Principal Investigator: Florina Uzefovsky, PhD
Throughout my academic career I was always interested in the intersection between psychology and biology. My undergrad degree is in psychobiology (combination of psychology and biology). I completed my Masters in Clinical Psychology and my Doctoral studies at the Hebrew University under the supervision of Professors Ariel Knafo and Richard Ebstein. My PhD thesis focused on various aspects of the biological basis of empathy, employing methods from the fields of social and developmental psychology, molecular genetics and neuroendocrinology. Upon completing my PhD, I conducted postdoctoral training with Dr. Maayan Davidov, conducting a longitudinal study of infant empathy development. I later worked at the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University with Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, investigating the role of the receptor genes for the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin, in both brain function and social cognition, in autism. I am currently an associate professor at the Psychology department at the Ben Gurion University in the Negev.