The NeuroBat Lab
Michael completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biomedical engineering at the Ben-Gurion University and received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Weizmann institute. He was subsequently a C.V. Starr fellow in neuroscience in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute where he completed a post-doc in the laboratory of Carlos Brody. He is an HHMI Investigator and an Associate Professor at UC Berkeley with a joint appointment in the departments of Bioengineering and Neuroscience. Michael is also the Research in his laboratory utilizes the bat as model system to study the neural mechanisms of natural behaviors, with focus on the neural computations underlying spatial navigation, group sociality and vocal communication/learning.
Awards and Honors
2024 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
2024 Boehringer Ingelheim FENS Research Award
2022 Young Investigator Award, Society of Neuroscience
2022 Peter Gruss Young Investigator Award
2022 Cajal Club Cortical Explorer Award
2022 AAA Early - Career Investigator Award - C. J. Herrick Award in Neuroanatomy
2021 Early Career Award, Society of Social Neuroscience
2020 Vallee Foundation Scholar Award
2020 Bakar Faculty Fellow Award
2020 Brain Science Technology "Rising Star Award",
Mahoney Institute of Neuroscience (MINS), UPenn
2020 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award
2019 Janett Rosenberg Trubatch Award from the
Society of Neuroscience
2017 Packard Fellowship
2017 Air Force Office of Scientific Research
2017 Brain Research Foundation
2017 McKnight Scholar Award
2017 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow
2017 NYSCF-Robertson Investigator Award
2016 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2)
2016 NIMH Biobehavioral Research Award for Innovative
New Scientists (BRAINS) – Declined
2016 Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Award in the Neurosciences
2016 Pew Scholar Award
2016 Searle Scholar Award
2016 Human Frontiers Research Grant
2015 David Mahoney Neuroimaging program - Dana Foundation
2015 The Brain Initiative EAGER award from the National Science Foundation
2015 Allen Brain Institute Next Generation Leaders Program
2015 The Raymond Sackler fund for convergence research
2015 Konishi Neuroethology Research Award, International Society of Neuroethology
2014 Sieratzki Prize for Advances in Neuroscience
2014 ISEF International Post-Doctoral Fellowship
2013 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology – Grand Prize Winner
2013 Donald B. Lindsley prize in Behavioral Neuroscience, Society of Neuroscience
2013 ISEF Lily Safra Award for Scientific Research.
2013 The John F. Kennedy PhD Distinction Award
2013 ISEF International Post-Doctoral Fellowship
2012 ELSC Brain Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship
2012 Young Investigator Award, International Society of Neuroethology
2012 Capranica Prize, International Society of Neuroethology
2012 ISEF International Post-Doctoral Fellowship
2012 CV Starr Fellowship, Princeton University
2012 FENS/IBRO travel grant award. FENS-forum, Barcelona, Spain
2012 Katzir Foundation travel award
2011 Best Poster award at the ISFN (Israeli Society of Neuroscience) annual meeting
2010 National institute for Psychobiology travel award
2010 Best Poster award Janelia Farm conference on “Bottom-up and Top-down Approaches to Understanding Circuits Processing: Meeting in the Middle”.
2010 FENS/IBRO travel grant award. FENS-forum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2010 Otto Schwartz academic excellence award
2009 Lev-Zion Excellence predoctoral fellowship
2009 Otto Schwartz academic excellence award
2008 M.Sc degree with distinguished excellence (summa cum laude)
2008 Academic excellence award from the ISEF foundation
2007 Kreitman foundation fellowship for PhD studies - declined due to moving to Weizmann institute
2007 Zlotowski center for neuroscience travel award
2007 Best Poster award at the third international computational motor control workshop
2007 B.Sc degree with distinguished excellence (magna cum laude)
2006 Academic excellence award from the ISEF foundation
2004 Academic excellence award from the department of Industrial Engineering
2004 Bank Hapoalim academic excellence award
2004 The Ben-Gurion University student body award for voluntary excellence.
Education
2013-2015
Princeton University
C.V. Starr Fellow in Neuroscience
2008-2012
Weizmann Institute
PhD in Neuroscience
2005-2007
Ben Gurion University
MSc in Biomedical engineering
2003-2006
Ben Gurion University
BSc in Biomedical engineering