Albert Pinhasov
Albert Pinhasov (born February 9, 1972) is the Rector of Ariel University. He is a researcher in the fields of Molecular Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology. Prior to being elected as the Rector, he served as the Vice President and Dean for Research & Development and the Head of the Department of Molecular Biology at Ariel University. Biography. Albert Pinhasov was born on February 9, 1972, in the city of Namangan, Uzbekistan. From 1990 to 1994, he studied at the Gorky Academy of Medicine, in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. In 1994, he immigrated to Israel where he continued his  education at Tel Aviv University. He was awarded a Master of Science degree (MSc) in 1998 and a PhD in the field of Molecular Biology and Clinical Biochemistry under the mentorship of Illana Gozes in 2002 from Tel Aviv University. From 2002 to 2004, Pinhasov carried out postdoctoral research at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development (Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States), where under the guidance of Dr. Douglas Brenneman he was engaged in the development of drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. In 2005, Pinhasov joined the Department of Molecular Biology at Ariel University (formerly the College of Judea  and Samaria) as an assistant professor. He was Head of the department from 2008 to 2014. In 2014, Pinhasov was appointed the Vice-President and Dean of Research & Development at Ariel University, holding this position until 2020. In 2020 the Senate of Ariel University elected Professor Pinhasov as the Rector of Ariel University, succeeding Professor Michael Zinigrad, who held this office for 12 years. Research activity. Pinhasov is a researcher at the Department of Molecular Biology and Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson School of Medicine. His research focuses on the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of mental disorders and  the relationship between the development of psychiatric deviations and stress sensitivity. His laboratory group has developed a selectively bred mouse model with strong features of dominance and submissiveness. These mice respectively exhibit manic-like and depression-like behavior with different responses to psychotropic agents and environmental stimuli, demonstrating differential sensitivity to stress. His group showed that inherited susceptibility to stress is linked to gradual development of chronic inflammation, wide-spectrum metabolic alterations, brain neurotransmission deterioration, electrical activity accompanied behavioral disturbances in emotional and cognitive domains, and reduced life expectancy. The Dominant-Submissive mouse model has been shown to be a  successful and unique tool for studying the mechanisms of aging related cognitive impairments, mental disorders, and their effects on the entire organism. Publications. Pinhasov has over 65 peer-reviewed scientific articles, including the following notable publications: