Lab Members

The secret ingredient of our lab is the mission-focused passion and drive of our members.

Raquel C. Gardner, MD

Principal Investigator

Raquel is a U.S.-trained behavioral neurologist, dementia and TBI specialist, and clinical scientist with over a decade of prior experience at the University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Since September 2022, she has been the Director of Clinical Research at the Sagol Neuroscience Center and PI of the GardnerLab at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel. She loves the color green, down-hill skiing, her 5 children and devoted husband, and being a physician-scientist.

Yael Rosen Lang, PT, Msc

Data Scientist (2023-now)

Yael is a certified physical therapist with over a decade of experience in neuro-rehabilitation, a Master's trained bioastatistician, and holds the current record for duration of membership in the GardnerLab. Yael leads data management, data curation, data sharing, R-training, and all high-level data analysis for the GardnerLab. Yael additionally leads two independent big-data projects leveraging data from the Sheba medical records.

Shlomit Pasternak, Msc

Clinical Research Manager (2023-now)

Shlomit came to the GardnerLab with over 15 years of combined experience as a clinical research coordinator and Helsinki/IRB administrator. Shlomit is the lead coordinator of the international multi-center DoD-ADBI study, manager of all Helsinki/IRB/OHRO ethics protocols for the GardnerLab, and coordinator of the GardnerLab biospecimen repository.

Noa Angel

Clinical Research Administrator (2023-now)

Under Construction

Alisa Sheldon, MSc

Clinical Research Coordinator (2024-now)

Under Construction

Roy Tzemah Shahar, PhD

Post-Doctoral Fellow (Feb 2024-now)

Roy has been a licensed physical therapist since 2005, specializing in the treatment of patients with neurodegenerative diseases and geriatric populations. In addition to his clinical work, he has industry experience in clinical affairs, working in two medical device start-up companies. In 2024, Roy earned his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Maayan Agmon, at the University of Haifa, focusing on behavioral markers of aging in midlife. He later joined the Gardner Lab, where his research centers on geriatric traumatic brain injury.

ADI GIDALI, PT

PT Researcher (2024-now)

Under Construction

Saadit Houri, MD

PhD Thesis Student (2023-now)

Under Construction

Tal Sadeh

MSc Thesis Student (2023-now)

Under Construction

liat gantz, Phd

Optometrist Researcher (2024-now)

Liat Gantz is an Israeli trained and certified Optometrist, holding a Bachelors of Optometry and a minor BSc in computer science from Bar Ilan University (Israel). She earned her PhD in Vision Science from the University of Houston College of Optometry (TX, USA) in 2009, specializing in the psychophysics of depth perception. She subsequently completed post doctoral fellowships in clinical electrophysiology at the Multiple Sclerosis Eye Care Center (Houston, TX) and in psychophysics of depth perception at the Brain Research Center (Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel). She is currently a senior lecturer of Optometry and serves as Director of Research and Development at Jerusalem Multidisciplinary College, where she previously directed the Master’s of Optometry Program (2014-2025). Dr. Gantz’s research focuses on anterior segment (contact lenses, dry eye, digital eye strain) and binocular vision. Her recent research focuses on oculomotor dysfunctions in war-related TBI. Dr. Gantz is a fellow of both the American and European Academy of Optometry, and serves as a topical editor in PLOSOne. She is passionate about Zumba, yoga, spending time with her family, and helping her students succeed professionally.

efrat mizrachi

Optometrist Research Student

Under Construction

zohar treistman

Optometrist Research Student

Under Construction

orit lesman segev, md

Neuroradiologist-Researcher (Sep 2022-now)

Under Construction

nadav tal, MD

Psychiatrist-Researcher (Sep 2025-now)

Under Construction

Ally Sterling, ScM, MBE

Volunteer Research Coordinator (Jan 2025-now)

Ally is a clinical research coordinator from the U.S. who is volunteering in the Gardner Lab at Sheba Medical Center conducting research on war-related traumatic brain injury. Since April 2021, she led the Spaulding-Harvard Traumatic Brain Injury Model System program at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. She graduated with a dual BA in neuroscience from Columbia University and Talmud from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, followed by an ScM in Medical Sciences from Brown University and a Master of Bioethics from Harvard Medical School. Outside of research, Ally enjoys taking modern, ballet, and tap dance classes and spending time with her nieces and nephew. In the future, Ally plans to attend medical school.

alma faingel

Volunteer Research Assistant (2025-now)

Under Construction

rula jeries

Msc Thesis Student (2023-2024)

Under Construction

avital perry, MD

Neurosurgeon-Researcher (2023-2024)

Under Construction

gabby vulakh

Volunteer Research Assistant (2025-now)

Under Construction

anton pheled, MD

Neurosurgeon-Researcher (2022-2024)

Under Construction

rotem hirshkovitz

Neurosurgery Resident Research Thesis Student (2025)

Under Construction

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