Center for Environment & Health

Prof. Yinon Rudich is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science. His research focuses on studying aerosol chemistry and physics, and the effects of aerosols on climate and human health. He has established a state-of-the-art aerosol Physics and Biology lab to study the optical properties, ice nucleation, and health effects of aerosols, and he has also created a national pollutants database to study the health effects of exposure to pollutants.

The overarching goal of Dr. Rudich’s research is to provide a mechanistic understanding of the connections between the physical and chemical properties of aerosols to their ability to nucleate ice, absorb and scatter solar radiation, and induce health effects. Dr. Rudich also studies the aerobiome – bacteria, viruses and fungi that are transported in the atmosphere by dust and winds, and their potential impacts on ecosystems and human health.

Dr. Rudich has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and serves as an expert reviewer for the European Commission and ERC. He is a member of the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch Programme’s ARCH (Air Pollution, Climate Change, Health Effects Nexus) working group, is on the scientific advisory board of SPARTAN, and is a member of the international steering committee of the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR II). He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Society (AGU), the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), and Academia Europea.

Hydrology
The group’s research focuses on developing realistic quantitative models and unique laboratory experiments to quantify fluid flow, and chemical transport and reactions in fractured and porous geological formations, soils, and other porous media. In parallel, it investigates a wide range of methods for catalytic treatment of organic and inorganic pollutants in water. 
 

Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecosystems
Dr. Zeevi combines his research with microbes and AI to see if these tiny creatures can increase crop yields and their resistance to droughts and rising temperatures. By sampling many unique wheat-growing plots and sequencing the DNA of all microbes (bacteria, fungi and viruses) in these plots, Dr. Zeevi and his team are using machine learning to pinpoint the ones that have a positive effect on the crop.

The group also studies how microbial ecosystems are affected by human-made artifacts, and it applies the insights learned from these microbes to devise new ways to protect the environment.
 

Circadian Clocks and Metabolism
Compelling evidence points toward a tight intertwining between circadian rhythms and metabolism. Circadian clocks play a major role in orchestrating daily metabolism, and their disruption can lead to metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Concomitantly, clocks are tightly coupled to cellular metabolism and respond to feeding cycles. The group’s overarching goal is to uncover molecular mechanisms within the core clock circuitry in respect to cellular metabolism and identify metabolic cycles in mammals.
 

Developing Computational Models for Personalized Medicine
The multi-disciplinary team of computational biologists and experimental scientists works in the area of computational and systems biology. It focuses on nutrition, genetics, the microbiome, and gene regulation and their effect on health and disease. 
 

The Malaria Parasite
The group conducts research on malaria-derived exosomes to gain a better understanding of how the parasite sorts its cargo and releases it. The advanced-nano approaches developed in its lab not only yield significant information on one of the most lethal human pathogens, but will further lead to important advances in the field of exosome research more broadly.