Prof. Avram Hershko

Prof. Avram Hershko, 2004 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, is distinguished work in the field of Biochemistry.

He is Distinguished Research Professor at the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences and incumbent of the Mirochnik Family Chair in Life Sciences at the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.

Prof. Hershko has revolutionized understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of intracellular processes. He studied the ubiquitin protein, which marks damaged proteins for degradation to enable continued normal cell functioning. The ubiquitin system is also responsible for the breakdown of normal proteins which reach an excessive level, a role that is particularly important, since exaggerated activity is liable to impede the very processes they control. The ubiquitin system is connected to the regulation of many basic life processes, including repair of DNA defects, cell division, and the development of immune response. Professor Hershko’s findings have provided science with a key to decode the involvement of the protein degradation system in pathogenesis and have forged the way towards novel disease prevention and cure