Tali Ben-Zur has been named a Michael J. Fox Foundation Research Fellow. After receiving a bachelor degree in Biology, Dr. Ben-Zur continued her studies in Bar Ilan University and obtained a doctorate (Ph.D) in Neuroscience. In her thesis under the supervision of Dr. Ron Wides, Dr. Ben-Zur identified the odd oz gene which is highly expressed in the embryonic nervous system (Dev Biol. 2000, 217:107). Under the direction of Prof. Eldad Melamed, M.D. and Daniel Offen Ph.D, Dr Ben-Zur will participate in their ongoing research in neuroprotection in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). She will use differentiated bone-marrow-derived stromal cells for cell therapy in animal models for PD. Further analysis of these cells will be done using gene array methods to identify the unique transcription factors that may play a key role in stem cell differentiation to mature and functional dopaminergic cells.