The Basser Center is proud to announce Ephrat Levy-Lahad, MD, of Shaare Zedek Medical Center and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as the recipient of the 2025 Basser Global Prize.

Levy-Lahad has been recognized for leading population-based BRCA screening programs. Levy-Lahad has been active in BRCA1 and BRCA2 research and clinical translation for 30 years, starting a few months after the cloning of BRCA1 and a few months before the cloning of BRCA2. She is one of the world’s leading experts on inherited breast cancer among Jewish women. Her accomplishments include establishing for the first time that risks of breast and ovarian cancer are high among BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers identified from the general population - not just among carriers with a family history of cancer. This work provided the evidence-base and impetus for implementing a free nationwide genetic screening program among Ashkenazi Jews in Israel, which has since expanded to include Ethiopian Jews. She also co-led the Middle East Breast Cancer Study, uncovering genetic insights among Palestinian patients.

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