Israel Kellersztein was born in Mexico and moved to Israel at the age of 20. He completed his BSc and MSc in Polymer Engineering at Shenkar College, followed by a PhD at the Weizmann Institute of Science in the group of Prof. Daniel Wagner, where he studied the multiscale structure and mechanics of scorpion pincers.

As a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar at Caltech, he joined Prof. Chiara Daraio’s group, where he developed 3D-printed biocomposites derived from microalgae. His research integrated materials formulation, process development, and mechanical testing to explore how biological principles guide the design of sustainable functional materials.

In 2025, Israel joined the Department of Materials Engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His lab conducts fundamental research into how structure and composition across scales govern the mechanical and functional behavior of biological and bio-based materials, aiming to profoundly expand the basic understanding of structure–function relationships and enable the design of multifunctional systems.