Jonathan Leor

Jonathan Leor was born in Jerusalem, Israel, in 1955. He received the M.D. degree from Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel, in 1985. During 1986–1991, he was at the Sheba Medical Center, where he was engaged in cardiovascular medicine training. During 1993–1995, he was a Postdoctoral at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He is currently the Director of Neufeld Cardiac Research Institute at Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Hashomer, Israel. His laboratory's research focuses on myocardial infarction and the heart's lack of intrinsic regenerative ability. More specifically, his laboratory research involves the following: 1) stem cell studies that entail tissue stem cells, with an aim to developing cellular approaches to regenerate the heart; 2) reprogramming of cells ex vivo, by genetic manipulation or growth factors to improve cell engraftment and survival in the infarcted heart; 3) regulation of the heart's intrinsic repair response using bioactive materials and molecules. He is the author and coauthor of more than 130 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters published in prestigious journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation and Journal of American College of Cardiology. His current research interests include biology of myocardial infarction, both in defining the molecular mechanisms that underlie the normal wound healing processes of the heart and in developing molecular and cell-based approaches to improve infarct repair.