-Simon Y, Lavi A, Shapira R, Madar R, Wang Y, Norman E, Sheinin A, Pita

MA, Yizhar O, Mughal MR, Stuenkel E, van Praag H, Mattson MP, Ashery U. Neuron-specific

expression of tomosyn1 in the mouse hippocampal dentate gyrus impairs spatial learning and memory.

Neuromolecular Med. 2013 Jun;15(2):351-63.

7. Katz Y., Yizhar O., Staiger J., Lampl I. Optopatcher-An electrode holder for simultaneous intracellular

patch-clamp recording and optical manipulation. J Neurosci Methods. 2013 Mar 30;214(1):113-7.

8. Prakash, R., Yizhar, O., Grewe, B., Ramakrishnan, C., Wang, N., Goshen, I., Packer, A. M., Peterka,

D.S., Yuste R., Schnitzer M. and Deisseroth K. (2012). Two-photon optogenetic toolbox for fast

inhibition, excitation and bistable modulation. Nat Methods. 2012 Dec;9(12):1171-9.

9. Yizhar O. Optogenetic Insights into Social Behavior Function. Biol Psychiatry. 2012 Jun

15;71(12):1075-80.

10. Kato HE, Zhang F, Yizhar O, Ramakrishnan C, Nishizawa T, Hirata K, Ito J, Aita Y, Tsukazaki T,

Hayashi S, Hegemann P, Maturana AD, Ishitani R, Deisseroth K, Nureki O. Crystal structure of the

channelrhodopsin light-gated cation channel. Nature. 2012 Jan 22. doi: 10.1038/nature10870.

11. Witten IB, Steinberg EE, Lee SY, Davidson TJ, Zalocusky KA, Brodsky M, Yizhar O, Cho SL, Gong

S, Ramakrishnan C, Stuber GD, Tye KM, Janak P, Deisseroth K. Recombinase-Driver Rat Lines: Tools,

Techniques, and Optogenetic Application to Dopamine-Mediated Reinforcement. Neuron (2011), Dec

8;72(5):721-33.

12. Paz JT, Bryant AS, Peng K, Fenno L, Yizhar O, Frankel WN, Deisseroth K, Huguenard JR. A new

mode of corticothalamic transmission revealed in the Gria4(-/-) model of absence epilepsy. Nat

Neurosci. 2011 Aug 21;14(9):1167-73.

13. Yizhar O*, Fenno LE*, Prigge M, Schneider F, Davidson TJ, O’Shea DJ, Sohal VS, Goshen I,

Finkelstein J, Paz JT, Stehfest K, Fudim R, Ramakrishnan C, Huguenard JR, Hegemann P, Deisseroth

K. Neocortical excitation/inhibition balance in information processing and social dysfunction. Nature.

2011 Jul 27; 477(7363):171-8.

14. Fenno LE, Yizhar O, Deisseroth K. The Development and Application of Optogenetics. Annu Rev

Neurosci. 2011;34:389-412.

15. Yizhar O, Fenno LE, Davidson TJ, Mogri M, Deisseroth K. Optogenetics in Neural Systems. Neuron.

2011 Jul 14;71(1):9-34.

16. Diester I, Kaufman M, Pashaie R, Mogri M, Goo W, Ramakrishnan C, Yizhar O, Deisseroth K, Shenoy

KV. An Optogenetic Toolbox for Primates. Nat Neurosci. 2011 Mar;14(3):387-97. Epub 2011 Jan 30.

17. Yizhar O, Fenno LE, Zhang F, Hegemann P, Deisseroth K. Microbial opsins - A Family of Single-

Component Tools for Optical Control of Neural Activity (2010). In “Imaging In Neuroscience and

Development: A Laboratory Manual” (eds. Rafael Yuste and Arthur Konnerth). Cold Spring Harb

Protoc. 2011 Mar 1;2011

18. Carter ME, Yizhar O, Nguyen H, Chikahisa S, Nishino S, Deisseroth K, de Lecea L. Tuning arousal

with optogenetic modulation of locus coeruleus neurons. Nat Neurosci. 2010 Dec;13(12):1526-33.

