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/feature-stories/2017-a-year-of-life-changing-science/
Dec 19, 2017...
We are always rushing around, in a hurry to get to the next goal or errand. Forward momentum is natural, but the end of one year and the start of another is the perfect time to pause and reflect. When it comes to the Weizmann Institute of Science, this is always an uplifting and rewarding exercise, and 2017 was particularly awe-inspiring. Let’s look at some of the highlights.
Cancer immunotherapy. In the 1980s, Prof. Zelig Eshhar began to develop what he called “CAR T cells,” genetically modified immune cells that harness the patient’s own immune system to fight disease. American researchers built on his discoveries, and the therapy led to astonishing remission in leukemia patients. In August, CAR T-cells made history as the first gene therapy approved by the FDA; since then, a second has been approved. Prof. Eshhar is now studying CAR T-cells for treating other diseases.
Oct 02, 2019... Many expectant mothers are told that breastfeeding will come naturally, but it is often a fraught and confusing experience, especially during the first few weeks after birth. Parents often worry about if their babies are getting enough nutrition or if they are producing enough milk. MyMilk Labs wants to give nursing mothers more information with Mylee, a sensor that scans a few drops of breast milk to get information about its composition and connects to a mobile app. The Israel-based company presented today at Disrupt Battlefield as one of two wild card competitors picked from Startup Alley.
Jul 26, 2010...
NEW YORK, NY—July 26, 2010—The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science is partnering with Jewish Life Television (JLTV) to bring Israel's most innovative discoveries in science and technology to an expansive broadcast audience.
JLTV is America's first full-time Jewish television outlet, broadcasting 24/7 from studios in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, and Israel and can be viewed in over 25 million homes in all 50 states. Its lineup includes a wide variety of themed programming, including motion pictures, documentaries, interviews, news and sports, entertainment, and numerous special events. The network was launched in 2007 and picked up soon after by Time Warner Cable, along with other leading digital and satellite broadcasters including Comcast and DIRECTV. JLTV's Board of Advisors includes some of the entertainment industry's most creative and dynamic professionals.
Nov 24, 2015...
Source: Georges Biard/Wikimedia Commons
In a recent interview about her upcoming film, Youth, Jane Fonda describes magical peak experiences she's had during the process of filmmaking. The language Fonda uses to describe her most inspired moments as an actress offer valuable clues for better understanding the highest form of “flow,” which I have coined “superfluidity.”
Last week, I wrote a Psychology Today blog post, “Superfluidity” and “Hot Hands” Are Synonymous,” which was inspired by a New Yorker article that examined a period during Bob Dylan’s career when he had a “hot hand,” as represented by a phenomenal streak of creative output during the 1960s.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/artificial-sweeteners-may-lead-to-diabetes/
Sep 18, 2014...
Artificial sweeteners may set the stage for diabetes in some people by hampering the way their bodies handle sugar, according to results of a study released Wednesday by the journal "Nature."(Photo: Jenny Kane, AP)
Reaching for artificial sweeteners to avoid sugar may be trading one evil for another, a new study suggests.
For some people, artificial sweeteners may lead to type 2 diabetes as directly as eating sugar does, according to the research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/video-gallery/best-people-best-science/
Jul 06, 2016... The Weizmann Institute's most important asset is its people. That's why the Institute is committed to recruiting and nurturing some of the world's brightest young researchers. Here, six impressive new scientists – Drs. Ronen Eldan, Ofer Firstenberg, Yifat Merbl, Neta Regev-Rudzki, Nir London, and Efi Efrati – share how the Institute is helping them make breakthroughs in areas ranging from malaria to optics.
May 01, 2019...
Photo via Shutterstock.com
The State of Israel will soon turn 71. And yet this babe among nations ranks fifth internationally for average life expectancy and conducts some of the world’s most critical research on healthy aging.
That is the conclusion of “Longevity in Israel,” a new 575-page report from the London-based Aging Analytics Agency in cooperation with Vetek (Seniority) – The Movement for Longevity and Quality of Life and the Israeli Longevity Alliance.
Jun 14, 2017...
However, being savvy about nutrition may not be as easy as we thought, as some of our traditional assumptions about food are now being challenged.
You’re about to make a sandwich. Do your reach for the freshly stone-milled whole-grain wheat flour, sourdough leavening, superior ingredients baked in a stone-hearth oven to create a picture-perfect, super-healthy loaf of artisanal bread? Or, white bread—the industrial kind made from white flour.
Jul 30, 2019...
JERUSALEM, July 29 (Xinhua) – Israeli scientists discovered how oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” is restocked in the brain, the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) said Monday.
Oxytocin is responsible, for example, for a burst of happiness with parents gazing at their newborn baby or a loving couple exchanging glances.
However, oxytocin is not only a hormone of love but also plays a role in normal social interaction, birth and breastfeeding, control of stress and appetite and more.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/turning-point-soft-skills-sculptor/
Jul 19, 2017... Maya Schuldiner, a yeast biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, won the 2017 European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Gold Medal award for discovering the functions of proteins that no one had previously studied. She explains how finding her voice helped her to build a productive career, which has included launching and teaching a highly sought-after graduate-level course in soft skills.What have you struggled with most during your career?It didn’t occur to me as a student that one needs to learn more than how to work at the bench — with the possible exception of how to give an interesting talk. It surprised me when I started my lab and realized that most of the technical skills I knew were not that important in this role. The skills I needed were how to recruit the right people, how to pair the right project with the right person, how to write successful grants and how to motivate my students. I worried that if I asked older colleagues about these, they might think less of me.How did you find the answers?I was part of a cohort of 17 people when I started as a professor at the Weizmann Institute in 2008. We set up an early-career principal-investigator group to meet every two weeks and talk through one new skill — from how to write a letter of recommendation to how to fire someone. I started thinking that it would be nice to turn these into lessons for graduate students.How was the class received?The first year, I advertised the course on the Weizmann website. Around 120 people registered — half of the PhD students at Weizmann. I restricted it to 30 people to facilitate discussion. I’m now in my sixth year of teaching the course. I’ve increased the size to 50 students, but consistently get 120 registrants. It shows how hungry students are for this information. In Israel, because of compulsory military training, students are often older and have families with children. A lot want strategies for work–life balance.What strategy did you use to launch your lab?There were two things. I decided to work only with people I really like. I’ve created an environment where there’s a strong feeling of friendship and camaraderie. Second, I took time to find my own scientific voice — my own special way of doing things. The first three years were scary because it took a bit more time than average to start publishing and be productive, but I wanted to find out what made me excited and could be uniquely mine.What do you mean by ‘find your own voice’?It's my way of doing science — what questions I ask, how I ask them and what tools I use to answer them.What worked well and what didn’t?I made a point of putting my students’ and postdocs’ needs ahead of mine, to be the kind of person they can trust to promote their well-being and agendas. Seeing that work made me happy and proud. I made some mistakes hiring people who weren't right for me or the lab. So I've learned to trust my intuition.Do people call you ‘Wonder Woman’ for having three children and a career?I hate it when people phrase it like that. It means that they think only a few people can do it. I don't think that's the case. The only reason I can do this is because of my husband, who is an associate professor also at Weizmann. We share every aspect of our lives. It's not as much about how I am, but how we are as a team.Does the EMBO award validate your strategy?It gives me a sense that the scientific path I’ve chosen is one that people find valuable, which is really moving for me. It comes also after a decade in the lab, when I want to enjoy what I’ve achieved and reflect on what went well and what didn’t. If I want to continue doing interesting things, it’s important to take a breather and really reflect on what to do in the next 10 years.This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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