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.
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.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/how-bacteria-hinder-chemotherapy/
Sep 14, 2017...
Bacteria (green) inside human pancreatic cancer cells (AsPC-1 cells). The cells’ nuclei are stained blue while their cytoplasm is stained orange
To the list of reasons that chemotherapy sometimes does not work, we can now add one more: bacteria. In a study just published in Science, researchers describe their findings showing that certain bacteria can be found inside human pancreatic tumors. The findings further revealed that some of these bacteria contain an enzyme that inactivates a common drug used to treat various cancers, including pancreatic cancer. Working with mouse models of cancer, the scientists demonstrated how treatment with antibiotics on top of chemotherapy may be significantly superior to treatment with chemotherapy alone.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/lighting-the-way-for-a-new-cancer-treatment/
Jul 01, 2006... Research led by Prof. Avigdor Scherz of the Weizmann Institute of Science Department of Plant Sciences and Prof. Yoram Salomon of the Institute’s Department of Biological Regulation, Israel, is coming to fruition in a potential new treatment for prostate cancer. “This therapy requires knowledge of physics, chemistry and biology, as well as scientific methods of the twenty-first century,” Prof. Scherz said during a recent visit to the offices of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (ACWIS) in New York.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/research-on-aging-at-the-weizmann-institute/
Aug 01, 2012... According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1900, the global average life span was 31 years of age. By 2030, in highly developed places such as the U.S., average life expectancy at birth is expected to be around 85. And while wisdom may come with age, so do many unwanted issues, such as poor physical and mental health. In addition, an aging population takes a toll on society: older people are often harder to treat medically; it can be more challenging to get around, either on foot or by driving; and general quality of life may be reduced.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/kathy-bates-my-battle-with-lymphedema/
Jun 24, 2015...
Shortly after I had a double mastectomy, I got lymphedema in my arms. I was devastated. I knew going in what it was, and I was terrified.
Put very simply, the lymphatic system provides cells with nutrients and acts as a means of waste removal. We need it to survive. However, the same system will also carry cancer cells to other parts of the body, which is called metastasis. Cancer cells get trapped in lymph nodes and cause secondary tumors, which is why surgeons will err on the side of caution to keep the cancer from coming back. Curing cancer is their focus after all.
Jul 12, 2012...
Prof. Atan Gross in his laboratory at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. Nir Keidor
Israeli researchers have identified a new mechanism for inducing the programmed death of cells, a discovery that could be used to develop novel methods for treating cancer.
The discovery began with the identification of a protein, mitochondrial carrier homolog 2, in human mitochondria. Mitochondria are the cells' "power plants," converting nutrients into the chemical energy required for the cell's ongoing operations.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/teaming-up-to-defeat-prostate-cancer/
May 28, 2015...
Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer – and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths – among American men. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.
Three leading researchers in this field – Prof. Avigdor Scherz of the Department of Plant Sciences at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science; Dr. Peter Scardino, Chair of the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City; and Dr. Peter Schulam, Chair of the Department of Urology at the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven – agree that safer, more effective detection methods and treatments are needed for the more than 240,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. Speaking at an event co-sponsored by the New York Region of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Association of Yale Alumni in Medicine, the researchers described the current state of prostate cancer diagnosis and therapy and discussed their collaboration on a highly promising new treatment.
May 25, 2017... Prof. Yardena Samuels: Breakthroughs in Cancer Diagnosis Research
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-june-2015/
Jun 29, 2015...
Normal human colonic crypts. SMOC-2 expression (red) in the colonic stem cells demonstrates that these cells are localized in the bottoms of the crypts. Bars represent 100 micrometers (left) and 50 micrometers (right)
Recent Weizmann Institute studies are revealing a complex picture of cancer progression in which certain genes that drive tumor growth in the earlier stages get suppressed in later stages – taking a step back to move forward. Published in Oncogene, current research from the lab of Prof. Avri Ben-Ze’ev of the Department of Molecular Cell Biology suggests that the tumor cells at the invasive front of later-stage human colorectal cancer may take an even bigger step back: Some of their gene expression patterns are shared with those of healthy intestinal stem cells.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/breakthrough-cancer-cure-has-deep-israeli-roots/
Feb 17, 2016...
Illustrative photo of a doctor with a cancer patient (cancer patient image via Shutterstock)
A breakthrough cancer study in which patients suffering from a form of leukemia saw their diseases go into remission after they were treated with genetically modified T-cells has deep roots in Israel.
One of the first in the world to work on the innovative adaptive immunotherapy technique to treat cancer, which was hailed Tuesday worldwide as a potentially “extraordinary” development, was Weizmann University Professor Zelig Eshhar. Speaking Wednesday on Israel Radio, Eshhar said he was very heartened to hear about the results of the study at the University of Pennsylvania.
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