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.
In 2017, the CDC reported that “more than 100 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes,” and that it was the seventh leading cause of death in 2015. And as Western diets and lifestyles spread around the world, so does diabetes.
Nutrition aside, the disease has a number of complex causes – yet treatment consists only of insulin and glucose-level management. That’s why Weizmann Institute of Science researchers in a range of disciplines are working to understand the developmental, genetic, immunological, and environmental contributors to diabetes. Given the potential impact of this work on public health, the scientists regularly collaborate with clinicians in order to bring their findings to the patient.
For Linda McCurdy and Joyce Oleshansky, supporting the Weizmann Institute was “a given,” thanks to their father, the late Pierre Schoenheimer. Today, Linda, Joyce, and their children continue the family's multi-generational legacy at Weizmann, which began with the establishment of a scholarship in memory of their great-uncle.
This issue of Weizmann Views features bright young scientist Dr. Ruth Scherz-Shouval, who is studying the tumor microenvironment and how it helps protect the cancer.
A $20 million gift will expand this collaboration to enhance quality of life through advancements in robotics and precision health.
October 15, 2018
What is the Weizmann Institute doing to fight prostate and ovarian cancer? Quite a bit.
September 2018
Our genetic material – DNA – is under constant assault. It is damaged every day by external forces like sunlight, radiation, tobacco smoke, air pollution, and food additives, and internal ones like waste products left over from the body’s metabolic processes.
Weizmann Institute scientists are developing a number of new vaccines, ranging from flu to malaria to Alzheimer’s.
The dog days of summer are an excellent time to sit in a cool place and take a look at what’s happening on the Weizmann Institute campus, where the gardens are lush and the labs as busy as ever. There are forward-looking scientific advances and considerable growth – hiring the right people, building the right infrastructure – and we’d like to share this progress with you.
July 13, 2018
“We don’t just want to find the genes involved in cancer,” says Prof. Yardena Samuels, of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Molecular Cell Biology, “we want to understand what those genes do. We want to reveal the complete picture of a cancer genome.” That is something of a tall order, considering that cells from melanoma, the cancer Prof. Samuels is researching, can contain anywhere from tens to thousands of mutations. On average, melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – has more mutations in the DNA of its cells than any other solid tumor. Among other things, this range of mutations explains why a recent treatment designed to target melanoma will only help around 50% of those with the disease, despite representing a large step forward.
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