Shulamit Levenberg
Shulamit Levenberg | |
|---|---|
 Prof. Shulamit Levenberg, 2018 | |
| Known for | Research on the engineering of human tissue constructs Production of cultured meat |
Shulamit Levenberg (born 1969 in Israel) is an Israeli professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.[1] She is the head of the Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory and served as the Dean of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering from 2016 to 2020.[2] Her research focuses on tissue engineering from stem cells, vascularization of engineered tissues, and cell differentiation on polymeric scaffolds.[2]
Biography and academic career
Levenberg attended the Ulpanat Kfar Pines high school and completed her national service as a tour guide at a field school in Jerusalem.[3] She earned her Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Biology from the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[4] She then completed a direct Ph.D. track in Molecular Cell Biology at the Feinberg Graduate School of the Weizmann Institute of Science under the supervision of Professor Benjamin Geiger.[4]
Following her doctorate, she conducted her post-doctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[5] She worked at MIT for five years as a research associate in the lab of Professor Robert Langer.[6] In 2011–2012, she spent a sabbatical year as a visiting professor at Harvard University.[4]
Research and scientific work
Levenberg conducts interdisciplinary research focused on stem cells and tissue engineering.[4] She is the head of the Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory and also serves as the director of the Technion Center for 3D Bioprinting.[1][2][4] Her pioneering work focuses on the in vitro vascularization of engineered tissues to improve the survival and perfusion of engineered grafts upon implantation.[4][5] Her laboratory was the first to engineer vascularized tissue flaps, offering novel reconstruction techniques using engineered tissue constructs.[4] Additionally, her research investigates the effects of scaffold stiffness and mechanical tensile forces on the early differentiation and 3D organization of stem cells on biodegradable polymeric scaffolds.[2][4] She has also developed unique stem-cell engineered tissue constructs aimed at inducing the regeneration and repair of injured spinal cords.[4][5][7] Levenberg's lab utilizes these complex tissue models to deepen the understanding of various disease mechanisms and to improve tissue repair applications, including bone and muscle reconstruction.[5][8]
Entrepreneurship and commercial ventures
In addition to her academic research, Levenberg is a prominent figure in the biotechnology and food technology sectors, translating laboratory innovations into commercial applications.[7] In 2017, she co-founded Aleph Farms, a cellular agriculture company, alongside the food-tech incubator "The Kitchen Hub" of Strauss Group and entrepreneur Didier Toubia.[7] Serving as the company's Chief Scientific Advisor, she leveraged her extensive expertise in 3D bioprinting and tissue engineering to help develop the world's first slaughter-free cultivated steak grown on a plant protein matrix.[7] Beyond her work in cellular agriculture, Levenberg has expanded her entrepreneurial ventures into the medical and diagnostics fields.[9] She is the Co-founder and Scientific Advisory Board member of NurExone Biologics, which focuses on translational applications for spinal cord regeneration.[1][2][9] Additionally, she co-founded NanoSynex, a medical technology company utilizing a microfluidic nanoliter droplet platform developed in her lab for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing.[5][2]
Awards and recognition
Levenberg has received numerous prestigious national and international awards for her scientific contributions.[1] In 2006, she was named a "Research Leader" in tissue engineering by Scientific American as part of their Top 50 scientists list.[6][7]
In 2018, she received the Rappaport Prize for Biomedical Research in the Senior Researcher category.[10] She was awarded the Bruno Memorial Award in 2019.[4]
In 2022, she was featured in Forbes magazine's "50 Over 50" list for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.[11] Most recently, in 2023, she was elected as a Fellow of the American National Academy of Inventors (NAI).[1][9]
Personal life
Levenberg is married to Yehuda, and they have six children.[8] They live in Moreshet, a communal settlement in the Misgav Regional Council in the Lower Galilee region of Israel.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "פרופ' שולמית לבנברג".
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Levenberg Lab – Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory". levenberglab.net.technion.ac.il. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- 1 2 "סיפור הצלחה: 20 הנשים המשפיעות בישראל". www.news1.co.il (in Hebrew). 2010-08-04. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Shulamit Levenberg". iias.huji.ac.il. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Meet 3 Trailblazing Women - Shulamit Levenberg". BSF. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- 1 2 "Shulamit Levenberg". American Technion Society. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- 1 2 3 4 5 אשכנזי, שני (2021-03-01). "50 הנשים המשפיעות של ישראל 2021: פרופ' שולמית לבנברג". גלובס (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- 1 2 "מעמיקים אל שורשי המחלות". kolhamada.isf.org.il. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- 1 2 3 "Shulamit Levenberg".
- ↑ "about". www.rappaport-prize.org.il. Archived from the original on 2025-06-22. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- ↑ "50 Over 50: EMEA 2022". www.forbesafrica.com. 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2026-06-22.