Avram Hershko

Short Bio:

Professor Avram Hershko was born in Hungary in 1937. He earned his medical degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1965 and completed his doctorate in biochemistry there in 1969. After conducting postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco, he joined the faculty at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. In 1972, he moved to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he made his groundbreaking discoveries. Hershko's research focused on the process of protein degradation within cells, particularly the role of ubiquitin. Alongside Prof. Aaron Ciechanover and Prof. Irwin Rose, he elucidated the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, which is essential for regulating cellular processes. Their work laid the foundation for understanding how cells degrade proteins, leading to advancements in medicine and biotechnology. In recognition of their contributions, Prof. Hershko, Prof. Ciechanover, and Prof. Rose were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004.