Bio

1. 2020
   –
   Present Time
   6 years

   

   McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

   Assistant Professor

   I study structure-function relationships in living organisms (animals and plants), structural water and its role in the architecture and behavior of natural and artificial materials, biomineralization, and novel approaches to 3D imaging and image analysis.

2. 2018
   –
   2020
   2 years

   

   Object Research Systems Inc., Montreal, QC, Canada

   Applications Specialist

   I designed, assessed and validated novel modules for 3D image analysis for Dragonfly software. I also produced tutorials and educational videos, provided hands-on and online training, troubleshooting and technical support for academic users.

3. 2017
   –
   2018
   1 years

   

   McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

   Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Faculty of Dentistry

   My project aimed at detecting topological differences of the trabecular bone network in pathological bone samples and comparison of the findings with those of normal trabecular bone to assess skeletal adaptation. This work was based on my original algorithm called Inter-Trabecular Angle analysis. My secondary project was 3D analysis of craniofacial deformations in the rare inherited disease Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

4. 2014
   –
   2017
   3 years

   

   Imperial College London, London, UK

   Postdoctoral Research Fellow,
   Dept. of Materials, Faculty of Engineering

   I developed a biomimetic 3D-printed prosthetic material for repair of large defects of trabecular bone. That novel material mimics bone’s natural shock-absorbing properties as normally found in our joints and vertebrae. Other projects included: Functional adaptation of the human foot bones; Multiscale characterization of heterotopic bone; 3D imaging and analysis of the collagen-mineral interface in bone; 3D characterization of bioglass-bone interface; 3D imaging and quantification of DNA-origami drug carriers.

5. 2010
   –
   2014
   4 years

   

   Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

   PhD, Dept. of Structural Biology

   Thesis title: The adaptation of mechanical properties of lamellar bone tissue
   I studied the 3D organization of bone collagen – the framework principally responsible for toughness – using volumetric imaging obtained from dual-beam microscopy (FIB-SEM), and the topology of trabecular bone tissue imaged by µCT.

6. 2006
   –
   2008
   2 years

   

   Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.

   MSc, Dept. of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry

   Thesis title: Frictional properties of various types of orthodontic brackets
   This work focused on the mechanics of fixed orthodontic appliances and their surface characterization in simulated pseudo-clinical situations.

Cover Art

Microscale 3D reconstruction of bone mineral patterning at the microscale in the osteomalacic Hyp mouse, a frequently used animal model for the rare bone and tooth disease X-linked hypophosphatemia. The image shows a small volume of bone in the region of the mineralization front as obtained from focused ion beam - scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) tomography. After software segmentation of individual, micrometer-sized packets of bone mineral that are called tesselles and which normally pack closely to one another in a pattern called crossfibrillar mineral tessellation, in the osteomalacic Hyp mice there is a delay and incompleteness in the space-filling tessellation. This defective patterning of mineral is associated with soft bone and bone deformities.

Quantitative 3D analysis of bone resorption events

3D Multiscale imaging of Enthesis

Bone mineral crystallites. Scanning transmission electron tomography, 3D segmentation followed by watershed transform.

The cover refers to the article “Deep learning for 3D imaging and image analysis in biomineralization research” https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107598 by Reznikov et al. in this issue of Journal of Structural Biology.

The cover refers to the article “Deep learning for 3D imaging and image analysis in biomineralization research” https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107598 by Reznikov et al. in this issue of Journal of Structural Biology.

Tessellation of micrometer-sized, irregular mineral ellipsoids in the extracellular matrix of bone is a unique functional arrangement within its structural hierarchy. FIB-SEM serial-surface-view imaging.

Ions such as calcium and phosphate are used in myriad key metabolic processes, and are central to life itself. However, their abundance and propensity to adversely precipitate as mineral requires a generalized inhibition. Selective removal of such inhibition (“inhibiting the inhibitor”) to allow mineralization can be used to define the size, shape and layout of an organism (from in utero through to adulthood). As part of this process there is the third tier of mineralization regulation – the fine interfacial enzyme-stenciling control that provides refinement for mechanical resilience, metabolic responsiveness, morphological precision and sensitivity to loading, to name a few, that apparently can distinguish life from death, and health from disease.

Vortex by Object Research Systems. This image shows the interior of a proximal femur of a sheep. The specimen was imaged usingmicro-computed tomography, and then surface-rendered using Dragonfly software. The spiraling orientation of the trabecular trusses, andthe transition of trabecular texture from a robust to a delicate fabric, create an impression of a dynamic vortex within the bone’s interior.

Golden Lotus. Top panels: three-dimensional reconstruction by micro-computed tomography of a bound foot (museum specimen, the Royal College of Surgeons, London, UK) showing anatomical structure and relationships for both soft tissues (orange) and skeletal elements (yellow). Bottom left: close-up view of the left foot of a 75 year old woman who had her feet deformed at the age of 7 years. Courtesy of Jo Farrell (Jo Farrell Photography, http://www.livingherstoryphotography.com). Bottom right: an embroidered “Golden Lotus” shoe occasionally worn by a woman having bound feet (courtesy of the Museums at the Royal College of Surgeons, London, UK).