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—June 2, 2020—Cancer cells are comfy havens for bacteria. That conclusion arises from a rigorous study of over 1,000 tumor samples of different human cancers.
June 02, 2020
Covering the recent breakthrough by Dr. Ravid Straussman, New Scientist says that the “first comprehensive survey of the microorganisms that live inside tumours has found that bacteria reside in those from many different cancer types.”
May 28, 2020
May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, and Israel21C reports on research advances – including by Prof. Yardena Samuels.
May 14, 2020
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—February 18, 2020—One of the frustrations with anti-cancer therapy is that no one drug fits all: Most work well in some people but have little effect in other patients with the same type of cancer. This is as true of the newer immunotherapy treatments as it is of older types of chemotherapy. Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have now identified new markers that can help predict which patients have a better chance for a positive response to immunotherapy treatments. Their findings were reported in Nature Communications.
February 18, 2020
A new cancer therapy gives us all hope. This latest breakthrough combines photo-dynamic therapy using laser light with a novel drug to treat early-stage prostate cancer. The combination makes it possible to safely treat cancerous tissue using a minimally invasive procedure, with none of the side effects of surgery or radiation.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, is usually only diagnosed at an advanced stage, at which point it requires aggressive treatment. Although AML is a relatively rare disease, accounting for just 1.8 percent of cancer deaths in the U.S., its incidence is expected to increase as the population ages. The average age of diagnosis is 68.
Dr. Jonathan Coleman, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Research Center, and Prof. Avigdor Scherz, Weizmann Institute of Science, discuss ongoing clinical trials at MSKCC testing vascular targeted photodynamic therapy for prostate cancer. Developed at the Weizmann Institute, this revolutionary treatment uses light emitted by optical fibers that are inserted into the prostate (and possibly other areas), activating a drug that destroys cancer cells—with little side effects.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and people across the world are helping raise awareness and support through runs, walks, events – and, at the Weizmann Institute of Science, through research.
Before breakthroughs in breast cancer research ever appear in the news or on the market, there are cadres of scientists working tirelessly to discover new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat this all-too-common disease. Here are some of our advances over just the past year:
Ewing sarcoma is a bone cancer that appears mainly in teenagers. Caused by a single defective gene, once it spreads to distant organs it is hard to treat. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now discovered molecular interactions underlying Ewing sarcomas and proposed a potential treatment that has shown promise in a study in mice. These findings were published in Cell Reports.
October 02, 2019
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