Affiliation: University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Raz Bar-Ziv (https://www.razbarziv.com/) is a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Andrew Dillin at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Immunology and Molecular Medicine division of the Molecular and Cell Biology department (https://www.dillinlab-berkeley.org). Dr. Bar-Ziv obtained his PhD in 2017 by studying the regulation of dynamics of gene expression and chromatin during DNA replication, by developing, applying, and analyzing high-throughput sequencing data, under the mentorship of Professor Naama Barkai at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. For his postdoctoral studies, Dr. Bar-Ziv is studying the mechanisms responsible for the failure of protein homeostasis during aging in different tissues, with a particular interest in mitochondrial protein homeostasis. Dr. Bar-Ziv focuses on revealing the mechanisms by which neurons and glia communicate mitochondrial regulation within the nervous system, and to peripheral tissues. He found that astrocyte-like glial cells are cellular regulators of mitochondrial protein homeostasis, able to modulate mitochondrial proteostasis in neurons. Dr. Bar-Ziv is interested in answering questions relating to tissue communication in the context of neurodegeneration and aging. He won multiple awards throughout his career for scientific excellence and has been supported by postdoctoral fellowships funded by The Larry L. Hillblom Foundation and the European Molecular Biology Organization. In addition to his scientific work, Dr. Bar-Ziv volunteers in a non-profit organization, ScienceAbroad, where he is the field manager for Genetics and Cell Biology, and as an associate in the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB) LGBTQ+ Committee.