Dr. Lital Adler

Department of Biological Regulation

Dr. Lital Adler completed her BSc in Medical Research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2003). After graduate studies in the Medical School’s Department of Radiobiology and Biotechnology, she joined a direct-to-doctorate program at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, earning her PhD in Biochemistry in 2012. Her postdoctoral training was undertaken under the supervision of Dr. Ayelet Erez at the Weizmann Institute (2013-2014), and Prof. Elizabeth Mellins at Stanford University (2015-2017). She returned to the Weizmann Institute as a Staff Scientist in Dr. Erez’s lab in 2017.

Dr. Adler’s research focuses on urea cycle enzymes. The urea cycle is a process that removes toxic ammonia—a natural by-product of protein metabolism—from the body. The expression of urea cycle enzymes is systemically altered in cancer patients. An expert both in immunology and in various molecular and cellular biology methodologies—including gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and liquid chromatography—Dr. Adler’s work in the Erez lab has contributed to the discovery of how single-gene mutations that cause a toxic ammonia build-up in children is also involved in cancer progression.

Dr. Adler has co-authored over a dozen papers, and is the recipient of a number of prestigious honors including the Weizmann Institute’s Dean of Faculty Fellowship (2013); the NIH T32 postdoctoral Fellowship in Immunology (2015-2016); and the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship from Stanford (2016-2017).

Dr. Adler is married to Tahg, a global high-tech recruiting manager, and is proud mother to four active young boys. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, reading historical novels, and walking her dog, Panda.