Dr. Ruth Perets

Dr. Perets is a Physician Scientist, currently working in Rambam Medical Center, who has been doing cancer research for 27 years and also treats ovarian cancer patients. She knew she wanted to work in oncology since high school after shadowing her friend’s mother who was an oncologist. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces, she started medical school having already completed the prerequisite courses and decided to focus on research in her first year. “I tried it, and I fell in love. I’ve been doing research ever since.” Dr. Perets completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

When she’s not in the lab or with patients, she’s with her husband and three children. Her youngest son is in middle school, and her two older children are currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces. “I’m proud of the people they’ve become. They help others. They know right from wrong. They do things for the greater good.”

Dr. Perets focuses on the study of gynecological cancers, mostly ovarian cancer. Her team develops mouse models to study ovarian cancer, and is looking for drivers of this disease and ways to target them.  Dr. Perets also established and heads a large phase 1 clinical trials unit, offering cancer patients in Northern Israel novel therapies for their diseases.