Itamar Lev

Itamar Lev is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Zimmer Lab at the University of Vienna, investigating C. elegans neuroscience. They completed their Ph.D. at Tel Aviv University, where they worked on transgenerational inheritance via heritable small-RNAs in C. elegans. Currently, they study how distributed brain states convey feedback on behavior execution, and how these behaviors are flexibly adjusted in varying environments. Lev’s research leverages novel and unique techniques such as functional whole-brain imaging in freely behaving animals. A special interest of their work is to study neuronal responses in natural, ecologically relevant settings, such as when the worms interact with their predator, a nematophagic fungus. Their research is funded by the VIP2, EMBO and now HFSP postdoctoral fellowships.

Principal Investigator: Manuel Zimmer

Fellow: Hannah Brenner

Undergraduate Fellow Project: What is the neuronal representation of brain states?
The Zimmer Lab at the University of Vienna, Austria, utilizes the microscopic roundworm C. elegans as a model organism to explore fundamental questions in neuroscience. With only 302 neurons in its nervous system, we can identify each neuron and leverage a synaptic resolution connectome to understand the network’s architecture. Our lab has developed novel technologies to record the activity of all neurons in the worm’s brain while it freely crawls under a microscope. Additionally, we employ advanced AI techniques, such as convolutional neuronal networks, to extract meaningful information from these experiments.

This SURFiN project aims to investigate how longer-lasting behavioral states, including sleep, arousal, hunger and satiety, are encoded in the brain. The project will entail conducting behavioral and neuronal imaging experiments on animals that switch between these states. The fellow will work with two mentors, with each experimental and computational background, to develop a pipeline that can quantitatively describe such brain states in complex datasets.
We therefore are seeking students interested in combining experimental and computational work. This unique opportunity will provide an excellent learning experience in both fields while working on a project at the forefront of neuroscience research.