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.
The start of a new year is always a time of optimism, yet more so than ever as we begin 2021. Science has offered hope for some of the world’s most devastating problems, particularly COVID-19 – but in order to continue its forward progress, science needs new researchers to take up the mantle and introduce fresh ideas and approaches.
That’s why we are also finding hope in the form of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s newest members: brilliant young investigators in fields from antibiotics to astrophysics. The Institute recruits only a handful of new scientists each year, searching worldwide for the most talented thinkers, the ones who will take Weizmann – and science – into the future. Here are a few of these remarkable researchers.
As we draw to the close of a year in which humanity faced unprecedented difficulties ranging from COVID-19 to climate change-related fires and storms, we look forward to the new year with hope – an optimism that is fueled by a belief in science and its power to heal the world.
But before we put 2020 behind us, it is worthwhile and inspiring to review the many advances made by Weizmann Institute scientists.
Even before COVID-19, the lack of effective treatments for easily spread diseases was a serious concern for scientists and healthcare providers worldwide – particularly as one of humankind’s greatest achievements, antibiotics, are increasingly ineffective. This is because bacteria, like all life forms, are driven to reproduce and live. Able to evolve rapidly, they continually seek ways to survive our killer drugs … and they’re succeeding.
Four years after his summer at Weizmann, Eric Sun is a Stanford PhD student, supported by the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.
October 23, 2020
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time that is typically packed with runs, walks, and other events. While this year is different due to the coronavirus, stepping up to support and advance the science is as important as ever.
Breast cancer research is actively underway at the Weizmann Institute of Science, with researchers applying their formidable skills to improve understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of this still-too-common disease. Working in collaboration with oncologists and other medical professionals around the world, Institute scientists are continually making groundbreaking progress, demonstrating the role that curiosity-driven, interdisciplinary science plays in the battle against breast cancer. Just a few of the innovative projects taking place right now include:
Blood cancers are far too common, comprising almost 10% of new cancer diagnoses each year in the U.S. Almost every 10 minutes, an American succumbs to a blood cancer. Unfortunately, many of these are children.
That's why the Weizmann Institute of Science’s researchers are conducting innovative studies and taking novel approaches to blood cancers. September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month, and we’d like to share with you some of Weizmann’s current investigations.
September 2020
Our mental health is always important, but more so than ever during these challenging times. Between the ongoing COVID pandemic, economic insecurity, social turmoil, and the like, rates of anxiety and depression are skyrocketing. How to cope? And why do we experience mental health issues in the first place?
As with the coronavirus, the answers are found in science.
The Weizmann Institute’s renowned neuroscientists do more than study the brain; they investigate how this most mysterious of organs responds to the world, processes our experiences, plays a role in emotional response, consolidates memories, becomes ill, and more. Our scientists also seek to develop effective medications and treatments. As Prof. Alon Chen – a renowned expert in neuropsychiatry and Weizmann Institute president – says, “I strongly believe that when we identify the mechanisms in the brain, we can use them to develop better ways to treat these conditions.”
Just as COVID-19 is still advancing, so is the research of Weizmann Institute scientists as they develop ways to identify, predict, treat, and prevent the illness. One particularly innovative researcher is Prof. Noam Sobel.
A neurobiologist who is a world leader in olfaction research, Prof. Sobel works in the Weizmann tradition of following his curiosity as he harnesses the sense of smell to fight COVID. His previous studies have shown that our olfactory system has powers that many of us would never have imagined; he has used the sense of smell – our most ancient sense – to quantify the smell of fear; shed light on social miscues in autism and diagnose the condition; help locked-in, vegetative patients communicate; reveal subconscious reactions to the opposite sex; and much more.
Most people who are infected by COVID-19 develop mild symptoms or none at all. In severe cases, however, the virus triggers an uncontrolled reaction of the immune system that damages most vital organs, and can lead to death.
June 03, 2020
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