Prof. Itzhak Mizrahi Ph.D. is currently an Associate Professor at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.  He received his Ph.D. in microbiology at the excellent students program of Tel Aviv University and did his postdoctoral research at the Technion in Israel. He was introduced to rumen microbiology in 2010 when he was accepted as a PI at ARO – Volcani Center. He immediately identified the rumen as a fascinating microbial environment that could serve for both agricultural studies and basic microbial ecology. He marked the study of the structure and function of this microbial community and its effect on the hosting animal as a central element of his work. During recent years of his activity as a PI in the field he was able to make a noticeable footprint and contribution to this field by providing evidence for deterministic forces that govern the succession and the establishment of this ecosystem, as well as describing horizontal gene flow within this system via plasmids. His research group is currently involved with understanding the fundamental process affecting gut microbial community structures and horizontal gene transfer in the rumen.