Prof. Sara Eyal

Dr. Sara Eyal was born and raised in Tel Aviv. Her interest in drug research was roused during high school at youth science camps. Following her military service, she completed undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Agriculture at Tel Aviv University, continuing her MA at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Tel Aviv University, under the tutelage of Prof. Moshe Rehavi. Upon completion, Sara began a pharmacy degree at the School of Pharmacy at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and specialized in pharmaceuticals and internal medicine at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. She then completed graduate studies in Clinical Pharmacy. Her MA research was guided by Professors Amnon Hoffman and Michael Friedman and focused on the development and characterization of a gastroretentive dosage form of levodopa. Sara received her degree Summa Cum Laude in 2002 and continued her studies in the laboratories of Professors Meir Bialer and Boris Yagen toward her PhD. Her work focused on the mechanisms of pharmacokinetic resistance to antiepileptic drugs, which occurs in about 30% of patients with epilepsy. One of its findings saw the antiepileptic drug, valproic acid, and some of its derivatives, increase the expression and activity of P-glycoprotein, an efflux transporter which removes drugs from cells, contributing to the pharmacokinetics of many drugs and to multidrug resistance in cancer cells. Results of her research were published in Epilepsia, the British Journal of Pharmacology and Biochemical Pharmacology.