Dr. Dekel is the Head of the Pediatric Stem cell Research Institute and the Director of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology at the Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel.  He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. He received a bachelor's degree in Medical Sciences and an MD from the Technion and a doctorate (PhD) from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Dr. Dekel completed a residency in Pediatrics at the Sheba Medical Center, a clinical fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology at the Schneider Children's Medical Center and a research fellowship in stem cell biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He served as a Visiting Professor at Stanford University.

Dr. Dekel's laboratory takes a multi-disciplinary approach including genetics, genomics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and the development of preclinical human-mouse models to cast light on fundamental problems of kidney developmental biology, tissue regeneration, and cancer; while, at the same time, holding promise for novel disease therapies. In the field of human kidney development and pediatric renal cancer (Wilms tumor), Dr. Dekel has pioneered the identification and isolation of normal and malignant renal stem/progenitor cells and their application; on one hand the use of normal stem cells in tissue repair and regeneration and on the other hand targeted therapy against cancer stem cells and tumor eradication. Dr. Dekel's approach for tumor eradication has already sparked a multicenter clinical trial for the treatment of patients with relapsing Wilms' tumors.