Yaren Golan,

I did my undergraduate studies in Nutrition Sciences and completed an internship in clinical nutrition. After completing my final research project during my undergraduate studies, I understood that I want to concentrate in molecular nutrition research and not in clinical treatment. I am currently in the final stages of my direct PhD track at the Technion-Israeli Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, under the supervision of Prof. Yehuda G. Assaraf. My research topic is: “The role of the zinc transporter SLC30A2/ZnT2 in health and disease”. My PhD research focuses on the study of the transport mechanism of zinc into human breast milk and I became very curious about human mammary gland function and associated pathologies. During my PhD studies I have published seven research articles and one review paper, and presented my work in international conferences. In addition, I developed a screening tool for detection of inactivating SLC30A2/ZnT2 mutations for the early diagnosis and prevention of transient neonatal zinc deficiency (TNZD). For these findings I observed the prestigious Rappaport Prize for excellence in the field of biomedical research.