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.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/wrapping-up/
Jun 26, 2007... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—June 26, 2007—In a host of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and several neuropathies, the protective covering surrounding the nerves — an insulating material called myelin — is damaged. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now discovered an important new line of communication between nervous system cells that is crucial to the development of myelinated nerves — a discovery that may aid in restoring the normal function of the affected nerve fibers.
Jul 20, 2010...
Click here to listen to the Science Signaling podcast with Prof. Mike Fainzilber.
Participants: Mike Fainzilber and Annalisa M. VanHook
A conversation about a research article published in the 13 July 2010 issue of Science Signaling.
Highlighted article:
I. Michaelevski, Y. Segal-Ruder, M. Rozenbaum, K. F. Medzihradszky, O. Shalem, G. Coppola, S. Horn-Saban, K. Ben-Yaakov, S. Y. Dagan, I. Rishal, D. H. Geschwind, Y. Pilpel, A. L. Burlingame, M. Fainzilber, Signaling to Transcription Networks in the Neuronal Retrograde Injury Response. Sci. Signal. 3, ra53 (2010).
Feb 10, 2014...
Schwartz’s research questions assumptions about the central nervous system.
Imagine being able to inhibit or reverse a universal affliction – brain degeneration – and specific diseases or physical injuries that cause its sudden onset. This is precisely what Prof. Michal Schwartz has spent the last two decades studying, with revolutionary results.
Schwartz is far from the stereotypical “mad scientist.” Pretty and petite, with a cascade of curls, she rushes down the hallway of her office and adjacent laboratory more like a student late for a class than an international award-winning powerhouse whose research has turned pre-existing dogma about the central nervous system on its head.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-march-2007/
Mar 26, 2007... Breaking down bone is a tough job. Yet, our bones undergo remodeling every day of our lives, as old material is cleared away so that new bone can form. In diseases such as osteoporosis, an imbalance in this process is responsible for the characteristic bone loss. New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science, which recently appeared in the on-line journal PLoS ONE, has revealed, in unprecedented detail, how the roving cells whose job is to digest bone seal off their work area as they get down to business.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/immune-system-may-also-help-brain/
Jan 17, 2006...
Scientists have surprising new evidence that the immune system, best known for protecting the body against pathogens, also plays a key role in the brain's ability to grow new neurons in adulthood.
If true, boosting the immune system may be one way to protect against age-associated learning and memory problems, said Michal Schwartz, lead author of a paper on the research published this month in Nature Neuroscience.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/four-israeli-women-of-note/
Oct 10, 2006...
Dr. Michal Schwartz, one of Israel’s leading researchers and a senior neurobiologist at Rehovot’s Weizmann Institute of Science, has made such important scientific discoveries that Superman even dropped by to see what she was up to.
The late actor Christopher Reeves, who starred in the Superman movies and became a quadriplegic after a spinal cord injury, came to her lab in 2003. Previously, Schwartz—a leading expert in injury to the central nervous system (CNS)—had gone to his home to report on her experimental technique for treating spinal cord injuries. “I was a very good friend of his,” she recalls sadly. “He was amazed by the high quality of science in Israel and researchers’ urge to be daring.”
Feb 25, 2020...
After investing $26 million in research during the past 15 years, NETRF has helped to establish the NET knowledge base needed to expand the exploration of improved treatments, according to Elyse Gellerman, NETRF Chief Executive Officer. “We can see real momentum in this new round of grants. We hope the discoveries from these projects will lead to improved treatment options for patients.”
NETRF is supporting a new pioneering approach to NET immunotherapy with a Petersen Accelerator Award to Steven Libutti, MD, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, to characterize a novel immune regulator called B7x to determine whether it has a role in shutting off the body’s immune response to fight against pancreatic NETs.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/rethinking-the-aging-brain/
Oct 01, 2006...
A vaccination for slowing the brain’s aging process is the goal of Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Neurobiology Department. “At face value, it sounds like an impossible mission,” she says.
However, her research suggests that the immune system plays a critical role in maintaining a healthy brain and the renewal of brain cells. Consequently, boosting the immune system via a vaccination may one day help to prevent aging of the brain and perhaps slow down disease progression in the cases of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Aug 14, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 14, 2020—Something like a quarter of the world’s population suffers from chronic pain at some point. As opposed to acute pain – for example, that feeling after hitting your finger with a hammer – chronic pain may not even have a clear cause, and it can linger for years or lifetimes. The burden of chronic pain includes damage to mental and physical health, lower productivity, and drug addiction. Now, a study led by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science suggests an original approach to treating this affliction by targeting a key gateway – one that leads to the activation of genes in the peripheral nerve cells that are involved in many forms of chronic pain. The findings of this study were published in Science.
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