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Livestreamed Session
Livestreamed Session

Batsheva Kerem, PhD

Hebrew University

Prof. Batsheva Kerem is a Professor of Genetics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. She was part of the pioneering team that discovered the CFTR gene, responsible for cystic fibrosis (CF). After establishing her own laboratory in Jerusalem, she developed population screening methods to help prevent CF among Jewish and Arab populations worldwide. Her research has focused on genotype-phenotype correlations and the molecular basis of disease variability in patients with splicing and nonsense mutations. More recently, Prof. Kerem founded SpliSense, a biotechnology company developing novel therapies targeting splicing and stop mutations in the CFTR gene and other pulmonary diseases. In addition to her work on CF, Prof. Kerem also investigates the genetic basis of chromosomal instability in cancer, aiming to understand early stages in cancer development.

Prof. Kerem earned her B.Sc. in Biology with distinction in 1979 and completed her Ph.D. at the Hebrew University in 1986. She conducted postdoctoral training at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. In 1990, she returned to the Hebrew University, where she now holds the position of Full Professor. At the Hebrew University, she established and chaired the National Genomic Knowledge Center at the Institute of Life Sciences (2000–2014). She also served as Head of the Department of Genetics (2004–2006) and as Head of the Authority for Research Students (2007–2013). From 2007 to 2009, she was President of the Israeli Society of Genetics and served as the university's Advisor for the Advancement of Women in Science from 2013 to 2020.

Prof. Kerem has received numerous prestigious awards, including: Teva Prize for Excellence in Human Genome Research (1993); Julodan Prize for Contribution to Medicine (1993); Joels Senior Lectureship for Excellence in Science (1996); Abisch-Frenkel Prize for Excellence in Life Sciences (2003); The Emet Prize for Achievements in Genetics (2008); European Cystic Fibrosis Society Award (2009), marking the 20th anniversary of the CFTR discovery and the Israel Genetics Society Honorary Award for Lifetime Contributions to Genetics and Genomics Research (2024). She is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and serves on the editorial boards of EMBO Reports, Trends in Genetics, and the European Journal of Human Genetics. She is also the Chair of the 2026 European Cystic Fibrosis Society (ECFS) Basic Science Conference. Prof. Kerem has published over 145 scientific papers.





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