The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science hosted the first Women for Science (W4S) virtual conference, linking over 100 attendees to the Weizmann Institute campus from seven video conferencing sites across the U.S. Live from Rehovot, Prof. Idit Shachar, Head of the Department of Immunology and incumbent of the Dr. Morton and Anne Kleiman Professorial Chair, discussed the role of immune cells in health and disease.
Our hearts mean many things: love, strength, loyalty. But even if we look at hearts from a purely biological perspective, they are still awesome – and complicated, particularly when it comes to disease. That's why, for American Heart Month, we'd like to share some of the many approaches Weizmann Institute scientists are taking to fight heart disease.
A casual conversation about dealing with her diabetes gave Rebecca Perl an idea: an app to help diabetics. The American Committee connected her with Prof. Michael Walker, renowned diabetes researcher, for help; the result is a startup that aims to create an app, implant, and insulin pump. The American Committee talks with Rebecca about becoming a biotech entrepreneur.
February 01, 2016
From the Mars rovers to the Star Wars reboot, interest in space hasn't been this high since America's moon landing. And once again, the Weizmann Institute is ahead of the curve: with some of the world's brightest young astrophysicists on campus, we are not only putting Israel on the star map, but advancing knowledge for all humankind.
The Institute's postdoc award for women in science, funded by generous donors, supports talented Israeli women such as Dr. Michal Leskes. The award meant she could do her postdoc at Cambridge; today, at the Weizmann Institute, her work includes improving the lithium-ion batteries we use for everything from cell phones to electric cars.
Prof. Moshe Oren has spent decades studying the p53 gene, which plays a key role in keeping healthy cells from turning cancerous. His basic research has inspired other scientists to build on his findings, potentially leading to p53-based cancer treatments. As head of the Moross Integrated Cancer Center, Prof. Oren's knowledge will be more valuable than ever.
The perennially most popular New Year's resolution is to lose weight and be healthy – and yet most people fail. But why? Thanks to the Weizmann Institute, we now have the answer. And it's not your fault; it's your microbiome's. The Personalized Nutrition Project's surprising results show that what you eat does matter – but maybe not in the way you think.
After earning his master's at Weizmann's Feinberg Graduate School, Eran Hodis, 29, discovered two of the most common genetic mutations in all of cancer. Now an MD-PhD candidate at Harvard and MIT, he credits Weizmann—and in particular, his mentors Profs. Eran Segal and Joel Sussman—with launching his scientific career.
For 20 years, the International Physics Tournament has transformed the lives of students around the world. This exciting competition challenges teams of high school students to use the principles of physics to design impenetrable safes. Each spring, teams compete to unlock one another's safes during the tournament's final round in Israel.
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