19. Lam AD, Ismail S, Wu R, Yizhar O, Passmore DR, Ernst SA, Stuenkel EL. Mapping Dynamic Protein

Interactions to Insulin Secretory Granule Behavior with TIRF-FRET. Biophys J. 2010 Aug

9;99(4):1311-1320.

20. Feinshreiber L, Singer-Lahat D, Friedrich R, Matti U, Sheinin A, Yizhar O, Nachman R, Chikvashvili

D, Rettig J, Ashery U, Lotan I. Non-conducting function of the Kv2.1 channel enables it to recruit

vesicles for release in neuroendocrine and nerve cells. J Cell Sci. 2010 Jun 1;123(Pt 11):1940-7.

21. Gunaydin LA*, Yizhar O*, Berndt A*, Sohal VS, Deisseroth K, Hegemann P. Ultrafast optogenetic

excitation. Nat Neurosci. 2010 Mar;13(3):387-92.

22. Sohal VS*, Zhang F*, Yizhar O, Deisseroth K. Parvalbumin neurons and gamma rhythms enhance

cortical circuit performance. Nature. 2009 Jun 4;459(7247):698-702.

23. Berndt A*, Yizhar O*, Gunaydin LA*, Hegemann P, Deisseroth K. Bi-stable neural state switches. Nat

Neurosci. 2009 Feb;12(2):229-34.

24. Ashery U, Barak B, Bielopolsky N, Yizhar O. Friends and foes in synaptic transmission – the role of

Tomosyn in vesicle priming. Trends Neurosci. 2009 May;32(5):275-82 Review

25. Yizhar O., Ashery U. Modulating vesicle priming reveals that vesicle immobilization is necessary but

not sufficient for fusion-competence. PLoS ONE. 2008 Jul 16;3(7):e2694.

26. Zhang F, Prigge M, Beyrière F, Tsunoda SP, Mattis J, Yizhar O, Hegemann P, Deisseroth K. Red-

shifted optogenetic excitation: a tool for fast neural control derived from Volvox carteri. Nat Neurosci.

2008 Jun;11(6):631-3. Epub 2008 Apr 23.

27. Yizhar O., Lipstein N., Gladycheva S.E., Matti U., Ernst S.A., Rettig J., Stuenkel E.L., Ashery U.

Multiple functional domains are involved in tomosyn regulation of exocytosis. J Neurochem. 2007

Oct;103(2):604-16.

28. Gladycheva S.E., Lam A.D., Liu J., D’andrea-Merrins M., Yizhar O., Lentz S.I., Ashery U., Ernst S.A.,

Stuenkel E.L. Receptor-mediated regulation of tomosyn-Syntaxin1A interactions in bovine adrenal

chromaffin cells. J Biol Chem. 2007 Aug 3;282(31):22887-99.

29. Ashery U, Yizhar O, Rotblat B, Kloog Y. Nonconventional Trafficking of Ras Associated with Ras

Signal Organization. Traffic. 2006 Sep;7(9):119-26. Review.

30. Ashery U, Yizhar O, Rotblat B, Elad-Sfadia G, Barkan B, Haklai R, Kloog Y. Spatiotemporal

Organization of Ras Signaling: Rasosomes and the Galectin Switch. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2006 Jul-

Aug;26(4-6):471-95. Review

31. Lerner I., Trus M., Cohen R., Yizhar O., Nussinovitch I., Atlas D. Ion interaction at the pore of Lc-type

Ca2+

channel is sufficient to mediate depolarization-induced exocytosis. J. Neurochem. 2006

Apr;97(1):116-27.

32. Rotblat B.*, Yizhar O.*, Haklai R., Ashery U., Kloog Y. Ras and its signals diffuse through the cell on

randomly moving nanoparticles. Cancer Res. 2006 Feb 15;66(4):1974-81.

33. Klieger Y., Yizhar O., Zenvirth D., Shtepel-Milman N., Snoek M., Simchen G. Involvement of Sir2/4

in silencing of DNA breakage and recombination on mouse YACs during yeast meiosis. Mol Biol Cell.

2005 Mar;16(3):1449-55.

34. Yizhar O.*, Matti U.*, Melamed R., Hagalili Y., Bruns D., Rettig J., Ashery U. Tomosyn inhibits

priming of large dense-core vesicles in a calcium-dependent manner. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004

Feb 24;101(8):2578-83.

*Contributed equally