Friedman's techniques allow researchers to scan patient's genome and identify his susceptibility or resistance to disease.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHstem cells 88(photo credit: )
The Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund Prize for Discovery in Medical Research for 2007 has been awarded to Prof. Nir Friedman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's School of Engineering and Computer Science for his contributions to the analysis of complex biological systems.
The prize - for scientists under 40 - recognizes discoveries that have contributed to the understanding of disease.
Friedman was nominated for his work developing the computational basis for the analysis of the very large bodies of data emerging in the field of genomics.
These techniques allow clinicians and researchers, for example, to scan the genome of a patient and identify his susceptibility or resistance to disease.
Prof. Friedman's discoveries contribute to the computational basis of the new, dynamic field of systems biology.
The Cowen Fund is a Sydney-based private trust which raises and distributes funds for medical research and other scholarship at the University of Sydney and HU and aims to promote cooperative work between the two universities.
The prize will be awarded at HU's Board of Governors' meeting on June 6.
