Our research focuses on studying the physiological, biophysical, and rheological characteristics of healthy and pathological Red Blood Cells (RBCs), with a special emphasis on the RBC changes in metabolic complications and hemoglobinopathies.
The specific issues we work on include:
- Glucose uptake into human RBC: open (and very intriguing) questions.
Although the mechanisms of the regulation of glucose uptake and its impact on RBC physiology and rheology have been under intensive investigation for the last 70 years, we are still far from a complete understanding of these fundamental processes. The unique perturbations of numerous membrane protein complexes, the regulative redistribution of ATP, Ca 2+ , hemoglobin isoforms, and water molecules within the cell, the affected membrane charge, and adapted rheology are only a few from the myriads of the pathways triggered by acute glucose influx into human erythrocyte.
The following questions are at the top of our research interest:
(a) The regulative role of Protein Kinase C (PKC) isoforms in glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1)-mediated glucose transport.
(b) The effect of insulin, adrenergic hormones, adipokines, and sex hormones on GLUT1-mediated uptake and associated processes in human RBC.
(c) The influence of glucose uptake on RBC deformability: a possible regulative role of lipid raft constituents.
(d) The mechanisms of altered glucose uptake in patients with congenital membranopathies and hemoglobinopathies in RBC.
- RBC Features as Early Prognostic Biomarkers
- The physiological and clinical roles of various hemoglobin isoforms with a particular view on the roles of minor adult hemoglobin, HbA2, and glycated hemoglobin.
Academic positions
2024 - Research Group Leader, MIGAL– Galilee Research Institute, Israel
2017-2024 - Post-doctoral Research assistant, Institute of Veterinary Physiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, Center for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
2008-2012 - Post-doctoral Research fellow, The Diabetes Research Center, Hadassah Medical University Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
Academic Education
2002-2008 - PhD Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
1999-2001 - MSc Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Scientific Publications
For a complete list of publications please see Dr. Livshits' Google Scholar page (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=iw&user=Y4I1DxcAAAAJ)
Awards and Honors
Research award, 9th Regional Medical Conference on the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Berlin, Germany, 2009
Scientific Publications
Iron Metabolism in Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anemia: The influence of Genetic Modifiers
Distribution of Red Blood Cells Deformability: Study on Density-Separated Cell Subpopulations
Support Vector Machine-Based Formula for Detecting Suspected α Thalassemia Carriers: A Path toward Universal Screening
The effect of ionic redistributions on the microwave dielectric response of cytosol water upon glucose uptake
Hemoglobin Binding to the Red Blood Cell (RBC) Membrane Is Associated with Decreased Cell Deformability
5613260 A PHASE -- IIA-IIB, OPEN LABEL, SINGLE CENTER TRIAL TO STUDY SAFETY, TOLERABILITY AND EFFICACY OF MEMANTINE AS SUPPORTIVE LONG-TERM TREATMENT OF SICKLE CELL PATIENTS: TRIAL DESIGN AND ENROLLMENT
The Impact of Ca2+ on Intracellular Distribution of Hemoglobin in Human Erythrocytes
Red Blood Cell Deformability Is Expressed by a Set of Interrelated Membrane Proteins
The inhibition of glucose uptake to erythrocytes: microwave dielectric response
PB2222: THE PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF THE SPLEEN IN SICKLE CELL PATIENTS. A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN PATIENTS WITH ASPLENIA AND HYPERSPLENISM.
The distribution of HbA2 between the membrane-associated and cytosolic hemoglobin pools: Role of external factors.
The protective effect of the spleen in sickle cell patients. A comparative study between patients with asplenia/hyposplenism and hypersplenism
Back to the "Gold Standard": How Precise is Hematocrit Detection Today?
The Power of Laughter: “Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand!”
Do We Store Packed Red Blood Cells under “Quasi-Diabetic” Conditions?
Do We Store Packed Red Blood Cells under “Quasi-Diabetic” Conditions?
Fourier Transform of Percoll Gradients Boosts CNN Classification of Hereditary Hemolytic Anemias
Sickle Cell Disease Severity Prediction from Percoll Gradient Images using Graph Convolutional Networks
Ferritin is regulated by a neuro-intestinal axis in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
The dielectric spectroscopy of human red blood cells during 37-day storage: β-dispersion parameterization
Water is a biomarker of changes in the cellular environment in live animals
Non-oxidative band-3 clustering agents cause the externalization of phosphatidylserine on erythrocyte surfaces by a calcium-independent mechanism
Volume 1862, Issue 6