The guest of the section, Prof. Keren Avraham, Tel Aviv University: "When I arrive at the institute, I feel as if I never left. The warm and supportive atmosphere is still here, and also the familiar faces that make me feel at home"
Prof. Yoram Gruner and Prof. Keren Avraham. like at home
Most people take for granted the wealth of harmonious sounds in the world - a mother's soothing voice, a room full of laughter or a favorite song on the radio. But millions of children and adults cannot enjoy all these. They are condemned to live in a world of silence.
Prof. Keren Avraham, from the Sackler School of Medicine and Head of the Department of Human Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Tel Aviv University, is working to develop treatments that will help penetrate beyond this wall of silence.
Her research focuses on the Israeli and Palestinian deaf population, with the aim of identifying genes and mutations involved in the creation of hearing difficulties.
She got on the path to a scientific, research career, by chance. As a young student, she needed money and started working as a research instrument washer at the molecular biology laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis, USA, where she studied for a bachelor's degree. Little did she know then that the moment she entered the lab, she had passed the point of no return in her career. "As time passed, I found myself less washing dishes and more involved in the research that was carried out in the laboratory - the cloning of tubulin genes", she recalls. At this point she fell in love with science.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in biology in 1984, Keren decided to immigrate to Israel. She wanted to continue her studies there
High standards to which she was accustomed, and thought that the Weizmann Institute of Science was the natural choice for her doctoral studies. "I decided to study something related to medicine, and this is the beauty of genetics: the fact that similar techniques are suitable for all organisms - from algae and yeast to mice and humans - allowed me to immediately move into a field related to medicine. Furthermore,
I found an ideal combination in the laboratory of Prof. Yoram Gruner from the institute's molecular genetics department: he gave me the opportunity to work with him
On deciphering the genetic basis of Down syndrome".
A few years before that, Prof. Gruner discovered a certain gene, and found that overexpression of that gene leads to some of the symptoms of Down syndrome. In order to
To continue researching the gene, the foundation created a research model - a transgenic mouse - one of the first to be developed in Israel. This model allowed them to test the expression of the gene and understand its consequences more precisely.
"The atmosphere in Prof. Gruner's laboratory was fantastic. It was a very supportive environment - we all worked together, learned from each other and encouraged each other. There was no such thing as 'I can't do something'. You could do anything you wanted, all the tools were there, you just had to use them," says Prof. Avraham.
She also appreciates the importance of role models, who help students reach their full potential. "And at the Weizmann Institute there was no shortage of role models. I was lucky to be surrounded by so many people that I could aspire to be like, especially women who inspired other women like me, and conveyed the message that all we need is to believe in ourselves - and then anything is possible."
The institute gave her opportunities to participate in scientific conferences abroad, to be exposed to the science being done in the world, and to meet many scientists from different countries. "I have no doubt that all these opportunities that were available to us contributed to the fact that I successfully completed my doctoral thesis and got an excellent position as a post-doctoral researcher at the US National Cancer Institute in Maryland, where I started working on the genetics of deafness." After completing her post-doctoral research, she returned to Israel and joined Tel Aviv University, where she continues to research the genetic causes of deafness. Her research group consists of 10 research students, a research associate, and two postdoctoral researchers.
Her personal and research connections with the institute's scientists continue to accompany Prof. Avraham. "Yoram connected me with a Palestinian scientist, Moyen Kanan, from Bethlehem University, who was interested in the study of deafness. In a short time, a particularly fruitful and successful cooperation was formed between us. We supervised a joint research student and published seven articles in leading scientific journals."
At the same time, she creates collaborations with Weizmann Institute scientists. "When I come back here to meet my research partners, or to give a lecture, I feel as if I never left. There is still the same warm and supportive feeling I felt years ago, and the familiar faces that make me feel at home."
Prof. Keren Avraham was born in Canada in 1962, and spent most of her childhood in New Jersey in the USA (she spent two years in Israel). She immigrated to Israel in 1984. Her son recently enlisted in the IDF. Today she lives in Ramat Aviv.
