Wikipedia

Ester H. Segal

Ester H. Segal is an Israeli nanotechnology researcher and professor in the Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, where she heads the Laboratory for Multifunctional Nanomaterials. She is also affiliated with the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.[1] Segal is a specialist in porous silicon nanomaterials, as well as nanocomposite materials for active packaging technologies to extend the shelf life of food.

Ester H. Segal
Alma materTechnion - Israel Institute of Technology (B.Sc, M.Sc, PhD)
Scientific career
Fieldsporous silicon

biosensors

food packaging
InstitutionsTechnion - Israel Institute of Technology (2007 - current)
Doctoral advisorMoshe Narkis

Education

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Segal received her bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in 1997. She earned her master of science degree and PhD from the Technion in polymer science.[2]

Research and career

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Segal competed her graduate research with Moshe Narkis at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, where she developed electrically conductive polymer systems and their application as sensors for volatile organic compounds.[3][4] After completing her PhD in 2004, Segal was awarded the Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellowship and joined the group of Michael J. Sailor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego from 2004 to 2007. There, she developed porous silicon nanomaterials for drug delivery and optical biosensing purposes. In 2007, She returned to Israel and joined the Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology to begin her own research lab.[2] She was promoted to full professor in 2020.

Her research lab focuses on coupling materials science with chemistry and biotechnology to address problems in food technology and medicine.[5] Specific areas include optical biosensing, silicon-based therapeutics, silicon-polymer hybrids, and food packaging technologies.

Optical biosensors

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Fabry-Perot interferometers

Using electrochemical etched mesoporous silicon, Segal's research group has developed label-free, optical sensors by means of Fabry-Perot interferometry. These sensors, containing pores between 10 and 100 nm detect analytes such as proteins,[6][7] DNA,[8] whole bacteria cells,[9][10][11] amphipathic molecules on lipid bilayers,[12] organophosphorus compounds,[13] heavy metal ions,[14] and proteolytic products from enzymatic activity.[15][16] Some of these sensors have been integrated with isotachophoresis and/or engineered with specific surface functions (e.g. attached proteins, enzymes, aptamers, and antimicrobial peptides) to enhance the limits of detection for analytes. She has helped engineer hybrid porous silicon materials for sensing purposes, including carbon dot-infused silicon transducers,[17] hydrogel-confined silicon substrates,[18] and polymer-silicon hybrids.[19]

Diffraction gratings

Segal's research group engineered microstructured silicon optical sensors for the detection of microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi, in clinical samples and food.[20] The microstructured substrates serve as reflective diffraction gratings for label-free measurements of refractive index.[21][22] Her group (in collaboration with the Department of Urology at the Bnai Zion hospital and Ha'Emek Medical Center) developed a means of rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing for clinical samples.[23]

Porous silicon therapeutics

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Segal and her research team engineered porous silicon carriers containing nerve growth factor for delivery to the brain in Alzheimer's models,[24] in addition to carriers of anti-cancer drugs to diseased tissue[25] and bone morphogenetic protein 2.[26] She also demonstrated the delivery of anti-cancer drugs captured in silicon microparticles with a pneumatic capillary gene gun.[27] She has studied the kinetics and degradation of porous silicon therapeutics in disease models,[28] finding that porous silicon materials tend to degrade at faster rates in diseased tissue environments compared to healthy tissue.[29]

Food packaging technologies

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Some of Segal's research focuses on development of technologies for active packaging of food usually through the incorporation of polymers, nanomaterials, and essential oils.[30][31][32][33] These materials have antimicrobial properties, allowing them to preserve food for longer times, and reduce food waste.[34]

Professional activities

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  • 2019 ACS Advances in Measurement Science Lectureship Award for her work on photonic crystal sensing.[35][36]
  • 2019 Lady Globes named her one of Israel's top 50 most influential women.[37]
  • 2017 Discovery Award for Team Prismatix (part of UK Longitude Prize Contest) antimicrobial resistance testing technology
  • 2016 Hershel Rich Innovation Award
  • 2016 Daniel Shiran Memorial Research Prize for outstanding research in biomedicine
  • 2015 Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education
  • 2014 Henry Taub Award for Academic Excellence

Entrepreneurship

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Segal serves as the CTO to BactuSense Technologies Ltd and was the project coordinator of Nanopak, an EU-funded project that developed food packaging products in order to extend the shelf life of food.[38][39]

Personal life

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Segal is a cancer survivor,[40] married, and has two children.

