EMET_PRIZE_2017

PROF. AVRAHAM HERSHKO has
reason to feel good about his work
and prizes, too.
The 2002 winner of the EMET
Prize in life sciences and medicine
and a 2004 Nobel Laureate in
Chemistry, Hershko significantly
contributed to the understanding
of regulation processes in the delegation
of intracellular proteins and
the opening of new horizons in
biological and medical research.
Hershko’s most recent work,
studying the roles of the ubiquitin
system in controlling the cell division
process, is playing a key role in
understanding and curing certain
types of cancer.
“My discovery has already
helped mankind, and I hope it will
continue to do so,” says Hershko,
who is an active researcher at the
Technion.
Although Hershko has received
many prizes over the last decades,
he says he is especially “glad to
receive the EMET Prize” because it
is an Israeli award.
“It gives me a lot of happiness,”
Hershko says, noting that he
received the EMET Prize before
the Nobel Prize, which means the
EMET selection committee saw the
importance of his discoveries even
before what is commonly considered
the highest scientific prize.
Hershko was born in Hungary
and immigrated to Israel in the
1950s. He attended Israeli
schools and received
his medical degree
from the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem,
where he
ultimately received
his doctorate in biochemistry.
His advice to young
researchers is to look for
something outside the mainstream
if you really want to
make a contribution. He says
if you don’t do this, then “big,
elaborate scientists will get
ahead of you,” and life will be
a lot less interesting.
At 80 years old, Hershko is
still following his own advice.
“I am still working, and I
would like to make more
contributions that may help
human health,” he says.
The Jerusalem
Report
May 2017
11