David Zada Lab | David Zada Lab

The Zada Lab

We study how the brain controls social behavior across development and aging. Using genetics, imaging, and behavior in the tiny glassfish- Danionella cerebrum model, our lab investigates the neural and molecular mechanisms that drive group behavior, social engagement, and their disruption in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Research

How do disruptions in brain development lead to impaired social behavior?

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How do the brain and genetics generate collective behaviors in groups?

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What mechanisms maintain social behavior throughout life—and why do they fail with aging?

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Recent Publications

Zada, David ; Kadobianskyi, Mykola ; Judkewitz, Benjamin et al. / Convergent thyroid-ATPase interactions regulate collective behavior in Danionella. In: Cell Reports. 2026 ; Vol. 45, No. 1.

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Puri, Palka ; Meyerhof, Geoff T. ; Napoli, Julia L. et al. / Collective Motion in Danionella Emerges from Discrete Copying Interactions. In: Physical review letters. 2026 ; Vol. 137, No. 9.

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Zada, David ; Schulze, Lisanne ; Yu, Jo Hsien et al. / Development of neural circuits for social motion perception in schooling fish. In: Current Biology. 2024 ; Vol. 34, No. 15. pp. 3380-3391.e5.

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Schulze, Lisanne ; Zada, David ; Lovett-Barron, Matthew. / A medley of gene expression adds new depth to zebrafish brain maps. In: Science advances. 2023 ; Vol. 9, No. 8.

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All Publications

Updates

We are recruiting!

Our lab is currently looking for curious, motivated, and collaborative individuals to join our team. If you're passionate about neuroscience, behavior, genetics, or imaging—and excited about understanding how the brain supports social behavior across development and aging—we’d love to hear from you.

We welcome all levels! MSc, PhD students and Postdoctoral fellows

o learn more or apply, please contact us at itschad@biu.ac.il and include a CV.

07/08/2025

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