Graduated from the Hebrew University Medical School in 1987 and completed his residency in Neurology at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem Israel. He established the Cerebrovascular Research laboratory at Hadassah in 1996. Prof. Leker moved to the US in 2002 to the NIH as a staff scientist and studied stem cell biology and use of neural stem cells as novel therapy for stroke at the McKay lab. Upon his return to Israel in 2005 he continued his research on stem cells in stroke. He also established and directs the stroke center at Hadassah which includes the stroke intensive care unit, the stroke outpatient clinic and the Peritz and Chantal Scheinberg Cerebrovascular Research Laboratory. Prof. Leker has published over 140 research papers and serves on the editorial board of several international journals. He is a member of a number of academic societies and a fellow of the American Stroke Association the European Stroke Organization and the American Heart Association. Prof. Leker also mentors a number of research students and residents in Neurology and Neurobiology and serves on a number of committees at the Hebrew University Medical School.