Howard Cedar, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

"for pioneering discoveries on DNA methylation and its role in gene expression "

2011 Canada Gairdner International Award Recipient

Howard Cedar was born in NY.  He studied mathematics at M.I.T. and then received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from N.Y.U. In 1973, Cedar immigrated to Israel and took up a position as Professor of Molecular Biology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he has remained ever since. 

Over the past 30 years his laboratory together with that of Prof. Aharon Razin have pioneered in the study of DNA methylation.  These discoveries help explain how genes are regulated and have lead to better understanding of human development and the molecular basis of many diseases. 

Cedar was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize in 1999.  He was elected a member of EMBO in 1983 and became a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences in 2002.  In 2008 he was awarded the Wolf Prize in Medicine and then received the Emet Prize in 2009.  

Cedar has trained over 35 doctoral students, many of whom have gone on to become faculty members in universities throughout Israel.