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.
Despite decades of research, we don’t know much about the brain. It is as strange as the deep sea, as complex as a computer, as mysterious as the universe – and it makes us who we are, as humans and individuals.
Understanding this most complex of organs is more important now than ever: lifespans are increasing and, thus, so are age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s; awareness of mental illness is rising, as is the need for effective treatments; rates of autism are still going up. Fortunately, technological advances over the past several years are, for the first time, allowing scientists to study the brain at a level of detail never before possible.
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—May 27, 2021—The brain is often likened to a computer: neurons organized in complex circuits serving as its hardware; its software a plethora of codes that govern the neurons’ behavior.
May 27, 2021
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—May 19, 2021—Our livers work hard to perform a significant range of activities: helping us digest food, maintaining body temperature, and serving as an important checkpoint of the immune system for everything that we eat. It is inside the liver that the unique, rich, and complex network of immune cells and pathways is set up to decide whether a food particle is harmless or a dangerous pathogen that should be neutralized and removed. The liver is, therefore, very sensitive to the food we consume, and sometimes a poor diet can induce a serious dysregulation of the immune activities within it.
May 19, 2021
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—May 18, 2021—A natural food supplement reduces anxiety in mice, according to a new Weizmann Institute of Science study. The plant-derived substance, beta-sitosterol, was found to produce the calming effect both on its own and in synergic combination with a common antidepressant, fluoxetine (brand name Prozac). If these findings, published in Cell Reports Medicine, are confirmed in clinical trials, they could point the way toward the use of beta-sitosterol as a treatment for relieving anxiety in humans.
May 18, 2021
The American Committee’s Women for Science (W4S) initiative hosted an engaging webinar, featuring two leading neuroscientists: Weizmann Institute President Prof. Alon Chen and Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Department of Neurobiology. Following introductory remarks by W4S Co-Chair Ellen Merlo, Prof. Chen provided an overview Weizmann’s flagship Institute for Brian and Neural Sciences. Featured speaker Prof. Michal Schwartz then presented her trailblazing research, based on her groundbreaking discoveries about the connection between the immune system and the brain. Her innovative work is paving the way to a revolutionary platform for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and age-related dementia. To conclude the program, Prof. Schwartz participated in a dynamic Q&A, moderated by Ellen Merlo.
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—May 11, 2021—Can a protein found in a mosquito lead to a better understanding of the workings of our own brains? Prof. Ofer Yizhar and his team in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Neurobiology took a light-sensitive protein derived from mosquitos and used it to devise an improved method for investigating the messages that are passed from neuron to neuron in the brains of mice. This method, reported in Neuron, could potentially help scientists solve age-old cerebral mysteries and pave the way for new and improved therapies to treat neurological and psychiatric conditions.
May 11, 2021
The Times of Israel reports on Prof. Ofer Yizhar’s breakthrough, saying that neurobiologists worldwide “are already using the protocol in their own labs.”
May 11, 2021
Reporting on the antibiotics crisis, Haaretz Magazine interviews Weizmann’s Prof. Ada Yonath, Prof. Rotem Sorek, and Dr. Roi Avraham.
April 24, 2021
Yahoo! Style covers Weizmann research showing that a single mutation in the brain may cause obesity, raising hope for new therapies.
April 21, 2021
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