Team

Shai Efrati, MD

Professor Shai Efrati is the founder and director of the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at Shamir Medical Center. Under Prof. Efrati’s management, the Sagol Center has become one of the largest hyperbaric centers worldwide, currently treating more than 200 patients per day. His research focuses on novel aspects of hyperbaric medicine and brain rehabilitation (neuroplasticity). Prof. Efrati also serves as director of research & development at Shamir Medical Center and is a professor at the Sackler School of Medicine and the Sagol School of Neuroscience in Tel Aviv University. Since 2008, Prof. Efrati has served as chairman of the Israeli Society for Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. Prof. Efrati completed his MD at Ben Gurion University and specialized in internal medicine and nephrology.

Professor Efrati is also Co-Founder and Chair of the Medical Advisory Board for
Aviv Scientific, a world leader in improving brain performance and treating the aging process.

Amir Hadanny, MDS

Senior physician specialized in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. Dr. Amir Hadanny is a certified neurosurgeon and a hyperbaric physician. He serves as the Chief Medical Research Officer at the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research and Shamir Medical Center. For the past decade, Dr. Hadanny has worked alongside Professor Shai Efrati on novel research focused on neurorehabilitation, neuroplasticity, and physiology. He has published more than 25 research papers focused on the effects of HBOT and its impact on cognitive and physical performance. Dr. Hadanny has been recognized for outstanding achievements while in medical school and during his internship and residency. Prior to his role with the Sagol Center, Dr. Hadanny served as Chief Resident in the Galil Medical Center neurosurgery department. He earned his MD from Tel Aviv University and is currently finalizing his Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Machine Learning in Bar Ilan University.

Nir Polak, MD

Senior physician specialized in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. Dr. Polak has been a practicing physician at the Sagol Center since 2017.  Dr. Polak’s main field of interest is the treatment of non-healing wounds, radiation injuries, and diving and emergency hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) treatments. He is a diving physician and a lecturer and is involved in the research conducted at the Sagol Center. Dr. Polak graduated from Semmelweis University in Budapest in 2005.

Keren Doenyas-Barak, DMD

Senior physician specialized in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. Dr. Doenyas-Barak is a physician at the Sagol Center, where she studies the effect of HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen therapy) on PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Dr. Doenyas-Barak obtained her Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2002. After practicing internal medicine and nephrology, today Dr. Doenyas-Bara is a senior nephrologist in the nephrology department at Yitzchak Shamir Medical Center. 

Karin Elman-Shina, MD

Senior physician specialized in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. Dr. Elman-Shina is a physician at the Sagol Center, where she integrates functional neurology in the treatment of cognitive patients that undergo hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Functional medicine is an emerging field in medicine that incorporates lifestyle factors and system biology in order to find the root causes and the optimal treatments for each patient. Dr. Elman-Shina joined the Sagol Center after practicing cognitive neurology at Sourasky Tel Aviv Medical Center for four years. She obtained her MD from Semmelweis University in 2007 and completed her residency in neurology.

Shachar Finci, MD

Senior physician specialized in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. Dr. Shachar Finci is a physician at the Sagol Center. Board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Finci received his M.D. from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Dr. Finci completed his residency at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Erez Lang, MD

Senior physician specialized in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. Dr. Lang has been a physician at the Shamir medical center since 2007 and a practicing Physician at the Sagol Center since 2015. As a sport and diving physician, Dr. Lang’s main field of interest is sport-related injuries and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) treatments of elite athletes. Dr. Lang is involved in the research conducted at the Sagol Center where he studied the effect of HBOT on erectile dysfunction. Dr. Lang received his M.D from Semmelweis University in 2005.

Gil Suzin, Ph.D.

Dr. Gil Suzin has served as Chief Neuropsychologist at the Sagol Center for the past five years. Specializing in cognitive rehabilitation of patients with different neurological impairments, Dr. Suzin is involved in the research and development of new cognitive assessment protocols and cognitive training tools. Dr. Suzin received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the Tel Aviv University after completing his research on age-related changes in the encoding process into a visual memory. 

Rahav Boussi-Gross, MA

Rahav Boussi-Gross is a neuropsychologist and a licensed rehabilitation psychologist at the Sagol center. For the past decade, Rahav has been engaged in clinical work and research regarding the effect of HBOT on the brain, cognition, and complex emotional trauma. Rahav also leads the development and implementation of innovative technologies in the fields of cognitive training and assessment. Rahav received her B.Sc degree in Neuroscience from Tel Aviv University and M.A degree in rehabilitation neuropsychology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Eldad Yaakobi M.Sc 

Eldad Yaakobi is a clinical exercise physiologist at the Sagol Center. Eldad brings over 10 years of experience in exercise physiology and specializes in cardiopulmonary exercise testing and cardiac rehabilitation. Eldad received a B.Sc degree in pharmaceutical engineering from Jerusalem College of Engineering and an M.Sc degree in Biomedical Sciences from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Ruth Tuk – Head Physiotherapist

Katia Adler Vallach

Katia Adler Vallach is Head Nurse at the Sagol Center. She previously worked as a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) nurse for fourteen years. Katia received her BA in Nursing from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Eyal Malka

Eyal is Chief HBO Technician, bringing to the Sagol Center 23 years of experience in operation, safety, and maintenance of pressure chambers and construction of research pressure chambers. Eyal holds an electrical engineering certificate from Ort Singalovsky Tel Aviv and has over 35 years of diving experience, which contributes to his passion for hyperbaric medicine.