Prof. Natalia T. Freund

I am an immunologist whose research centers on the dynamic interplay between diseases and host antibody responses.

During my Ph.D. (2006–2011) in the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University, I developed epitope-based vaccines and computational algorithms, mapping the first neutralizing antibody epitope against coronaviruses, and was awarded the prestigious Clore PhD Scholarship.

As a postdoctoral fellow at The Rockefeller University in New York (2011-2017), I investigated HIV-1, isolating broadly neutralizing antibodies from elite neutralizers that revealed novel targets on the viral envelope. Anti-HIV-1 antibodies, now licensed by Gilead Sciences, are advancing as potential immunotherapeutics.

Since 2017, as a faculty member at the Gray Faculty for Health and Medical Sciences, Tel Aviv University, I am leading a team studying antibody responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, poxviruses, SARS-CoV-2, cancer, and inflammatory diseases. 

My group combines advanced single-cell approaches, hands-on classical immunology, biochemistry, genetics, and computational analyses to dissect B cell repertoires, uncover host-pathogen co-evolution, identify therapeutic targets, and accelerate vaccine and drug discovery.