Avram Hershko (, ; born December 31, 1937) is an Hungarian-born Israeli

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004.

Biography

He was born Herskó Ferenc in Karcag,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family, the son of Shoshana/Margit 'Manci' (née Wulc) and Moshe Hershko, both teachers. including the Nobel Lecture ''The Ubiquitin System for Protein Degradation and some of its Roles in the Control of the Cell Division Cycle'' During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, his father was forced into labor service in the Hungarian army and then taken as a prisoner by the Soviet Army. For years, Avram's family didn't known anything about what had happened to his father. Avram, his mother and older brother Chaim/Laszlo 'Laci' were put in a ghetto in

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian ...

. During the final days of the ghetto, most Jews were sent to be murdered in Auschwitz, but Avram and his family managed to board trains that took them to a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, where they were forced into labor until the end of the war. Avram and his mother and brother survived the war and returned to their home. His father returned as well, 4 years after they had last seen him. Hershko and his family emigrated to Israel in 1950 and settled in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He received his MD in 1965 and his PhD in 1969 from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

- Hadassah Medical Center. He was a postdoctoral scholar at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

. He is currently a Distinguished Professor at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

and a Distinguished Adjunct Professor at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Along with Aaron Ciechanover and Irwin Rose, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation. The ubiquitin- proteasome system has a critical role in maintaining the homeostasis of cells and is believed to be involved in the development and progression of diseases such as cancer, muscular and neurological diseases, and immune and inflammatory responses. His contributions to science directly helped cure one of his long-time friends of cancer.

Honours and awards

*1987 – Weizmann Prize for Sciences *1994 –

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

in Biochemistry *1999 – Canada Gairdner International Award (with Alexander Varshavsky) *2000 – Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (with Aaron Ciechanover and Varshavsky) *2000 – Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize (with Varshavsky) *2000 – Member, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities *2001 – Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(with Varshavsky) *2001 – Massry Prize from the Keck School of Medicine of USC,

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(with Varshavsky) *2001 – Wolf Prize in Medicine (with Varshavsky) for "the discovery of the ubiquitin system of intracellular protein degradation and the crucial functions of this system in cellular regulation." *2002 – The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture in the category of Life Sciences (with Ciechanover and Leo Sachs) *2002 – E.B. Wilson Medal (with Varshavsky) *2003 – Foreign Associate,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, USA *2004 – Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery with Ciechanover and Irwin Rose, of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation *2005 – Elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

Publications

* * * * * *

Involvement with biotechnology

Hershko serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Oramed Pharmaceuticals.

References

External links

* including the Nobel Lecture ''The Ubiquitin System for Protein Degradation and some of its Roles in the Control of the Cell Division Cycle''
Website at the TechnionAvram Hershko's Short Talk: "Lessons from My Life in Science"

Crooked Timber

Jewish Virtual Library
Ubiquitin-Mediated Protein Degradation: From the lab to the bedside
Dan Hersko
The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hershko, Avram 1937 births Living people Nobel laureates in Chemistry Hungarian Nobel laureates Israeli Nobel laureates The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School alumni Hungarian biochemists Hungarian emigrants to Israel Hungarian Jews Israel Prize in biochemistry recipients EMET Prize recipients in the Life Sciences Israeli biochemists Israeli Jews Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Scientists from Haifa People from Karcag Academic staff of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology Wolf Prize in Medicine laureates Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research Massry Prize recipients Schleiden Medal recipients Jewish concentration camp survivors Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Members of the American Philosophical Society New York University faculty University of California, San Francisco alumni Weizmann Prize recipients