Assaf Friedler

Assaf Friedler (; born 29 August 1971) is an Israeli organic chemist, biochemist and academic administrator. He is a professor at the Institute of Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the director and chief executive officer of the Singapore–Hebrew University Alliance for Research and Enterprise (SHARE), the university's research and enterprise centre in Singapore.

Early life and education

Friedler was born and raised in Haifa, Israel. He studied chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in 1994.

He subsequently began doctoral studies in organic chemistry at the Hebrew University under the supervision of Chaim Gilon. He completed his PhD in chemistry, with distinction, in 2000. In the same year, Friedler moved to the United Kingdom, where he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Medical Research Council Centre for Protein Engineering in Cambridge and worked in the laboratory of Sir Alan Fersht. From 2005 to 2009, he headed the university's undergraduate chemistry–biology programme. He was head of the School of Chemistry.

Friedler served as vice rector of the Hebrew University from 2016 to 2020. During the same period, he chaired the university's central student admissions committee. He chaired the Hebrew University for the Youth from 2019 to 2024.

In October 2024, Friedler became director and chief executive officer of SHARE, the Singapore–Hebrew University Alliance for Research and Enterprise.

Research

Friedler's research is in chemical biology, peptide chemistry, protein chemistry, biophysical chemistry, and medicinal chemistry. It focuses on the use of peptides and peptide-based methods to study and inhibit protein–protein interactions , with a particular focus on interactions involving intrinsically disordered protein regions. His work has used synthetic, structural and biophysical approaches to investigate the molecular basis of these interactions and peptide-based methods to modulate them.

His research has examined interactions involving the tumour-suppressor protein p53 , including its interactions with MDM2. His work has also addressed proteins associated with apoptosis and cancer-related signalling pathways. He has also studied interactions among HIV-1 proteins, including integrase, Rev, Vif , and Tat , and peptide-based approaches to influencing viral protein interactions. A particular focus of Friedler's research has been the use of intrinsically disordered proteins as therapeutic targets and as sources for peptide inhibitors of protein–protein interactions.

Other work by Friedler and his collaborators has addressed protein oligomerisation and protein aggregation , including amyloid formation and the aggregation of proteins associated with cancer and neurodegenerative disease. His more recent research has also included methods for synthesizing multiphosphorylated peptides and protein-interaction-based biosensors.

Honours and awards

2000 – Human Frontier Science Program Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellowship. 2004 – Career Development Award, Human Frontier Science Program 2013 – Rector's Prize for Excellence in Research and Teaching, Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2015 – Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund Prize for Discovery in Medical Research 2018 – Michael Milken Prize for Excellence in Teaching.