Eran Segal

At a glance

• Eran Segal is an Israeli computational biologist and professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He combines large datasets with mathematical models.
• He started out in gene regulation, including a widely cited model (Nature, 2006) of how nucleosomes are positioned along DNA.
• With immunologist Eran Elinav he published a 2015 Cell study of 800 people wearing continuous glucose monitors. The same meal produced very different blood-sugar spikes in different people, partly predictable from the gut microbiome.
• This led to the book The Personalized Diet (2017) and later the Human Phenotype Project, a large cohort that follows thousands of people in depth.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic his team also analysed health data to inform Israeli policy.
• For longevity, his work shows that ‘healthy’ does not mean the same for everyone: metabolism differs between people.
• Takeaway: general guidelines remain the foundation, but notice how your own body responds, for example in energy and fullness after meals.