Prof. Ohad Gal-Mor

2014 – Present   Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor). The Department of Clinical Microbiology and  Immunology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University.

2009 – Present    Director. The Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory, Sheba Medical Center, Tel- Hashomer Israel.

2003 – 2008          Postdoctoral Fellow. University of British Columbia, Michael Smith Laboratories, Vancouver, Canada. Mentor: Prof. Brett Finlay.

1998 – 2003          Graduate Student (Direct-Track). Tel-Aviv University, the faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Our main research interests focus on the ubiquitous bacteria Salmonella enterica, its interactions with the host and the ways this pathogen causes diseases. Current projects in the lab include the following subjects:

1. Why and how different Salmonella enterica serovars are differ in host-specificity and clinical outcome?

2. Virulence regulation in Salmonella and its response to environmental signals.

3. Mechanisms of population dynamics and changes in serovars prevalence at the national level.

4. The biology of invasive and persistent Salmonella infections.

Selected PUBLICATIONS

1. Gili Aviv, Galia Rahav, and Ohad Gal-Mor. Horizontal Transfer of the Salmonella enterica Serovar Infantis Resistance and Virulence Plasmid pESI to the Gut Microbiota of Warm-Blooded Hosts. 2016. mBIO. 7(5):e01395-16.

2. Shomer I, Avisar A, Desai P, Azriel S, Smollan G, Belausov N, Keller N, Glikman D, Maor Y, Peretz A, McClelland M, Rahav G and Gal-Mor O (2016). Genetic and phenotypic characterization of a Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis emerging strain with superior intra-macrophage replication phenotype. Frontiers in Microbiology. 7:1468.

3. Baker KS, Dallman TJ, Behar A, Weill FX, Gouali M, Sobel J, Fookes M, Valinsky L, Gal-Mor O, Connor TR, Nissan I, Bertrand S, Parkhill J, Jenkins C, Cohen D, Thomson NR. (2016). Travel- and Community-Based Transmission of Multidrug-Resistant Shigella sonnei Lineage among International Orthodox Jewish Communities. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 22(9):1545-53.

4. Michael McClelland, Alex Marzel, Prerak T. Desai, and Ohad Gal-Mor. (2016). Reply to Yue (Letter to the Editor). Clinical Infectious diseases. 62(10):1326-7.

5. Dana Elhadad, Prerak Desai, Guntram A. Grassl,  Michael McClelland,  Galia Rahav,  Ohad Gal-Mor (2016). Differences in Host Cell Invasion and Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 Expression between Salmonella enterica Serovar Paratyphi A and Nontyphoidal S. Typhimurium. Infection and Immunity. 84(4):1150-65.

6. Alex Marzel, Prerak T. Desai, Alina Goren, Yosef Schorr, Israel Nissan, Steffen Porwollik, Lea Valinsky, Michael McClelland, Galia Rahav, and Ohad Gal-Mor. (2016). Persistent Infections by Non-Typhoidal Salmonella in Humans: Epidemiology and Genetics. Clinical Infectious diseases. 2016 62(7):879-86. Highlighted as Editor’s Choice.

7. Shalhevet Azriel, Alina Goren, Galia Rahav, and Ohad Gal-Mor. (2015). The Stringent Response Regulator DksA is Required for Salmonella Typhimurium Growth in Minimal Media, Motility, Biofilm Formation and Intestinal Colonization. Infection and Immunity. 84(1):375-84.

8. Dana Elhadad, Prerak Desai, Galia Rahav, Michael McClelland and Ohad Gal-Mor. (2015). Flagellin is required for host cell invasion and normal SPI-1 expression by Salmonella Paratyphi A. Infection and Immunity. 83(9):3355-68.

9. Dana Elhadad, Michael McClelland, Galia Rahav and Ohad Gal-Mor. (2015) Fever-Like Temperature is a Virulence Regulatory Cue Controlling the Motility and Host Cell Invasion of Typhoidal Salmonella. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 212(1):147-56.

10. Ohad Gal-Mor, Erin C. Boyle, Guntram A. Grassl. (2014). Same species, different diseases: how and why typhoidal and non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica serovars differ. Frontiers in Microbiology. 5:391.

11. Alex Marzel, Prerak T. Desai, Israel Nissan, Yosef Ilan Schorr, Jotham Suez, Lea Valinsky, Abraham Reisfeld, Vered Agmon, Jean Guard, Michael McClelland, Galia Rahav and Ohad Gal-Mor. (2014). Integrative analysis of Salmonellosis in Israel reveals association of Salmonella enterica Serovar 9,12:l,v:- with extraintestinal infections, dissemination of endemic S. enterica Serovar Typhimurium DT104 biotypes, and severe underreporting of outbreaks.  Journal of Clinical Microbiology.  52(6):2078-88.

12. Gili Aviv, Katherine Tsyba, Natalie Steck, Mali Salmon-Divon, Antje Cornelius, Galia Rahav, Guntram A, Grassl and Ohad Gal-Mor.  (2014). A Unique Megaplasmid Contributes to Stress Tolerance and Pathogenicity of an Emergent Salmonella enterica Serovar Infantis Strain. Environmental Microbiology. 16(4):977-94.

13. Jotham Suez, Steffen Porwollik, Amir Dagan, Alex Marzel1, Yosef Ilan Schorr, Prerak T Desai, Vered Agmon, Michael McClelland, Galia Rahav, and Ohad Gal-Mor. (2013). Virulence Gene Profiling and Pathogenicity Characterization of Non-Typhoidal Salmonella Accounted for Invasive Disease in Humans. PLoS ONE 8(3): e58449. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058449.

14. Gal-Mor O, Suez J, Elhadad D, Porwollik S, Leshem E, Valinsky L, McClelland M, Schwartz E, Rahav G. (2012). Molecular and Cellular Characterization of a Salmonella enterica Serovar Paratyphi A Outbreak Strain and the Human Immune Response to Infection. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology. 19(2):146-156.

15. Gal-Mor O, Elhadad D, Deng W, Rahav G, Finlay BB. (2011). The Salmonella enterica PhoP Directly Activates the Horizontally Acquired SPI-2 Gene sseL and Is Functionally Different from a S. bongori Ortholog. PLoS ONE. 6(5):e20024.

16. Gal-Mor O, Valinsky L, Weinberger M, Guy S, Jaffe J, Schorr Y.I, Raisfeld A, Agmon V and Nissan I. (2010). Rapid and Clonal emergence of a multi-drug-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype Infantis in Israel. Emerging Infectious Diseases 16(11):1754-7.