CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus

Coronavirus Research Underway at the Weizmann Institute

Weizmann Institute

This letter from Weizmann President Prof. Alon Chen addresses the coronavirus pandemic and the Institute’s response. We are committed to protecting and preserving the health and well-being of everyone, everywhere.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Dr. Nir London, The Race for a Cure

Dr. Nir London of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Organic Chemistry explains his lab’s approach to fighting the coronavirus: creating a novel antiviral treatment. After identifying candidates for an antibody, he and his team are designing second-generation compounds that will go to colleagues in Germany and the U.K. for testing against the virus.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Dr. Ron Diskin on Animal-Borne Virus

In this videoconference, the Weizmann Institute’s Dr. Ron Diskin of the Department of Structural Biology, an expert in animal-borne viruses such as coronavirus, shares his insights on the current pandemic. A Q&A session with participants follows.

Coronavirus

Prof. Ruth Arnon: Lessons from Influenza

Weizmann Institute

Legendary Weizmann scientist Prof. Ruth Arnon, whose universal flu vaccine is in late-stage clinical trials, discusses approaches to COVID-19 and other coronaviruses – now and in the future.

Coronavirus

Q&A with Prof. Gabi Barbash

Weizmann Institute

Prof. Gabi Barbash, former Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Health and Director of the Weizmann Institute’s Bench-to-Bedside Program, answers questions about the public health implications of the coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus

How Do Viruses Infect?

Weizmann Institute

Dr. Noam Stern-Ginossar is investigating the way viruses are able to successfully commandeer our cells in the first place. Her innovative methods, and the resulting insights, could lead to treatments for viruses such as COVID-19.

Coronavirus

Learning from Lethal Viruses

Weizmann Institute

Virus expert Dr. Ron Diskin is fighting COVID-19 by expediting two investigations that are based on his studies of similar animal-borne viruses and the Ebola vaccine.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Prof. Sarel Fleishman on Developing a Vaccine

Weizmann Institute

“This is the most important thing I can do,” says the Weizmann Institute’s Prof. Sarel Fleishman. His lab in the Department of Biomolecular Sciences was already studying SARS, which is, like COVID-19, a coronavirus. He is able to quickly apply his knowledge to developing computer models that allow him to design coronavirus antibodies – work that could lead to a vaccine.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Dr. Noam Stern-Ginossar, Overview of Viruses and Coronaviruses

Weizmann Institute

Dr. Noam Stern-Ginossar of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Molecular Genetics provides an overview – complete with helpful cartoons – of basic questions: what is a virus? Why is coronavirus worse than the flu? (One reason – it’s new and so we have no immunity.) What are the issues related to developing a vaccine? (Mostly it’s time; otherwise, we know what to do, she reassures us.)

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Prof. Gabi Barbash on Public Health Implications

Weizmann Institute

Prof. Gabi Barbash, Former Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Health and Director of the Weizmann Institute Bench-to-Bedside Program, which brings together scientists and physicians to fight disease, explains coronavirus from the perspective of public health. He also speaks to how it spreads and how it is different from other contagions.

Coronavirus

Homeschooling in the Time of Corona

Weizmann Compass

The Davidson Institute of Science Education, Weizmann’s education arm, is offering online, distance-learning programs for kids (and their families) who are stuck at home.

Coronavirus

New Weapon in the War on Animal-Borne Viruses

Weizmann Compass

Dr. Ron Diskin and his team engineered a molecule that could lead to treatments for viruses that cross over from animals to humans – and may even prevent the infection in the first place. They are working to apply it to coronavirus.

Coronavirus

Stuck at Home?

Davidson Institute of Science Education

The Davidson Institute, Weizmann’s education arm, has a special site, Stuck at Home, that will keep your children entertained (and educated) with science-related trivia games, videos, experiments, and other activities.

Coronavirus

Chinese Students Extend Their Stay

Weizmann Institute

Fifteen outstanding physics students from leading Chinese universities came to Weizmann for a month-long program – but just as it ended, coronavirus broke out in China and flights were cancelled. Still on campus, they share their stories.

Coronavirus

Israeli Researchers Hope AI Can Tame COVID-19, and They Want Our Help

Haaretz

Israeli researchers hope to use artificial intelligence to map clusters of the new coronavirus in order to aid government efforts to curb the spread of the disease. To that end, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are collecting information about symptoms from interested members of the public.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Prof. Sarel Fleishman, Computational Design of CoV-Targting Antibodies

Weizmann Institute

In this videoconference hosted by Weizmann Canada, Prof. Sarel Fleishman of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Biomolecular Sciences gives a progress report on his lab’s coronavirus research. The coronavirus is so named because it is covered in “spikes”…

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Coronavirus Testing Center Opens on Campus

Weizmann Institute

Israel is suffering a shortage of coronavirus tests, and the Weizmann Institute – working with the Ministry of Health – has transformed scientific facilities into medical facilities in order to conduct more testing. Institute leadership expects that the labs should be able to run 4,000 tests per day.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – It’s a Revolution: Massive Ramp-Up in Safer Testing

Weizmann Institute

In just one week, Profs. Ido Amit and Eran Elinav, both of the Department of Immunology, have built one of the highest-tech labs in the world. They developed a new type of PCR testing that is tremendously fast: if current capabilities test one patient at a time, the new method can test all of Israel simultaneously. The scientists intend to make their method available to anyone who needs it.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – What is a Vaccine?

