Laboratory Staff

Dr. Newman obtained a BA in Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Imperial College, University of London. After graduating he worked as a postdoctoral research assistant at the Department of Biochemistry of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, where under the supervision of Professor Henry McIlwain he studied the effects of electrical stimulation of brain slices on the formation and metabolism of adenosine and cyclic AMP. In 1980 he obtained a Hebrew University Post-Doctoral Fellowship and moved to Israel. At the Department of Biological Chemistry of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he studied the regulation of adenylate cyclase by adenosine in tissues derived from turkey erythrocytes and rat brain, under the supervision of Professor Alex Levitzki. In 1982 he moved to the Herzog Hospital (Ezrath Nashim) where together with Dr. (later Professor) R. H. Belmaker he studied the effects of the antimanic drug lithium on adenylate cyclase in human and animal tissues. This work led to a characterization of the effects of antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive shock on cyclic AMP formation and adenylate cyclase activity in rat brain slice and membrane preparations, carried out with Dr. (later Professor) Bernard Lerer. In 1992 Dr. Newman moved to the new Biological Psychiatry Laboratory at Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem. Together with Dr. Eitan Gur he set up a microdialysis system for measuring the content of molecules present in the extracellular space of rat brain. This system was initially used for the measurement of cyclic AMP, which, although an intracellular second messenger molecule, is actively extruded into the extracellular space. The project was supported by the Theodore and Vada Stanley Foundation of the U.S.A. In 1997 Dr. Newman was awarded a grant by the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, together with Dr. L. van de Kar of Loyola University, Chicago, to study the effects of antidepressants on serotonin 5-HT1A receptors situated both presynaptically and postsynaptically in the rat brain.

Kyra Kanyas M.A.
Tel: +972 2 677 7413 Fax:
+972 2 643 9294
E-mail: kyrak@zahav.net.il

Kyra Kanyas is Research Coordinator for Genetic Studies and has been on the staff of the Hadassah Biological Psychiatry Laboratory since 1995. She received her MA in Psychology at University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1984 and completed an internship in Clinical Psychology in the Hadassah Psychiatry Department, obtaining board certification in 1995. In addition to her responsibilities as Research Coordinator of the Laboratory, Kyra is a practicing clinician with a special interest in severe personality pathology and eating disorders. Combining her interest in genetics and psychology, she is currently working on a doctoral dissertation focusing on intergenerational transmission in eating disorders.

Neil Turetsky Ph.D.
Tel: +972 2 677 7413
Fax: +972 2 643 9294
E-mail: nturetsky@yahoo.com

Dr. Turetsky has been on the staff of the Hadassah Biological Psychiatry Laboratory since 1996. He received his MA in Psychology in New York in 1973 and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in San Francisco in 1995. His background includes many years in various clinical settings, working with inpatients and outpatients, individuals and families. More recently he has been primarily involved in research studies. His primary responsibility is for diagnostic interviewing for genetic studies and training of interviewers in SADS-L and DIGS. Special areas of interest include family systems and sociocultural issues in diagnosis.

Osnat Karni B.S.W.
Tel: +972 2 677 7413
Fax: +972 2 643 9294b
E-mail: akarni@barak-online.net

Osnat Karni joined the staff of the Biological Psychiatry Laboratory in 1996. She completed her BA in Social Work at Hebrew University at Mt. Scopus in 1995. Her main responsibility is recruiting families for psychiatric genetic research, and she is an accomplished diagnostic interviewer. Having a special interest in family and cultural systems, Osnat's particular focus is on recruiting and mapping large pedigrees within the Arab population.

Irena Luna B.A.(Editorial Assistant)
Tel: +972 2 677 7413
Fax: +972-2-6439294
Email: psychobi@cc.huji.ac.i

Aida Shelevoy (Laboratory Technician)

Pnina Gurevich (Research Assistant)