References

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  1. ^ "Ester Segal". American Technion Society. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  2. ^ a b "Prof. Ester Segal | Ester Segal Lab". segallab.net.technion.ac.il. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  3. ^ Segal, Ester; Tchoudakov, Roza; Narkis, Moshe; Siegmann, Arnon; Yen Wei (2005-01-03). "Polystyrene/polyaniline nanoblends for sensing of aliphatic alcohols". Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. 104 (1): 140–150. doi:10.1016/j.snb.2004.05.002. ISSN 0925-4005.
  4. ^ Jia, W.; Segal, E.; Kornemandel, D.; Lamhot, Y.; Narkis, M.; Siegmann, A. (2002-04-10). "Polyaniline–DBSA/organophilic clay nanocomposites: synthesis and characterization". Synthetic Metals. 128 (1): 115–120. doi:10.1016/S0379-6779(01)00672-5. ISSN 0379-6779.
  5. ^ "Israeli Women Lead The Way In Thriving Biotech Industry | Health News". nocamels.com. 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  6. ^ Arshavsky-Graham, Sofia; Massad-Ivanir, Naama; Paratore, Federico; Scheper, Thomas; Bercovici, Moran; Segal, Ester (2017-12-22). "On Chip Protein Pre-Concentration for Enhancing the Sensitivity of Porous Silicon Biosensors". ACS Sensors. 2 (12): 1767–1773. doi:10.1021/acssensors.7b00692. PMID 29164872.
  7. ^ Urmann, Katharina; Reich, Peggy; Walter, Johanna-Gabriela; Beckmann, Dieter; Segal, Ester; Scheper, Thomas (2017-09-10). "Rapid and label-free detection of protein a by aptamer-tethered porous silicon nanostructures". Journal of Biotechnology. Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Alfred Pühler on the occasion of his 75th birthday. 257: 171–177. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2017.01.005. ISSN 0168-1656. PMID 28131857.
  8. ^ Vilensky, Rita; Bercovici, Moran; Segal, Ester (2015). "Oxidized Porous Silicon Nanostructures Enabling Electrokinetic Transport for Enhanced DNA Detection". Advanced Functional Materials. 25 (43): 6725–6732. doi:10.1002/adfm.201502859. ISSN 1616-3028. S2CID 138853415.
  9. ^ Urmann, K.; Arshavsky-Graham, S.; Walter, J.; Scheper, T.; Segal, E. (2016). "Whole-cell detection of live lactobacillus acidophilus on aptamer-decorated porous silicon biosensors". Analyst. 141 (18): 5432–5440. Bibcode:2016Ana...141.5432U. doi:10.1039/C6AN00810K. PMID 27381045.
  10. ^ Tenenbaum, Elena; Segal, Ester (2015-10-26). "Optical biosensors for bacteria detection by a peptidomimetic antimicrobial compound". Analyst. 140 (22): 7726–7733. Bibcode:2015Ana...140.7726T. doi:10.1039/C5AN01717C. ISSN 1364-5528. PMID 26456237.
  11. ^ Massad-Ivanir, Naama; Shtenberg, Giorgi; Raz, Nitzan; Gazenbeek, Christel; Budding, Dries; Bos, Martine P.; Segal, Ester (2016-11-30). "Porous Silicon-Based Biosensors: Towards Real-Time Optical Detection of Target Bacteria in the Food Industry". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 38099. Bibcode:2016NatSR...638099M. doi:10.1038/srep38099. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5128872. PMID 27901131.
  12. ^ Tenenbaum, Elena; Ben-Dov, Nadav; Segal, Ester (2015-05-04). "Tethered Lipid Bilayers within Porous Si Nanostructures: A Platform for (Optical) Real-Time Monitoring of Membrane-Associated Processes". Langmuir. 31 (18): 5244–5251. doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b00935. ISSN 0743-7463. PMID 25902286.
  13. ^ Krepker, Maksym A.; Segal, Ester (2013-08-06). "Dual-Functionalized Porous Si/Hydrogel Hybrid for Label-Free Biosensing of Organophosphorus Compounds". Analytical Chemistry. 85 (15): 7353–7360. doi:10.1021/ac4011815. ISSN 0003-2700. PMID 23795977.
