Curriculum Vitae: 1971 - MA. Univ. of Colorado. Neurobehavioral Genetics.1972 - Ph.D. Univ. of Colorado. Neurobehavioral Genetics.1978 - Present, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer; Associate Professor; Professor. Department of Medical Neurobiology, IMRIC, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School.1991 - Present, Professor (Adjunct); Department of Pharmacology, Duke University Medical School, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Research Interest: Ascertaining in the mouse and chick models the mechanisms of neural and behavioral birth defects induced by various agents, mainly organophosphates and heroin, and their reversal with mesenchymal and neural stem cell (MSC, NSC) therapies; understanding the mechanisms by which the transplanted cells exert their therapeutic action.In the mouse model, the study of the mechanisms focuses on behaviors related to the septohippocampal cholinergic innervation (Morris and eight-arm mazes). Our hypothesis is that abolishment in the hippocampus of cholinergic receptor-induced translocation/activation of PKCγ represents a principal component in the mechanism by which various substances induces neurobehavioral birth defects. Our parallel chick model, which controls for maternal confounds, involves perturbation by the teratogen of imprinting related to defects where the mechanism is again abolishment of translocation/activation of PKCγ in the IMHV (IMM) nucleus. In both models we are promoting the novel hypothesis that one major mechanism by which stem cells exert their therapeutic action is by inducing neurogenesis, i.e. proliferation of endogenous precursors. In both models the changes in synaptic function may be regulated by the teratogen- induced epigenetic alterations. Recent Publications:  Pinkas A, Slotkin TA, Brick-Turin Y, Van der Zee EA, Yanai J. (2010) Neurobehavioral teratogenicity of perfluorinated alkyls in an avian model. Neurotoxicol Teratol, 32(2):182-6 (2010).Turgeman, G., A. Pinkas, T. Slotkin, M. Tfillin, R. Langford and J. Yanai. Reversal of chlorpyrifos neurobehavioral teratogenicity in mice by allographic transplantation of adult subventricular zone-derived neural stem cells. Journal of Neuroscience Research 89: 1185-1193 (2011). Abdul-Ghani, S., J. Yanai, R. Abdul-Ghani, J. Yanai, A. Pinkas and Z. Abdeen. The teratogenicity and behavioral teratogenicity of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalates (DEHP) and di-butyl Phthalates (DBP) in a chick model. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 34: 56–62 (2012) Hamisha KN, Tfilin M, Yanai J, Turgeman G. Mesenchymal Stem Cells Can Prevent Alterations in Behavior and Neurogenesis Induced by Aß(25-35) Administration. JMol Neurosci. 2014.