Prof. Eli Keshet to receive Israel Prize for his study of blood vessels
Keshet was born in Israel in 1945 and studied biology at the Hebrew University, and did his doctorate between the years 1970 and 1975. He was appointed a professor in 1993.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFProf. Eli Keshet(photo credit: KOBI KALMANOVITZ)
Professor Eli Keshet was announced as the Israel Prize winner in the field of life sciences by Education Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday.The committee which selected him for the prize, headed by Prof. Yosef Yarden and comprised of members such as professors Judith Bergman, Shlomit Michaelli and Gera Noifeld, explained their choice by citing the implications of his research into how new blood vessels are created when there is a shortage of oxygen."This process has far-reaching implications for the development of diseases concerning the eye's retina, as well as cancer. These findings also brought the realization that the excess oxygen given to babies who were born prematurely may cause them blindness, and has brought about a change in the way they are treated," the committee said."His findings have also been brought to the identification of what makes blood vessels grow into cancerous tumors, which led to the creation of medicine that hinders the development of such tumors," it said.Keshet was born in Israel in 1945 and studied biology at the Hebrew University. He did his doctorate between the years 1970 and 1975, and was appointed a professor in 1993.His research into blood vessels began in 1991, and he has published more than 130 papers in journals which have been cited over 33,000 times.Other awards he has won include the E.M.E.T award in 2006 for his research, the Rothschild Award in 2014, the Teva Founders Award in 2015, and the Benditt Meritorious Award for an American's life-work in the study of blood vessels diseases, also in 2015.In 2015, he was also accepted into the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