  14. ^ Shtenberg, Giorgi; Massad-Ivanir, Naama; Segal, Ester (2015-06-15). "Detection of trace heavy metal ions in water by nanostructured porous Si biosensors". Analyst. 140 (13): 4507–4514. Bibcode:2015Ana...140.4507S. doi:10.1039/C5AN00248F. ISSN 1364-5528. PMID 25988196.
  15. ^ Shtenberg, Giorgi; Massad-Ivanir, Naama; Moscovitz, Oren; Engin, Sinem; Sharon, Michal; Fruk, Ljiljana; Segal, Ester (2013-02-05). "Picking up the Pieces: A Generic Porous Si Biosensor for Probing the Proteolytic Products of Enzymes". Analytical Chemistry. 85 (3): 1951–1956. doi:10.1021/ac303597w. ISSN 0003-2700. PMID 23268591.
  16. ^ Shtenberg, Giorgi; Massad-Ivanir, Naama; Engin, Sinem; Sharon, Michal; Fruk, Ljiljana; Segal, Ester (2012-08-08). "DNA-directed immobilization of horseradish peroxidase onto porous SiO2 optical transducers". Nanoscale Research Letters. 7 (1): 443. Bibcode:2012NRL.....7..443S. doi:10.1186/1556-276X-7-443. ISSN 1556-276X. PMC 3479059. PMID 22873686.
  17. ^ Massad-Ivanir, Naama; Bhunia, Susanta Kumar; Raz, Nitzan; Segal, Ester; Jelinek, Raz (2018). "Synthesis and characterization of a nanostructured porous silicon/carbon dot-hybrid for orthogonal molecular detection". NPG Asia Materials. 10 (1): e463. doi:10.1038/am.2017.233. ISSN 1884-4057.
  18. ^ Massad‐Ivanir, Naama; Shtenberg, Giorgi; Zeidman, Tal; Segal, Ester (2010). "Construction and Characterization of Porous SiO2/Hydrogel Hybrids as Optical Biosensors for Rapid Detection of Bacteria". Advanced Functional Materials. 20 (14): 2269–2277. doi:10.1002/adfm.201000406. ISSN 1616-3028. S2CID 135765752.
  19. ^ Bussi, Yonit; Holtzman, Liran; Shagan, Alona; Segal, Ester; Mizrahi, Boaz (2017). "Light-triggered antifouling coatings for porous silicon optical transducers". Polymers for Advanced Technologies. 28 (7): 859–866. doi:10.1002/pat.3989. ISSN 1099-1581.
  20. ^ Massad-Ivanir, Naama; Mirsky, Yossi; Nahor, Amit; Edrei, Eitan; Bonanno-Young, Lisa M.; Dov, Nadav Ben; Sa'ar, Amir; Segal, Ester (2014-07-14). "Trap and track: designing self-reporting porous Si photonic crystals for rapid bacteria detection". Analyst. 139 (16): 3885–3894. Bibcode:2014Ana...139.3885M. doi:10.1039/C4AN00364K. ISSN 1364-5528. PMID 24930570.
  21. ^ US 10309958, Sa'ar, Amir & Segal, Ester, "Method and apparatus for bacterial monitoring", published 2019-06-04, assigned to Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ltd. and Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd. 
  22. ^ US 10281463, Segal, Ester & Ben-Dov, Nadav, "Methods of determining cellular phenotypes", published 2019-05-07, assigned to Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd. 
  23. ^ Leonard, Heidi; Halachmi, Sarel; Ben-Dov, Nadav; Nativ, Ofer; Segal, Ester (2017-06-27). "Unraveling Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Bacterial Networks on Micropillar Architectures Using Intrinsic Phase-Shift Spectroscopy". ACS Nano. 11 (6): 6167–6177. doi:10.1021/acsnano.7b02217. ISSN 1936-0851. PMID 28485961.
  24. ^ Zilony‐Hanin, Neta; Rosenberg, Michal; Richman, Michal; Yehuda, Ronen; Schori, Hadas; Motiei, Menachem; Rahimipour, Shai; Groisman, Alexander; Segal, Ester; Shefi, Orit (2019). "Neuroprotective Effect of Nerve Growth Factor Loaded in Porous Silicon Nanostructures in an Alzheimer's Disease Model and Potential Delivery to the Brain". Small. 15 (45): 1904203. doi:10.1002/smll.201904203. ISSN 1613-6829. PMID 31482695. S2CID 201832298.
  25. ^ Tzur-Balter, Adi; Rubinski, Anna; Segal, Ester (2013). "Designing porous silicon-based microparticles as carriers for controlled delivery of mitoxantrone dihydrochloride". Journal of Materials Research. 28 (2): 231–239. Bibcode:2013JMatR..28..231T. doi:10.1557/jmr.2012.299. ISSN 0884-2914.
