About Us
Founded in 1944, the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science develops philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and advances its mission of science for the benefit of humanity.
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—February 25, 2021—Around 2.5 billion years ago, our planet experienced what was possibly the greatest change in its history: According to the geological record, molecular oxygen suddenly went from nonexistent to becoming freely available everywhere. Evidence for what is called the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) is clearly visible – for example, in banded iron formations containing oxidized iron. The GOE is, of course, what allowed oxygen-using organisms – including, eventually, us – to evolve. But was it indeed a “great event” in the sense that the change was radical and sudden, or were organisms that were alive at the time already using free oxygen, just at lower levels?
February 25, 2021
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—February 24, 2021—Following the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) and the United Arab Emirates’ Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in September 2020, the two institutions have announced the establishment of the WIS-MBZUAI Joint Program for Artificial Intelligence Research. The new program will promote collaborative initiatives in fundamental artificial intelligence (AI) research and will explore AI applications in domains such as healthcare, genomics, and more.
February 24, 2021
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—February 23, 2021—Multiple myeloma patients live much longer today than in the past, thanks to new targeted anti-myeloma drugs, but ultimately most people develop resistance to the medications, and in some the disease is resistant to therapy from the start. Weizmann Institute of Science researchers, in collaboration with physicians from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (TASMC), have made use of extremely sensitive genomic technology to reveal genetic pathways that characterize some of the more resistant cases of multiple myeloma. Their study, reported in Nature Medicine, may lead to a more informed, personalized treatment for these patients, and paves the way for using this new technology to discover disease targets in other cancers.
February 23, 2021
Covid-19 is now, by some measures, the leading cause of death in the U.S., surpassing heart disease. Yet not only is heart disease not going away, its rates are expected to increase due to Covid; as the American Heart Association recently reported, Covid’s influence “will directly and indirectly impact rates of cardiovascular disease prevalence and deaths for years to come.”
While coronavirus research at the Weizmann Institute of Science continues full speed ahead, so does critical work on heart disease. February is American Heart Month, so we’d like to share current Weizmann Institute research on this most celebrated organ.
The Vera and Chaim Weizmann Honor Society hosted its second virtual event, this time for West Coast, Southwest, and Midwest Honor Society members and loyal donors. The event opened with testimonials from Diane and Michael Brown of Scottsdale, AZ, the Hon. William A. Marovitz of Chicago, IL, and Dr. Merry Rubin Sherman of San Francisco, CA, who shared their personal reasons for establishing legacy gifts at Weizmann. American Committee President Dr. Gladys Monroy and Honor Society Co-Chair Larry Marks then offered greetings and introduced CEO Dave Doneson. Dave took part in a conversation with Vice President of Personalized Philanthropy Stacy Sulman about the Weizmann Institute's coronavirus research, international collaborations, and more.
February 09, 2021
American Committee CEO Dave Doneson shares news of the Weizmann Institute’s historic partnership with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in the UAE. In a first-of-its-kind undertaking, the two institutions will work together to significantly advance AI research, including through student and postdoc exchanges, conferences and seminars, research collaborations, and a joint virtual institute for AI. The partnership will also support Weizmann’s Artificial Intelligence Enterprise for Scientific Discovery, a flagship initiative that will harness the power of AI to transform biomedicine, environmental research, and other areas of science.
February 04, 2021
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—February 2, 2021—Our minds may be affected by winter’s long nights or spring and its flowers, but what about our bodies? A new study at the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals that our hormones also follow a seasonal pattern. By analyzing data on several types of hormones from millions of blood tests, the researchers discovered that some hormones peak in winter or spring and others in summer. This research, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), provides a broad, dynamic picture of hormone production – covering those connected to fertility, for example, but also hormones such as cortisol, which are mostly short-lived and not thought to be seasonal.
February 02, 2021
The Scientist features “another fantastic study” from Prof. Rotem Sorek. He and his team recently showed that retrons help bacteria fight infection, resolving a longstanding mystery.
February 01, 2021
The Jerusalem Post reports on research by Prof. Alon Chen’s lab, which mapped gene sequences to track how and where stress develops in order to devise better treatments of stress-related health problems.
January 29, 2021
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