Dr. Meital Nuriel Ohayon

Where did you do your PhD, and what did you work on?

I completed my PhD at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine at Bar-Ilan University under the supervision of Prof. Omry Koren. My research focused on the relationship between gut bacteria and the human body, particularly how hormonal changes during pregnancy affect the composition of the gut microbiome. In one of our studies, we found that progesterone, a key pregnancy hormone, influences gut bacterial composition late in pregnancy, especially the relative abundance of bacteria from the Bifidobacterium group. We published the study in Cell Reports.

Before my PhD, I earned a B.Sc. in Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences from Tel-Hai College and an M.Sc. in Plant Sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I completed my PhD in 2020 and then continued with a short postdoctoral fellowship at the Faculty, where I studied the connection between the microbiome and gestational diabetes. After that, I moved on to manage Prof. Shay Bel’s laboratory at the Faculty.

What do you remember most from your years at the Faculty, and what have you taken with you since?

The Faculty felt like home to me, and I remember my PhD years as a period I truly enjoyed. I learned a great deal from the people around me through daily discussions, consultations, and collaborative work in the lab. When an experiment ran late and I needed another pair of hands was needed, someone was always someone willing to help. Whenever I wanted to learn a new method, I could turn to colleagues and principal investigators, even outside my own lab, and they were generous with their time and knowledge. That willingness to help and share expertise is one of the things I appreciate most when I look back on that time.

Omry played a major role in that experience. He was very supportive and encouraged me to learn beyond the specific needs of my research needs. During my PhD, he even sent me to a course in the United States that significantly contributed to my development as a researcher. In the lab, he gave me the freedom to design my own experiments, suggest new directions, and explore them. I always felt comfortable coming to him when I faced challenges, and I knew he trusted me to lead my own research. That trust gave me a great deal of confidence.

Later, when I managed an R&D team in industry, I drew inspiration from the way Omry and Shay led their laboratories. I wanted my team to feel trusted and free to pursue their own ideas.

How did you move from academia to industry, and what led you to study business administration?

After managing Shay's lab, I joined ProFuse Technology in 2021, a biotechnology startup spun out of the Weizmann Institute of Science that specializes in muscle tissue engineering for the cultivated meat industry and for developing therapies for muscle diseases. I joined as the company’s first employee. I started as Head of Research and Development and later became Vice President of R&D.

I established the laboratory, recruited and built the research team, and led the development of technologies to grow muscle cells and accelerate their differentiation. I managed development programs, worked with partners in Israel and abroad, and collaborated with funding organizations.

As VP of R&D, I was exposed to a business language that was new to me. Alongside questions about whether the technology worked, I found myself discussing customer needs, production costs, investment priorities, and what investors wanted to see. I discovered that I found these questions fascinating and wanted to better understand how people make these decisions. That led me to pursue an MBA at the Technion, specializing in entrepreneurship and innovation. I completed the degree in 2026.

Where are you today?

Today, I lead acceleration programs in bioconvergence and semiconductors at Road2 Innovation, an innovation center in northern Israel owned by MATI Haifa and NVIDIA. I work with startups and entrepreneurs developing technologies in biotech, medicine, agri-foodtech, artificial intelligence, energy, and advanced manufacturing, helping them move from the idea stage to customer and partner testing.

As part of the Israel Innovation Authority’s bioconvergence program, I support early-stage entrepreneurs. Together, we define what the venture needs to prove in its next phase, and I help teams prepare grant applications, prepare for investor meetings, and connect with mentors, experts, and business partners.

Sometimes these connections are with a laboratory, hospital, or industrial company that can support a proof-of-concept project. In other cases, I connect founders with potential customers to better understand their needs and how the technology can fit into their work. This is one of the parts of my role that I enjoy most because it lets me bring together my experience as a researcher, my background in product development background, and my business training.

At the same time, I work as an independent innovation consultant and conduct technology due diligence for organizations evaluating new ventures. Over the years, I have taught at Tel-Hai and Kinneret Academic College, and in recent years I have regularly returned to the Faculty in Safed to lecture in the course “From Academia to Industry.” I share my own transition from academia to industry and help students consider the career paths available to them. I enjoy returning to the Faculty and speaking with students who are now at the stage where I once was.

What from your PhD still helps you in your work today?

During my PhD, I learned how to read scientific papers critically and ask what conclusions the data truly support. In the lab, this helped me decide which experiment should come next. Today, when evaluating a technology, I use the same way of thinking to determine what's already been proven and what information is still needed before making a decision can be made.

When working with entrepreneurs, that missing information may come from another experiment, but sometimes it comes from a conversation with a customer or a potential partner.

What is your best advice for students?

Invest in building relationships during your PhD.

When you are deeply focused on research, the next experiment, or the paper you need to finish, it is hard to imagine where a single conversation might lead. Some of the most important professional relationships I have today were formed during that period through collaborations, conferences in Israel, and connections with researchers I met at international conferences. I am still in touch with some of them today, even after moving into industry.

Over the years, those relationships have led to ideas, collaborations, and opportunities that I could never have predicted when we first met. If you hear a conference talk that interests you, go speak with the presenter. If someone in another lab is working on a question that also interests you, invite them for coffee. If you have a good conversation, follow up afterward.

Many of the professional connections that have stayed with me over the years began simply because I wanted to learn more about what someone else was doing. In the end, these relationships stay with us throughout our careers and meet us at many important crossroads, so my advice is simple: invest in them.