Dr. Roee Gutman

• Energy homeostasis - Obesity
• Animal and Human Physiology
• Circadian Physiology
• Animal Behaviour

The aims of my research are to better understand the mechanisms underlying energy homeostasis (body weight regulation), circadian physiology and their mutual interaction. We use human subjects and animal models in order to assess:

A. Energy balance in beta-thalassemia patients (with Prof Ariel Koran and Dr. Carina Levin, Ha'Emek Medical Center).
B. The role of leptin ontogeny (leptin surge at neonatal age) in susceptibility to obesity.
C. The role of the endogenous circadian rhythm period-length, i.e. it deviation from the environmental light-dark cycle, in the susceptibility to obesity.
D. Clay as absorbers (with Prof. Giora Rytwo, MIGAL and Tel-Hai Collage).
E. The particle usage of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis technique for body composition analysis in the Israeli beef and dairy cattle industries (with Mop Tzafon).
F. The role of water availability in weight gaining of stopping-over migratory birds (with Dr. Nir Sapir Haifa University).

2002-2007 and 2009-2011: Department of Life Sciences, Open University (Israel).
2010- present: Departments of Animal Science and Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Tel Hai College (Israel).

•   Courses taught in the past five years at the Departments of Animal Science and Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Tel Hai College (Israel):

1.      2010- present: Circadian rhythm – Physiological aspects – undergraduate and graduate.

2.      2010-2011: From cell to organism – undergraduate.

3.      2012 - 2013: 3rd year seminar – undergraduate.

4.      2011- present: Vertebrates' Zoology – undergraduate.

5.      2012- present: Comparative Animal Physiology – undergraduate.

6.      2013- present: 2nd year seminar – undergraduate.

1. 1996 – 1998: Israel Ministry of Education Scholarship for Students.
2. 1997: Edith and Henry Everett Scholarship for Outstanding Students.
3. 1999: Mevo'ot Hermon Regional Council Scholarship for Students.
4. 2002: Tel Aviv University, Department of Zoology, Adesman Scholarship for Outstanding M.Sc. students.
5. 2003: Tel Aviv University, Faculty of Life Sciences, Faculty Award for excellence in Teaching and Studies.
6. 2003: UJA Federation of New York, Salim and Rachel Banin Scholarship for Excellence in Studies.
7. 2004: Minerva Foundation (Germany), Short-Term Research Grant.
8. 2005 – 2008: Council for Higher Education (Israel), Lev-Zion Triennial Scholarship for Outstanding Ph.D. Students.
9. 2013: American Physiological Society. Travel Award to attend the XXXVII International Congress of Physiological Sciences, Birmingham, UK.
10. 2014: Physiological Society. Travel Award to attend the Physiological Society meeting, Newcastle, UK.
11. 2014: Tel-Hai College, Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Animal Science, Department Award for excellence in Teaching.

Research Grants:

1. 2014-2015: "Honey bee pupae as a source for food for the future: scientific, economic and technological feasibility". From the Research Authority, Tel Hai College/Migal – 30,000 NIS (8,000 US$). In Collaboration with Dr. Jean-Jacques Martinez (PI), Dr. Doron Lavi (Co-PI) (Tel Hai College), Dr. Adi Jonas (Tel Hai College), and Dr. Ofir Benjamin (Tel Hai College).
2. 2014: “The Endogenous Circadian Period Length as a Novel Risk Factor for Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome”. From the German-Israel Foundation for Scientific Research and Development grant. 28,000 euro (36,000 US$).
3. 2014-2016: “Development of biocomposite-based dietary supplement for reduction of oil and fats absorption“. PI. From The Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor KAMIN grant (with Giora Rytwo). 308,560 NIS (84,000 US$).

Active Participation in Conferences

1999: The Zoological Society of Israel. The 36th Meeting.  Influence of habitat structure and food quality on foraging behavior of spiny mice (genus Acomys). Tel Aviv, Israel.

2000: The Zoological Society of Israel. The 37th Meeting. Foraging behaviour of Acomys russatus in absence of its competitor Acomys cahirinus: The role of exploitation competition and interference competition in competitive exclusion. Beer Sheva, Israel.

2001: Israel Society for Ecology & Environmental Quality Sciences (ISEEQS). The 31st Annual Meeting. Foraging behaviour of Acomys russatus in absence of its competitor Acomys cahirinus: The role of exploitation competition and interference competition in competitive exclusion. Tel Aviv, Israel.

