Career
She is a full professor at Tel Aviv University, and the current Vice Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Her laboratory is in the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry. Professor Avraham received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States., her Doctor of Philosophy from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, under the supervision of Professor
Yoram Groner, and her post-doctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Doctor of Medicine, United States., under the supervision of Doctor Nancy Jenkins and Doctor Neal Copeland.
Karen Avraham’s research has centered on the discovery of disease genes, focusing on hereditary hearing loss. Her team takes a comprehensive approach to study the molecular basis of hearing loss, using genetic, developmental, biochemical, cellular and bioinformatic tools.
She leads the effort in exome sequencing for the discovery of disease genes to identify mutations that are relevant for the hearing-impaired population. Her group has demonstrated that microRNAs are essential for development and function of inner ear hair cells in vertebrates.
Funding in her laboratory includes from the National Institutes of Health, European Commission, Human Frontiers, I-Congress of Racial Equality, Israel Science Foundation and the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation.
Fifteen students have completed their Doctor of Philosophy under Professor Avraham"s supervision and 85 other students, physicians and post docs have trained in her laboratory She is an author on 95 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 51 reviews and chapters.
