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 13, 2017...
Thanks to advances in healthcare, sanitation, safety, and nutrition, people today are living longer than ever; in fact, in the West, the fastest-growing demographic is age 85 and up.
Fortunately, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers from across the disciplines have long made it a priority to investigate neurodegenerative and neurological disorders, including those that tend to strike older people; just some of these areas of research include Parkinson’s, glaucoma and advanced macular degeneration (AMD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), nerve degeneration as a result of trauma or stroke – and, especially, Alzheimer’s disease.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/sensing-autism-advances-in-research/
Apr 22, 2019...
There is a reason that a puzzle piece is the symbol of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite all the research, despite the advances, ASD continues to be an enigma. What causes it? Can it be diagnosed earlier? What are the differences between an autistic and a neurotypical brain?
One field of research – the role of the sense of smell – is producing surprising results that could lead to means of early diagnosis and intervention, as well as shed light on the misreading of social cues that is so common in autism.
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.
Jan 28, 2016... As our sensory organs register objects and structures in the outside world, they are continually engaged in two-way communication with the brain. In research recently published in Nature Neuroscience, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers found that for rats, which use their whiskers to feel out their surroundings at night, clumps of nerve endings called mechanoreceptors, which are located at the base of each whisker, act as tiny calculators. These receptors continuously compute the way the whisker’s base rotates in its socket, expressing it as a fraction of the entire projected rotation of the whisker, so that the brain is continually updated on the way that the whisker’s rotation is being followed through.
Jul 11, 2018...
Nachum Ulanovsky with one of his research bats. Credit: David Vaaknin for Nature
On a sun-parched patch of land in Rehovot, Israel, two neuroscientists peer into the darkness of a 200-metre-long tunnel of their own design. The fabric panels of the snaking structure shimmer in the heat, while, inside, a study subject is navigating its dim length. Finally, out of the blackness bursts a bat, which executes a mid-air backflip to land upside down, hanging at the tunnel’s entrance.
Dec 10, 2015...
Prof. Michal Schwartz
CHARLESTON, S.C., Dec. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — NeuroQuest Development Center, Inc., today announced they have entered into a service agreement with the University of California, San Diego for collection and processing of blood samples for their U.S. clinical validation trials.
The South Carolina-based biotech company is developing a blood test for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Mar 09, 2020...
In a study published by scientists from Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Current Biology, participants were exposed to the scent of roses while they were asked to remember the location of words presented on either the left or right sides of a computer screen.
They were then tested on their memory of the word locations before proceeding to nap at the lab. While napping, the scent of roses was administered again, but this time only to one nostril.
Nov 12, 2013...
Image of a neuronal spine from Prof. Menahem Segal’s lab, which uses time-lapse photography to view living, cultured neurons in a confocal laser scanning microscope.
One in 10 Americans over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s disease, a debilitating neurological disorder that slowly destroys memory and cognitive function and for which there is no cure. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), because the risk of developing the disease increases with age and more people are living longer, the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s is likely to grow dramatically.
Feb 24, 2020...
Yael Hallak starts her day at 5 A.M. at home in Tenafly, New Jersey. She writes or reads for two distraction-free hours without a cellphone, laptop or desktop. Just pen and paper by her side.
For that stretch she limits herself to a single task – to delve deeply, to understand, to make progress. Ideas that arise or things that need clarifying make the list she jots down. Hallak is a researcher in the lab of Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University and the author of “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.” Hallak's research focuses on changing one’s habits.
Jan 02, 2006... In 2002 a clinical trial of an experimental Alzheimer's vaccine was halted when a few patients began experiencing brain inflammation, a result of the immune system mounting an attack against the body. Now some researchers claim that inducing a mild autoimmune reaction could actually protect the central nervous system from a spectrum of neurodegenerative conditions, from glaucoma and spinal cord injury to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. "This is a hot-button issue right now," says Howard Gendelman of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
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