  26. ^ Rosenberg, Michal; Shilo, Dekel; Galperin, Leonid; Capucha, Tal; Tarabieh, Karim; Rachmiel, Adi; Segal, Ester (2019). "Bone Morphogenic Protein 2-Loaded Porous Silicon Carriers for Osteoinductive Implants". Pharmaceutics. 11 (11): 602. doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics11110602. PMC 6920899. PMID 31726775.
  27. ^ Zilony, Neta; Tzur-Balter, Adi; Segal, Ester; Shefi, Orit (2013-08-26). "Bombarding Cancer: Biolistic Delivery of therapeutics using Porous Si Carriers". Scientific Reports. 3 (1): 2499. Bibcode:2013NatSR...3E2499Z. doi:10.1038/srep02499. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 3752615. PMID 23975675.
  28. ^ Tzur-Balter, Adi; Young, Jonathan M.; Bonanno-Young, Lisa M.; Segal, Ester (2013-09-01). "Mathematical modeling of drug release from nanostructured porous Si: Combining carrier erosion and hindered drug diffusion for predicting release kinetics". Acta Biomaterialia. 9 (9): 8346–8353. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2013.06.007. ISSN 1742-7061. PMID 23770226.
  29. ^ Tzur-Balter, Adi; Shatsberg, Zohar; Beckerman, Margarita; Segal, Ester; Artzi, Natalie (2015-02-11). "Mechanism of erosion of nanostructured porous silicon drug carriers in neoplastic tissues". Nature Communications. 6 (1): 6208. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.6208T. doi:10.1038/ncomms7208. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 4339882. PMID 25670235.
  30. ^ WO 2016151593, Segal, Ester; Vaxman, Anita & Shemesh, Rotem et al., "Hollow mineral tubes comprising essential oils and uses thereof", published 2016-09-29, assigned to Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd. and Carmel Olefins Ltd. 
  31. ^ Krepker, Maksym; Shemesh, Rotem; Danin Poleg, Yael; Kashi, Yechezkel; Vaxman, Anita; Segal, Ester (2017-06-01). "Active food packaging films with synergistic antimicrobial activity". Food Control. 76: 117–126. doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2017.01.014. ISSN 0956-7135.
  32. ^ Krepker, Max; Zhang, Cong; Nitzan, Nadav; Prinz-Setter, Ofer; Massad-Ivanir, Naama; Olah, Andrew; Baer, Eric; Segal, Ester (2018). "Antimicrobial LDPE/EVOH Layered Films Containing Carvacrol Fabricated by Multiplication Extrusion". Polymers. 10 (8): 864. doi:10.3390/polym10080864. PMC 6403741. PMID 30960789.
  33. ^ Shemesh, Rotem; Goldman, Diana; Krepker, Maksym; Danin‐Poleg, Yael; Kashi, Yechezkel; Vaxman, Anita; Segal, Ester (2015). "LDPE/clay/carvacrol nanocomposites with prolonged antimicrobial activity". Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 132 (2). doi:10.1002/app.41261. ISSN 1097-4628.
  34. ^ Shemesh, Rotem; Krepker, Maksym; Nitzan, Nadav; Vaxman, Anita; Segal, Ester (2016-08-01). "Active packaging containing encapsulated carvacrol for control of postharvest decay". Postharvest Biology and Technology. 118: 175–182. doi:10.1016/j.postharvbio.2016.04.009. ISSN 0925-5214.
  35. ^ "Pittcon". ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry. 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  36. ^ "Announcing the 2019 Advances in Measurement Science Lectureship Award Winners". ACS Axial. 2019-01-11. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  37. ^ "ליידי גלובס מציג: 50 המשפיעות 2019 - פרופ' נירית דודוביץ". גלובס (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  38. ^ "NanoPack's Active Food Packaging Shows Impressive Results in Extending Food Shelf Life: (EUFIC)". www.eufic.org. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  39. ^ Care, Update. "Home". NanoPack. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  40. ^ Society, Jennifer Frey-American Technion. "Engineering meets medicine for maximum impact". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
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