Liran I. Shlush M.D. Ph.D. is a Senior Scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and an active hematologist in Maccabi Healthcare System heading the molecular hematology clinic and in Assuta Ashdod. Dr. Shlush research and clinical activities are focused on the early stages of leukemia. Dr. Shlush and colleagues identified the human pre-leukemic stem cells and proved that a latent period in which stem cell acquire mutations exists (Shlush Nature 2014). These preleukemic stem cells give rise to AML and other blood malignancies and can be identified years before diagnosis. This study was selected by nature medicine as one of the most important discoveries in medicine for the year of 2014. Dr. Shlush’s group were able to predict AML years before diagnosis by analyzing molecular signatures among healthy individuals (Abelson Nature 2018). This study is the first step towards preventing AML. In this study mutations in the spliceosome machinery if found among healthy individuals were predicting leukemia. Accordingly in order to prevent leukemia Dr. Shlush group together with collaborators in Memorial Sloan Katering developed new drugs that specifically target splicing mutations (Su M iScience 2024). Dr. Shlush group was able to decipher the very the mechanisms behind the very first steps in leukemia and discovered a new pathway in DNA repair leading to recurrent leukemia related mutations (Feldman Nature comm 2021, Kadam Nuc Acid Res 2025). Dr. Shlush group exposed the role of accumulation of fat in the bone marrow in the evolution of the early stages of leukemia (Nature Comm 2023). To better predict which individuals will progress from clonal hematopoiesis (CH) to overt leukemia and to allow accurate an noninvasive diagnostics the Shlush lab together with the Tanay lab developed a novel assays based on single cell RNA sequencing of circulated stem cells. This study recently accepted shed light on new types of leukemia and blood ageing (Furer Nature Medicine 2025).
Dr Shlush group was awarded the ERC starting grant 2016 and ERC consolidator grant 2024.
Dr. Shlush was recently appointed as the head of a new medical school at the WIS and is leading the next generation of physician scientists in Israel.
Altogether Dr. Shlush combines clinical care, basic science, translational medicine and education with the ultimate goal of promoting scientific solutions in medicine.
