Personal information
Biography
I was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, and moved to Israel in 1970 after completing high school in Wisconsin, USA, through an AFS International Scholarship. I graduated cum laude from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning a B.A. with a double major in biology and psychology. For my graduate studies, I returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I received my Ph.D. in Endocrinology in 1980. Following this, I joined the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Chicago as a research fellow, where I focused on gene cloning and sequencing projects.
In 1983, I returned to Israel and worked three years at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology as a lecturer. Later, I joined the Weizmann Institute of Science, where I was promoted to Associate Professor in 1993. In 1995, I relocated my laboratory to the College of Judea and Samaria (now Ariel University) to establish a Department of Biology. As part of this initiative, I designed and authored Israel's first B.Sc. degree program in Molecular Biology, which was officially approved by the Council for Higher Education in 2003. From 2003 to 2008, I served as Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology.
Over the past three decades, my research has focused on the molecular genetics of hereditary diseases, particularly pseudo-hypoaldosteronism, a disorder identified by my brother, Prof. Aaron Hanukoglu of Tel Aviv University Medical School. In collaboration with him and other researchers, our lab was among the first to identify mutations in the genes encoding epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) subunits, which are responsible for this condition.
In total, I have cloned approximately ten novel genes and characterized the structure and function of the proteins they encode. My contributions include elucidating enzyme systems that convert cholesterol to steroid hormones and determining the first sequences of keratins, which form the fibrous skeleton of epidermal cells and hair. My structural predictions for keratin filaments were confirmed nearly 20 years later through crystallography. My current research continues to advance in the areas of cytoskeletal proteins and epithelial ion channels.
Throughout my career, I have mentored 14 trainees at the M.Sc., Ph.D., and postdoctoral levels, with two graduates now serving as professors in the United States and one in India. I have been honored with several prestigious awards, including:
The Hans Lindner Prize in Endocrinology from the Israel Endocrine Society.
The Henri Gutwirth Award for Excellence in Research at the Technion.
The Lubell Prize for outstanding young scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Recognition for my peer-review contributions, ranking in the top 1% globally (22nd worldwide) in Molecular Biology and Genetics, according to Clarivate/Publons (Web of Science).