APPD Structure

Prof. Mirelman is a world-renowned researcher in movement disorders of Parkinson's disease. She is a Full Professor at the School of Medicine of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University and is the director of the Laboratory for Early Markers of Neurodegeneration (LEMON) at the Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

In her research, she addresses questions relating to motor and cognitive function in ageing and disease and mechanisms of neurodegeneration. Prof. Mirelman and her team have published over 200 papers on markers of neurodegeneration and disease progression. She won the Aufzien Family Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Parkinson's Disease Established Scientist Prize last year. 

Prof. Mirelman will continue the mission of the Center to perform groundbreaking research and foster partnerships among researchers, clinicians, and institutions to address the challenges of Parkinson’s disease. 

Prof. Karen B. Avraham is the Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University and holds the Drs. Sarah and Felix Dumont Chair for Research of Hearing Disorders.

She was awarded her BA from Washington University in St. Louis and her PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science, with her postdoctoral training at the US National Cancer Institute. She heads the Laboratory of Neural and Sensory Genomics and is affiliated with the School of Neuroscience and Center for Bioinformatics at Tel Aviv University.

Prof. Avraham was awarded, most recently, the FISEB STAR Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership and the international CORLAS Shambaugh Prize for Excellence in Otology Research. She is a founding member of the International Society for Inner Ear Therapeutics and is an advisor for the Lancet Commission on Global Hearing Loss.

Prof. Avraham has had an NIH R01 grant continuously since 2011 and the ISF Breakthrough Grant, as well as numerous other international and national competitive grants. She has mentored 150 students, post docs and MDs and published 200 manuscripts and reviews in international scientific journals. 

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Nir Giladi, M.D., was a neurologist and a leader in the field of movement disorders. He was a Full Professor at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University and held The Yehezkel and Batya Sieratzki Chair in Neurology.

He was Associate Dean for the School of Medicine and TAMC and ran the Clinical MSc in Clinical Neuroscience at the School of Neuroscience. Most recently, he served as the Medical Professions Ombudsman at the Israel Ministry of Health.

Prof. Giladi's research centered primarily on Parkinson’s disease, with a focus on gait disturbances, falls, cognitive function, and genetic factors. For over three decades, he studied unique aspects of Parkinsonian gait (including freezing of gait) and the prodromal stage of Parkinson's disease, with an emphasis on biological markers for early detection and predicting the progression from at-risk individuals to full Parkinson's patients, particularly among Ashkenazi Jews with known genetic susceptibility.

He led numerous phase 1-4 clinical trials as Principal Investigator, chaired DSMBs, and directed steering committees for multi-center global intervention clinical trials.

Prof. Giladi served on several advisory boards related to translational research in movement disorders.

Prof. Giladi passed away on December 11, 2024. He will be sorely missed.