An expert in and DNA damage repair and cancer, Prof. Ayoub’s lab focuses on cell biology, CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, DNA damage repair, gene regulation, cancer, and targeted cancer therapy. He and his team of researchers are interested in understanding how cells repair DNA damage. As such, their work centers on identifying new DNA repair proteins, and characterizing their role in DNA damage repair and cancer development. Their end goal is to translate discoveries into diagnostics to detect cancer early and to develop personalized therapeutic tools for combating cancer and other disorders. Among his many accomplishments, research conducted with Technion Professor Ashraf Brik discovered unique peptides that can bind with and destroy cancer cells.
Prof. Ayoub earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and his master’s with a distinction in genetics — both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He continued at Hebrew University in the Hadassah Medical School for his Ph.D. and was a post-doctoral fellow for three years at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge University before joining the Technion in 2009. He is involved in many Technion activities, including the Technion graduate committee “The Technion Towards the Next 100 Years” and the Technion “Campus Leader” program.
Prof. Ayoub is the recipient of many awards including a scholarship for excellence in research from the Israel Cancer Association (2020), the Technion’s Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education (2019), the Maaof fellowship for Outstanding Arab lecturers (2009-2012), the International Agency for Research on Cancer fellowship (2003-2005), and many others.
Along with a dozen other Arab faculty members from all Israeli universities, Prof. Ayoub co-founded Al-Maram, meaning “peak” or “high up.” Its members visit Arab high schools throughout Israel to serve as a role model and encourage the study of the sciences. Among his many other professional activities, Prof. Ayoub served for 5 years as a deputy dean for graduate study in the Faculty of Biology, and is chairperson of the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) – Molecular Biology Committee as well as chair of the ISF’s Israel-Singapore Biochemistry Committee and the First Austrian-Israeli Scientific Research Program of Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology.
Prof. Ayoub is married, has three children, and lives in Haifa.
