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.
Jun 10, 2020... Prof. Eran Segal provides an update on his symptom-tracking questionnaire and how it can help predict the second wave of COVID-19. As he explains, testing is insufficient...
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/using-our-senses-to-fight-coronavirus/
Jun 10, 2020...
Just as COVID-19 is still advancing, so is the research of Weizmann Institute scientists as they develop ways to identify, predict, treat, and prevent the illness. One particularly innovative researcher is Prof. Noam Sobel.
A neurobiologist who is a world leader in olfaction research, Prof. Sobel works in the Weizmann tradition of following his curiosity as he harnesses the sense of smell to fight COVID. His previous studies have shown that our olfactory system has powers that many of us would never have imagined; he has used the sense of smell – our most ancient sense – to quantify the smell of fear; shed light on social miscues in autism and diagnose the condition; help locked-in, vegetative patients communicate; reveal subconscious reactions to the opposite sex; and much more.
Jul 20, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—July 20, 2020—Scientists searching for better diagnostic tests, drugs, or vaccines against a virus must begin by deciphering the structure of that virus. And when the virus in question is highly pathogenic, such research can be quite dangerous. Prof. Roy Bar-Ziv of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Materials and Interfaces; staff scientist Dr. Shirley Shulman Daube; Dr. Ohad Vonshak, a former research student in the Bar-Ziv lab; and current research student Yiftach Divon have an original solution to this obstacle. They demonstrated the production of viral parts within artificial cells.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/video-gallery/stopping-future-viral-threats-and-covid-19/
Jul 16, 2020... “Viruses can be ill-mannered guests,” says Dr. Noam Stern-Ginossar, “freely helping themselves to the host’s cell machinery and using it to make more viruses.”
Aug 13, 2020... Hosted by the Embassy of Israel to the United States, this engaging virtual dialogue features Weizmann Institute President Prof. Alon Chen in conversation with Tammy Ben Haim, Minister of Public Diplomacy. Prof. Chen and Minister Ben Haim discuss a wide array of topics, including the Weizmann Institute's rapid response to the coronavirus. Prof. Chen explains how Weizmann's collaborative, multidisciplinary approach and focus on fundamental, curiosity-driven research enabled its scientists to quickly mobilize to fight COVID-19.
Aug 24, 2020... In this video, Prof. Yonina Eldar (Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics; Head, Biomedical Engineering & Signal Processing Center) discusses her development of novel methods for diagnosing COVID.
Aug 20, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 20, 2020—The Weizmann Institute of Science has initiated an emergency program to award grants to postdoctoral fellows whose research has been curtailed by restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The plan is to assist those who have completed doctorates in Israel and now must postpone their postdoctoral research abroad, as well as those who have begun postdocs abroad but have to return to Israel prematurely. The Institute’s leadership team has committed one million dollars to this program, and it will be given as matching funds, with the second half to come from research grants that support the Institute labs which will host these young researchers. The program is expected to support an added 30 postdoctoral fellows in total, over a period of two years.
Aug 22, 2020...
The Weizmann Institute of Science will offer an emergency program meant to help those doing their postdoctorates who have been hurt by the coronavirus plague, the institute announced on Thursday.
As coronavirus began spreading, many were forced to alter their academic plans in order to accommodate the new restrictions. Many of them were about to leave for other countries to begin their postdoctorates, as well as those who had already gone abroad, but were forced to return to Israel early due to the situation.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/profiling-the-covid-19-coronavirus/
Sep 09, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 9, 2020—“Contact tracing” inside infected cells is providing new clues into the workings of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. A research team at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Israel Institute for Biological Research, in Ness Ziona, Israel, used the contacts between the virus’s genetic material and the cells’ protein-producing machinery to bring to light details of the viral protein-coding segments and the new – and potentially important – proteins they create. The findings of this research, published in Nature, could lead to better diagnostics or new treatments, and help to explain what makes this virus so skilled in the process of infection.
Sep 16, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 16, 2020—By tracking the evolution of what may be our oldest means of fighting off viral infection, a group at the Weizmann Institute of Science has uncovered a gold mine of antiviral substances that may lead to the development of highly effective antiviral drugs. These substances are made by virus-fighting enzymes known as viperins, which were previously known to exist only in mammals and have now been found in bacteria. The molecules produced by the bacterial viperins are currently undergoing testing against human viruses such as influenza and COVID-19. The study was published in Nature.
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