Weizmann Institute

“Vaccination is life.” Weizmann scientists give us a quick history lesson on the vaccine. Dr. Ziv Shulman, Prof Ruth Arnon, and Prof. Ido Amit explain humankind’s long knowledge of the immune system, Edward Jenner’s discovery of the vaccine, and the public-health implications of vaccination.

Coronavirus

Towards a Drug Against COVID-19

Weizmann Compass

An initiative co-led by Dr. Nir London has brought together drug-development experts – from academia in four countries to biotech and contract research organizations to specialized software companies – to accelerate development of a COVID-19 treatment.

Coronavirus

How Do Healthy Cells Defend Themselves Against a Virus?

Weizmann Compass

In fighting a virus, our immune system adopts different strategies depending on the threat, but how? Prof. Ido Amit and colleagues in Italy have found a protein that issues instructions for mounting an anti-viral defense.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus by the Numbers

Weizmann Institute

Numerical data sometimes reveal facts that are otherwise concealed within an onslaught of information from an overwhelming number of sources. Prof. Ron Milo and research student Yinon Bar-On of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Plant and Environmental…

Coronavirus

Intermittent Lockdown

Weizmann Institute

Weizmann Institute scientists present a mathematical model for an exit strategy: how to restart the economy after the crisis

Coronavirus

How Are You Feeling? Surveys Aim to Detect Covid-19 Hot Spots Early

The New York Times

The New York Times reports on countries’ increasing adoption of the COVID questionnaire developed by Profs. Eran Segal and Benny Geiger. It has accurately predicted outbreaks five days in advance.

Coronavirus

Self-Monitoring Your Sense of Smell May Help Detect Coronavirus

Weizmann Institue

Along with fever, cough, and shortness of breath, many COVID-19 patients report a temporary loss of sense of smell. It appears that olfactory loss is significantly greater in coronavirus patients compared to the loss often experienced during a cold and, less commonly, in influenza (non-COVID-19) patients.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Weizmann UK Hosts Dr. Nir London: Looking for a Cure

Weizmann Institute

In this videoconference presentation, Dr. Nir London of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Organic Chemistry describes what he calls the “COVID Moonshot.”

Coronavirus

Two Steps Ahead of the Coronavirus

Weizmann Institute

A method for monitoring, identifying, and predicting where the coronavirus will spread has attracted considerable international interest. It was initiated and developed by scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science...

Coronavirus

The Weizmann Coronavirus Response Fund

Weizmann Institute

The Weizmann Coronavirus Response Fund aims to raise approximately $25 million for the urgent dissemination of support to its scientists working on the front lines to find solutions.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Weizmann Australia Hosts Dr. Ron Diskin

Weizmann Institute

In this videoconference, Dr. Ron Diskin shares a new presentation on coronavirus and the state of the research. He goes from the history of the virus – from discovery to how it moves through animals and humans – to epidemiology, virology, target drugs, and treatment and prevention.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – American Committee Hosts Prof. Benny Geiger

Weizmann Institute

In this videoconference, Prof. Benny Geiger, Head of the Institute’s Department of Immunology, gives an overview of what the Institute as a community is doing to fight coronavirus, and how researchers from across Israel have created a scientific support network.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – History of Coronaviruses with Dr. Ron Diskin

Weizmann Institute

This clever and engaging animation accompanies Dr. Ron Diskin’s overview of coronavirus – a whole history in less than three minutes! He takes us from its discovery in the 1960s to the 2002 SARS outbreak to MERS in 2012 to today.

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – How to Cope With Stress During the Coronavirus Crisis, With Prof. Alon Chen

Weizmann Institute

Prof. Alon Chen – president of the Weizmann Institute and a leading neurobiologist who studies mental health – shares a two-part presentation in this videoconference with American Committee supporters.

Coronavirus

Self-Test Your Sense of Smell to Help Detect Coronavirus

Israel21C

Israel21C reports on the new coronavirus test developed by Prof. Noam Sobel, which lets you grade your sense of smell using common household items, thus potentially allowing early detection of COVID-19 – one intial symptom of which can be loss of smell.

Coronavirus

Can A Two-Day Workweek Eradicate Coronavirus?

Calcalist

Researchers at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science have developed a new model for containing the spread of Covid-19 while also maintaining economic activity. The key, they say, is a two-day workweek.

Coronavirus

British-Israeli Project Aims to Identify Anti-COVID-19 Drug in “Weeks”

The JC

Israeli and British scientist are pioneering a revolutionary method of scientific research that could see a candidate for an anti-coronavirus drug emerge “within weeks.”

Coronavirus

Coronavirus: The Quest for Solutions – Coronavirus Testing Center Opens on Campus

Weizmann Institute

“The right machines. The right people.” In coordination with Israel’s Ministry of Health, the Institute has transformed its scientific facilities into medical facilities in order to significantly ramp up coronavirus testing. This video takes you inside the labs and explains the high-tech testing procedures.