Professor Yosef Yarden is a world-renowned molecular biologist and leading authority in cancer signaling pathways at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He currently holds the prestigious Harold and Zelda Goldenberg Professorial Chair in Molecular Cell Biology and serves as Dean of the Faculty of Biology at the Institute. After earning his BSc in Biological and Geological Sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1980 and completing his PhD in Molecular Biology at the Weizmann Institute in 1985 he pursued postdoctoral training at Genentech under Axel Ullrich and at MIT's Whitehead Institute with Robert A. Weinberg. His distinguished career at the Weizmann Institute began in 1988 and he has since held numerous leadership positions including Dean of the Faculty of Biology from 1997 to 1999 Vice President for Academic Affairs from 1999 to 2001 and Dean of the Feinberg Graduate School from 2001 to 2007.
Professor Yarden's groundbreaking research has fundamentally transformed our understanding of growth factor signaling in cancer development and progression. His seminal discovery of the function of HER2 as a molecular amplifier that strengthens chemical signals causing cells to become cancerous established the foundation for new cancer treatments targeting this pathway particularly for breast ovarian and gastric tumors. This pioneering work directly contributed to the development of therapeutic approaches that silence the molecular amplifier significantly impacting clinical oncology worldwide. More recently his laboratory introduced the concept of derailed endocytosis as a common feature in cancer where growth factor receptors malfunction and return to the tumor cell surface allowing uncontrolled cell growth and division to continue.
Beyond his individual research achievements Professor Yarden has played a significant role in shaping cancer research both nationally and internationally through leadership positions including Chair of the Research Committee of the Israel Cancer Association and President of the Federations of Israel Societies of Experimental Biology. His exceptional contributions have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards including the Israel Prize in Life Sciences the Leoplod Griffuel Award and the Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Basic Research. Currently his laboratory continues to investigate the regulation of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling networks with recent work focusing on pharmacological strategies to circumvent therapeutic resistance through innovative antibody combination approaches. His ongoing research aims to achieve synergistic anti-tumor effects by developing tailored cancer treatment strategies that combine chemotherapeutic agents with multiple antibodies targeting complementary antigens.
