Prof. Yaron Shav-Tal receives Taubenblatt Prize for Excellence in Medical Research

Date: 2012-06-19 Hour: 13:31

Prof. Yaron Shav-Tal, of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, has received the prestigious Leon and Maria Taubenblatt Prize for Excellence in Medical Research for the academic year 2011-12. Prof. Shav-Tal was recognized for his research focusing on the kinetics of gene expression and nuclear organization in single living cells.

University Vice President for Research Prof. Benjamin Ehrenberg awarded the Prize to Prof. Shav-Tal at a ceremony held in the Department of Chemistry. Prof. Ehrenberg noted that cooperation agreements recently signed between Bar-Ilan and the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Rabin Medical Center and MIGAL, an Environment and Life Sciences Applied Research Institute in Kiryat Shmona, are providing a significant boost to the expansion of research activity at the University.

Prof. Shav-Tal's research seeks to define how genes switch "on" and "off" in normal cells and in cancer cells, how quickly mRNAs are transcribed, the kinetics of the transcription process in vivo, and their travels and destinations as they translocate within the cell. Prof. Shav-Tal's research has shown that the essence of the movement of genetic information is stored in random RNA molecules. Findings of his study may have implications for therapeutic application in diseases such as certain cancers.

Earlier this year Prof. Shav-Tal received the Israel Ministry of Health Research Prize for Excellent Scientist.

The Taubenblatt Foundation was established by Leon and Maria Taubenblatt, of Germany. Since its inception, the Taubenblatt Prize has been awarded to a number of Bar-Ilan University scientists, including Prof. Zeev Zalevsky, of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Uri Nir, Prof. Shulamit Michaeli, Prof. Haim Breitbart, Prof. Ron Goldstein and Dr. Mira Barda-Saad, of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, and Dr. Hamutal Slovin and Dr. Ed Stern, of the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center.