Peleg Itay

“After completing my master’s degree, I debated between pursuing a doctorate and looking for a job at a biotechnology company, preferably in the environmental protection field. Because I studied fish pathologies and gained experience in lab work, I envisioned my future as a member of a scientific team working on direct or indirect protection of the marine environment. A chance meeting led me to a project focused on alternative proteins located in the Valley of Springs, the heart of Israel’s aquaculture industry. My company is developing a platform for transforming tissue from any species of fish into a cell line from which cultivated meat products can be produced. As CEO, my role is to focus on everything adjacent to the scientific work, but my fluency in both business and science allows me to work with the scientific team, while trying to mediate the scientific concepts into terminology that investors can understand.
The learning experience in the department is special, because of the family-like atmosphere and the smiling faces in every lab and down every corridor. Both the academic and administrative staff want to aid the success of students, investing their time and energy to make that happen. Graduate-level research always encounters difficulties: experiments that fail, results that don’t always comply with logic and common sense, epidemics that cause delays of many months… but there was no one in the department that I turned to for help who didn’t offer their assistance; there was no one I asked for advice who didn’t have time to listen to me. This concern, alongside the human diversity, make the School of Marine Sciences a hotbed for cultivating unique individuals.”