2001: American Society of Mammalogists. The 81st Annual Meeting. Temporal partitioning between competing spiny mouse species: the role of exploitation competition and interference competition. Missoula, Montana, USA.

2001: The Zoological Society of Israel. The 38th Meeting. Moon-struck spiny mice: the influence of moon cycle on diurnal and nocturnal foraging behavior. Haifa, Israel.

2002: The European Ecological Congress. The IX Meeting. Coexistence of competing spiny mouse species: on foraging tradeoffs and temporal partitioning. Lund, Sweden.

2002: The Zoological Society of Israel. The 39th Meeting. Road kills and under-road pass utilization by animals – a preliminary survey. Tel Aviv, Israel.

2002: Israel Society for Ecology & Environmental Quality Sciences (ISEEQS). The 32nd Annual Meeting. Road kills and under-road pass utilization by animals – a preliminary survey. Tel Aviv, Israel.

2003: The Zoological Society of Israel. The 40th Meeting. Hormonal, behavioral and biochemical mechanisms in adaptation of the golden spiny mouse (Acomys russatus) to variations in food availability. Tel Aviv, Israel.

2004: The Endocrine Society’s. The 86th Annual Meeting. Leptin response as adaptation of the golden spiny mouse (Acomys Russatus) to variation in food availability. New Orleans, USA.

2004: The 1st Integrated Symposium on the Physiology and Pharmacology of Thermal Biology and Temperature Regulation. Torpor – like and leptin response as adaptation of the golden spiny mouse (Acomys Russatus) to variation in food availability. Rhodes, Greece. The lecture was selected to be presented at a student competition session.

2005: The 24th International Summer School on Brain Research. The golden spiny mouse (Acomys russatus) – a novel animal model for diet-induced obesity. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

2006: The Endocrine Society’s. The 88th Annual Meeting. The golden spiny mouse (Acomys russatus) – a novel animal model for diet-induced obesity. Boston, USA.

2006: The Israel Society for Physiology and Pharmacology. The Annual Meeting. Tel-Aviv, Israel. Leptin resistance in diet-induced obese golden spiny mice (Acomys russatus). The lecture was selected to be presented at a student competition session.

2006: The Zoological Society of Israel. The 43rd Meeting. Two strategies for coping with food shortage in desert golden spiny mice. Raanana, Israel.

2011: The 9th Preventive Nutrition – Unified Forces Convention and Exhibition. Carbohydrate & Proteins in the life circle. Effects of Chronic Weight Perturbation on Energy Homeostasis and Brain Structure in Mice. Tel Aviv, Israel.

2012: The International Congress of Zoological. The 21st Meeting. Leptin ontogeny, neuronal wiring and long-term energy homeostasis in the obesity resistant long-lived αMUPA mouse. Haifa, Israel.

2013: Experimental Biology. Long-lived and Obesity Resistant Mice Exhibit 24 h Locomotor Circadian Rhythms at Young and Old Age Boston, USA.

2013: International Union of Physiological Societies. Annual Meeting. Long-lived and Obesity Resistant Mice Exhibit 24 h Locomotor Circadian Rhythms at Young and Old Age. Birmingham, United Kingdom. Abstract won the American Physiological Society Travel Award to attend the Congress.

2014: Physiological Society. Holding Mice at an Environmental Photic Cycle that Matches their Endogenous Circadian Rhythm Period Length Prevents Diet Induced Obesity. New Castel, United Kingdom. Abstract won the Physiological Society Travel Award to attend the meeting.

2014: Timelines in biology. Chronic Synchronization of the Environmental Photoperiod Length to the Endogenous Circadian Period Length Prevents Diet Induced Obesity. Rehovot, Israel.

2015: Gordon Research Conference. Chronobiology. Holding Mice at an Environmental Photic Cycle that Matches their Endogenous Circadian Rhythm Period Length Prevents Diet Induced Obesity. Girona, Spain.

2015: 5th Galilee Biomedical Conference. Sepiolite Clay Attenuates the Development of Obesity and Prevents Hypercholesterolemia and Hyperlipidemia in Mice Fed a High-Fat High-Cholesterol Diet. Tel Hai, Israel.

• Unit of Integrative Physiology (LIP), Laboratory of Human Health and Nutrition Sciences. MIGAL – Galilee Research institute

http://www.migal.org.il/Roee-Gutman