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 future of humanity.
Mar 11, 2016...
Kathy Bates for World Lymphedema Day
“There is no cure for lymphedema,” states the Mayo Clinic. That’s one reason people all over the world are coming together to raise awareness of this condition – including Oscar-winning actor Kathy Bates, who developed it after breast cancer surgery.
Lymphedema is swelling, typically in the arms and legs, and affects as many as 10 million Americans, many of them cancer survivors like Ms. Bates. In fact, according to the Mayo Clinic, the condition is “most commonly caused by the removal of or damage to your lymph nodes as a part of cancer treatment.”
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/research-on-aging-at-the-weizmann-institute/
Aug 01, 2012... According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1900, the global average life span was 31 years of age. By 2030, in highly developed places such as the U.S., average life expectancy at birth is expected to be around 85. And while wisdom may come with age, so do many unwanted issues, such as poor physical and mental health. In addition, an aging population takes a toll on society: older people are often harder to treat medically; it can be more challenging to get around, either on foot or by driving; and general quality of life may be reduced.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/kathy-bates-my-battle-with-lymphedema/
Jun 24, 2015...
Shortly after I had a double mastectomy, I got lymphedema in my arms. I was devastated. I knew going in what it was, and I was terrified.
Put very simply, the lymphatic system provides cells with nutrients and acts as a means of waste removal. We need it to survive. However, the same system will also carry cancer cells to other parts of the body, which is called metastasis. Cancer cells get trapped in lymph nodes and cause secondary tumors, which is why surgeons will err on the side of caution to keep the cancer from coming back. Curing cancer is their focus after all.
Jul 12, 2012...
Prof. Atan Gross in his laboratory at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. Nir Keidor
Israeli researchers have identified a new mechanism for inducing the programmed death of cells, a discovery that could be used to develop novel methods for treating cancer.
The discovery began with the identification of a protein, mitochondrial carrier homolog 2, in human mitochondria. Mitochondria are the cells' "power plants," converting nutrients into the chemical energy required for the cell's ongoing operations.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/teaming-up-to-defeat-prostate-cancer/
May 28, 2015...
Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer – and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths – among American men. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.
Three leading researchers in this field – Prof. Avigdor Scherz of the Department of Plant Sciences at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science; Dr. Peter Scardino, Chair of the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City; and Dr. Peter Schulam, Chair of the Department of Urology at the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven – agree that safer, more effective detection methods and treatments are needed for the more than 240,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. Speaking at an event co-sponsored by the New York Region of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine, the researchers described the current state of prostate cancer diagnosis and therapy and discussed their collaboration on a highly promising new treatment.
May 25, 2017... Prof. Yardena Samuels: Breakthroughs in Cancer Diagnosis Research
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-june-2015/
Jun 29, 2015...
Normal human colonic crypts. SMOC-2 expression (red) in the colonic stem cells demonstrates that these cells are localized in the bottoms of the crypts. Bars represent 100 micrometers (left) and 50 micrometers (right)
Recent Weizmann Institute studies are revealing a complex picture of cancer progression in which certain genes that drive tumor growth in the earlier stages get suppressed in later stages – taking a step back to move forward. Published in Oncogene, current research from the lab of Prof. Avri Ben-Ze’ev of the Department of Molecular Cell Biology suggests that the tumor cells at the invasive front of later-stage human colorectal cancer may take an even bigger step back: Some of their gene expression patterns are shared with those of healthy intestinal stem cells.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/breakthrough-cancer-cure-has-deep-israeli-roots/
Feb 17, 2016...
Illustrative photo of a doctor with a cancer patient (cancer patient image via Shutterstock)
A breakthrough cancer study in which patients suffering from a form of leukemia saw their diseases go into remission after they were treated with genetically modified T-cells has deep roots in Israel.
One of the first in the world to work on the innovative adaptive immunotherapy technique to treat cancer, which was hailed Tuesday worldwide as a potentially “extraordinary” development, was Weizmann University Professor Zelig Eshhar. Speaking Wednesday on Israel Radio, Eshhar said he was very heartened to hear about the results of the study at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sep 14, 2012... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 14, 2012—Cancer chemotherapy can be a life-saver, but it is fraught with severe side effects, among them an increased risk of infection. Until now, the major criterion for assessing this risk has been the blood cell count: if the number of white blood cells falls below a critical threshold, the risk of infection is thought to be high. A new model built by Weizmann Institute of Science mathematicians, in collaboration with physicians from the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel, and the Hoffmann-La Roche research center in Basel, Switzerland, suggests that for proper risk assessment, it is essential to evaluate not only the quantity of these blood cells, but also their quality, which varies from one person to another.
Aug 24, 2016...
Source: Dr Steven A Rosenberg, MD/PhD. Micrograph of a group of T cells attacking a tumour cell.
Robert Hershberg, chief scientific officer at New Jersey-based biotechnology company Celgene, recalls the first time he heard about engineered T cells. It was back in 2002 when he was working at a company called Corixa in Seattle, Washington. “There was a discussion about these strange molecules called T bodies and we all thought it was a little bit hare-brained and I remember thinking… it’s going to be a real longshot.”
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