Mental Health, Bioethics and Policy Lab
(Dr. Oren Asman)
Mental Health, Bioethics and Policy Lab
(Dr. Oren Asman)
The people
Those conducting research in the laboratory come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds, including nursing, community mental health, cognitive psychology, social psychology, philosophy, law, and more. This diversity is reflected in the interdisciplinary nature of the lab’s research.
Dr. Oren Asman
Lab Director
Dr. Oren Asman is a lawyer and bioethics consultant, a senior lecturer in the Department of Nursing Sciences at the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, and a researcher at the Sagol School of Neuroscience. He completed his LLB and LLM with honors at the University of Haifa, and his doctorate (LLD), on legal competence in the context of mental illness, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is co-director of the faculty's Center for Bioethics and Law (since 2018), director of the university's Initiative for Responsible AI in Medicine, and a senior research fellow at the Shamgar Center for Digital Law and Innovation. He chairs district psychiatric committees (since 2018) and the ethics committee of the Geha Mental Health Center (since 2023), co-chairs the joint ethics committee of Tel Aviv University and the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (since 2026), and is a member of the ethics team of the Dead Sea Conference of the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research (December 2026). A member of the Harvard Medical School Program in Psychiatry and the Law since 2013, where he received the 2026 Strasburger Award for best presentation, he also takes part in the psychotherapy conferences of the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai. He has been a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Georgetown, and a visiting lecturer in Innsbruck and Cusco. He was guest editor of the JMIR Mental Health theme issue on generative AI in mental health (2025). His research focuses on bioethics, mental health and human rights, medical law, and responsible artificial intelligence in medicine. Alongside his research, he is studying for a master's degree in social work at Tel Aviv University.
Dr. Tamar Gur
Lab Manager
A social psychologist and researcher. She completed a bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy and a master's degree in cognitive psychology at Tel Aviv University, and wrote her doctorate, on feeling and expressing sadness in intergroup conflicts, at the Hebrew University. She is now the lab manager and the academic director of the Initiative for Responsible AI in Medicine. She also teaches at the School of Nursing at Ono Academic College.
Her research deals with the social and psychological implications of integrating technology, and in particular artificial intelligence, in organizational, educational and therapeutic contexts. As lab manager, Tamar coordinates the lab's activity and takes part in research on responsible artificial intelligence in medicine and mental health. Together with Dr. Asman she led the conceptualization and validation of the construct "Hyper Health Perception". Her further studies address the effects of technologies on relations between people and groups, relations between humans and artificial intelligences, and biases that appear in language models. Her work has been published in leading journals in psychology, technology and health.
Dr. Amir Tal
Research Affiliate
For the past two decades he has been advancing research and practice to promote the quality of life and social inclusion of people with diverse needs arising from disability. He holds a PhD from the Department of Community Mental Health at the University of Haifa; he is a former board member and chief scientist at Beit Ekstein of the Danel Group, grants manager at the Initiative for Responsible AI in Medicine at Tel Aviv University, chair of the Israeli Organization for Family Caregivers, a board director at Clear Sky, and a lecturer at Ono Academic College. Amir takes part in research on responsible artificial intelligence in mental health.
Dr. Ronen Segev
Research Affiliate
A registered nurse, lecturer, researcher, and historian in the Department of Nursing Science. He holds a BA, MA, and PhD in Nursing from Tel Aviv University, all with honors. His doctoral research focused on the development of military nursing in the IDF (1948–1983), a core topic in his ongoing work. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Ben-Gurion University in medical education.
Dr. Segev has published scientific articles, presented at international conferences, and authored a book and chapters on nursing history.
His clinical experience includes work in nephrology at Sharon Hospital. His research covers military nursing, nursing history, emergency care, culture and medicine, and mental health. He serves on the board of the Israeli Society for the History of Nursing and reviews for international journals. He is also involved in a project mapping mental health system needs and developing responsible AI-based solutions.
Daniel Toledano
Research Affiliate (former Lab Manager)
Graduated with honors with a bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy and a master's degree in cognitive psychology, and has submitted his doctoral dissertation in cognitive psychology, on visual attention. He is now beginning a postdoctoral fellowship at a research lab at Bar-Ilan University. To date he has designed and analyzed numerous experiments, co-authored academic papers, presented his research at conferences in Israel and abroad, mentored master's students, and managed the lab. As a data scientist with a background in philosophy and psychology, Daniel takes part in research on responsible artificial intelligence in mental health.
Yehoshua Weisinger
Researcher (and former Teaching Assistant)
Yehoshua Weisinger specializes in Bioethics, medicine, and Jewish religious law. He teaches at Bar Ilan university and a researcher at the Shlezinger Institute for Halachic medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center. His research focuses on ethics, medicine, genetics, and Jewish law, and he has published several books. He serves as Rabbinical Court Judge (Dayan), and as a member of a hospital ethics committee. He leads several social and youth educational initiatives in Israel.
He holds a B.A. in Education, an M.Sc. in bioethics and in Clinical Genetics, and medical sciences from Tel-Aviv University. He is currently a PhD Candidate (Tel Aviv University), writing his dissertation about genetics, ethics, and the environment. Weisinger has been ordained as a senior Rabbi by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
Shir Hasson
Master's Student and Teaching Assistant
A Registered Nurse, with advanced clinical training in primary care and prescription. Holds an MBA with honors from Ono Academic College. Currently a student in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) studies and a graduate student in Nursing Science at Tel Aviv University. Her thesis research focuses on ethical decision-making processes supported by a generative artificial intelligence model. She also serves as a teaching assistant in the Nursing Ethics course (taught by Dr. Oren Asman) and heads the Division of Public and Community Health Studies at the Bnei Zion School of Nursing. Additionally, she is a guest lecturer at the nursing schools of Sheba and Wolfson Medical Centers and actively promotes the responsible integration of AI technologies in nursing education.
Yuli Zamir Ben-Avraham
A registered nurse in the pediatric emergency department, with training in sedation, advanced resuscitation, and pediatric orthopedic care. Her research focuses on integrating artificial intelligence into clinical training by nurses, with an emphasis on examining the factors that influence nurses' acceptance of the technology. Her previous research, which examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and attitudes toward terminal care and nursing students' intention to work in the field of oncology, was awarded a scholarship of excellence by the Oncology Nursing Association.
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Yael Yarovitsky
A doctoral student at Tel Aviv University, co-supervised by Dr. Oren Asman and Prof. Gabriel Chodick. Her research examines medical, personality and environmental predictors of adherence to cancer screening.
Alumni, 2022-2026
The lab's alumni wrote master's theses in nursing sciences under the supervision of Dr. Asman, some of them co-supervised. Some of the theses became journal articles.
Adi Chaimov (2022-2026): Hyper Health Perception, maternal and breastfeeding self-efficacy via the birth experience
Nirit Goldfarb (2021-2025): hypochondriasis, Hyper Health Perception, social support and personal well-being
Adelina Borochov (2021-2024): Hyper Health Perception, hypochondriasis and recommended health behaviors for oneself versus others
Or Rotem (2020-2024): personality traits, Hyper Health Perception, a healthy diet and adherence to COVID-19 guidelines
Rana Abullhija (2020-2023): personality traits, Hyper Health Perception, regular physical activity and adherence to COVID-19 guidelines among Arab citizens of Israel
Sharon Guetta (2019-2023): factors related to the willingness to appoint a durable medical power of attorney
Ilana Kapit (2018-2022): factors influencing parents' decisions between preserving and enhancing their children's abilities
Gallery
Articles, lectures and community connection
