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.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/video-gallery/israel-leads-in-prostate-cancer-research/
Jun 17, 2016... Reporter Natasha Kirtchuk describes the new prostate cancer treatment developed by the Weizmann Institute's Profs. Avigdor Scherz and Yoram Salomon, along with an extended team of scientists, researchers, oncologists, urologists, clinicians, technicians, and more. The therapy involves no radiation or chemotherapy, takes just 90 minutes to complete...
Jan 04, 2016...
Magnetic resonance images of the prostate gland after treatment with TOOKAD® Soluble. The black regions show the portions of the prostate where cancer was identified and eliminated by the therapy.
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—January 4, 2016—A therapy invented at the Weizmann Institute of Science and clinically developed in collaboration with Steba Biotech (Luxembourg) has been approved by Cofepris, Mexico’s health authority, for the focal treatment of early-stage prostate cancer.
Apr 29, 2019...
TOOKAD® optic fibers illuminate only the cancerous regions, leaving healthy tissue alone
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—April 29, 2019—Steba Biotech, a privately owned company, has, in collaboration with scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, conducted extensive research and development on the prostate cancer treatment TOOKAD® – and now has received marketing authorization to make it available in 31 European countries. Following this regulatory approval, the first patients are currently being treated in top Israeli, German, English, and Italian medical centers.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/a-pioneer-in-the-stem-cell-frontier/
Jun 19, 2015...
Our bone marrow contains stem cells with a special power: they can turn into any other type of blood cells. Transplants of these blood (or “hematopoietic”) stem cells are used to treat patients with cancers such as leukemia and other disorders of the blood and immune system.
“They are sophisticated cells that can go in the direction we need them to,” says Prof. Yair Reisner, head of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Immunology. “If we lose red blood cells, these stem cells will rapidly replenish the red cells, and if we need white cells, they will switch to replenish those.”
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-january-2009/
Jan 28, 2009...
Even when the results of the basic research at the Weizmann Institute are translated directly to medical application, it may take years to reach patients. But, once in a while, a finding can change lives almost immediately.
In 2006, Prof. Nava Dekel of the Institute’s Biological Regulation Department, together with doctors in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) unit of the Kaplan Medical Center, made the surprising discovery that performing a uterine biopsy — causing a slight injury to the lining of the uterus just before a woman undergoes IVF doubles the chances of a successful pregnancy. Although the mechanism was not completely clear, Dekel and her team assumed that the injury provokes a response in the uterus that makes it more receptive to the embryo’s implantation.
Dec 22, 2016... BBC News Interviews Prof. Avigdor Scherz About Prostate Cancer Treatment Success
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/ultra-personalized-therapy-for-melanoma/
Sep 24, 2018...
Illustrative photo by Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com
A highly personalized approach could help the body’s immune cells better recognize melanoma (the most dangerous type of skin cancer) and kill it, according to an Israeli study published in Cancer Discovery.
Today’s immunotherapies involve administering antibodies to unlock the natural immune T cells that recognize and kill cancer cells; or growing and reactivating these T cells outside the body and returning them in a “weaponized” form.
Jul 16, 2019... Summer is here! But more fun in the sun also increases our risk for skin cancer, including its deadliest form, melanoma. In the seventh episode of Weizmann in Focus, CEO Dave Doneson highlights a melanoma research breakthrough by Prof. Yardena Samuels, which could lead to “the ultimate personalized cancer therapy.”
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/keeping-men-healthy-the-weizmann-way/
Jun 07, 2016... Keeping Men Healthy, the Weizmann Way
Oct 23, 2017...
Israeli-American oncologist Arie Belldegrun, founder of Kite Pharma. (YouTube screenshot)
The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Kite Pharma’s drug for a type of lymphoma based on a technology developed in Israel, in which the patient’s own immune cells fight the cancer.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the Kite biopharmaceutical company was acquired by Gilead Sciences Inc. in August for about $12 billion in an all-cash deal. Kite was founded in 2009 by Israeli-American oncologist Arie Belldegrun, who studied at the Hebrew University and Weizmann Institute of Science. The chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (Car-T) technology that is at the heart of the medication was developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science.