Eldar-Finkelman’s research is focused on the signal transduction field and drug development targeting protein kinases. She is well known for her pioneering work on the functions of GSK-3 and its contribution to diabetes and other pathogenies, including depressive behavior Alzheimer’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. Novel findings also include the unique evolution of GSK-3 isozymes. Eldar-Finkelman is a leading figure in developing novel substrate competitive inhibitors (SCIs) for GSK-3 with significant benefits as drug candidates.
פרופ' חגית אלדר-פינקלמן
ממלא מקום חבר ועדת המינויים האוניברסיטאית בדיקאנט ומנהל הפקולטה לרפואה

מידע כללי
Biography
Education
1994 – 1998 | Postdoctoral work with Nobel Laureate Professor Edwin G Krebs | School of Medicine, University of Washington (UW) |
1993 | Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Life Science | Weizmann Institute of Science |
1988 | Recipient of the British Council Award to conduct research in biological nuclear magnetic resonance | University of Oxford |
1988 | M.Sc., Chemsitry | Weizmann Institute of Science |
1982 | B.Sc., Chemistry | The Hebrew University |
Research
Eldar-Finkelman’s research is focused on the signal transduction field and drug development targeting protein kinases. She is well known for her pioneering work on the functions of GSK-3 and its contribution to diabetes and other pathogenies, including depressive behavior Alzheimer’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. Novel findings also include the unique evolution of GSK-3 isozymes. Eldar-Finkelman is a leading figure in developing novel substrate competitive inhibitors (SCIs) for GSK-3 with significant benefits as drug candidates.
The research in Eldar-Finkelman’s laboratory is focused on the development of new innovative therapeutics addressing unmet needs in the cancer neurodegenerative disorders arena. A particular interest is given to the protein kinases such as glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3), and ABL1 as prominent drug targets. We combine expertise in chemistry, biology, and computational modeling to design drugs with unique inhibition /modality. Our goal is to ultimately produce beneficial therapeutics for clinical practice.
Publications and Grants
Arciniegas Ruiz, S., Eldar-Finkelman, H. (2022) GSK-3 inhibitors: preclinical and clinical focus
on CNS- A decade onward. Front. Mol. Neurosci. 4:32.
Eldar-Finkelman H, Rippin, I. (2021) Mechanisms and therapeutic implications of GSK-3 in treating Neurodegeneration. Cells, 10(2): 262.
Rippin, I., Boner, K., Joseph, S., Sarsor, A., Vaks, L., Eldar-Finkelman, H. (2021) Inhibition of GSK-3 ameliorates the pathogenesis of Huntington's disases. Neurobiology of Disease, 154, 105336.
Rippin, I., Khazanov, N., Ben Joseph, S., Kudinov, T., Berent, E., Arciniegas Ruiz, S-M., Marciano, D., Levy, L., Gruzman, A., Senderowitz, Eldar-Finkelman, H. (2021) Discovery and design of novel small molecule GSK-3 inhibitors targeting the substrate binding site. (IJMS, 21: 8709.
Avrahami, L., Paz, R., Dominko, Silva Hecimovic, S., Bucci, C., Eldar-Finkelman, H. (2020) GSK-3-TSC axis governs lysosomal acidification through autophagy and endocytic pathways. Cell. Signal. 71: 109597.
Pardo, M., Cheng, Y., Velmeshe, D., Magistri, M., Eldar-Finkelman, H., Martinez, A., Faghihi, M.A., Jope, R.S., Beurel,E. (2017) Intranasal siRNA administration reveals IGF2 deficiency contributes to impaired cognition in Fragile X syndrome mice. JCI Insight 2:e91782.
Licht-Murava, A., Paz, R., Vaks L., Avrahami, L., Plotkin,B., Eisenstein, M., Eldar-Finkelman,H. (2016) A unique type of GSK-3 inhibitor brings new opportunities to the clinic. Sci Signal, 9(454), ra110.