Avram Hershko

(1937 - )

Avram Hershko is an Israeli biochemist and winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Hershko (born December 31, 1937) was born as Hersko Ferenc in Karcag, Hungary. In 1950, Hershko and his family emigrated from Hungary to Israel, where he adopted the name Avram. Hershko received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the Hadassah Medical School of the Hebrew University. In 1965-67, Hershko worked as a physician in the Israel Defense Forces.

In 1969-72, Hershko was a postdoctoral fellow with the late Dr. Gordon Tomkins at the University of California, San Francisco.

In 1987, Hershko was awarded the Weizmann Prize for Sciences, an honor given to top Israeli scientists. In 1994, he won the Israeli Prize for his contributions to Israeli society through biochemistry and medicine.

In 2004, Hershko was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation.” He shared the award with fellow Israeli Aaron Ciechanover as well as American biologist Irwin Rose.

In 2005, Hershko and Ciechanover were jointly voted as the 31st-greatest Israelis of all time in an online poll.

Sources: Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation; NobelPrize.org; Wikipedia