University of Florida student Itamar Gal was selected as a College of Medicine University Scholar for the 2025-2026 academic year. He is currently a second-year undergraduate student and plans to apply to medical school. Gal is interested in neuroscience and the relationship between anesthetic and cognitive function. This interest led him to the lab of Anatoly Martynyuck, Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology and neuroscience, for mentorship.
Martynyuk and his team use animal models to investigate how anesthesia, surgery, and neurodegenerative disorders effect neurobehavior in exposed parents and their unexposed offspring. As a University Scholar, Gal will work with Martynyuk to investigate the brain-gut-microbiome axis in postoperative neurocognitive dysfunction. He hopes their findings will help with early diagnosis and intervention of cognitive problems, as neuroinflammation and microbiota imbalances are associated with diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
“This study offers a unique opportunity to investigate how perioperative factors contribute to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative problems, allowing me to gain a better knowledge of the long-term consequences of anesthesia on brain health,” Gal said. He will begin his research in the summer of 2025 and continue through spring 2026. At the end of the program, he will present and submit his findings for publication.