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.
Apr 21, 2020...
Remember the exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7s that made headlines three years ago?
Well, it turns out smartphones aren’t the only machines whose lithium-ion batteries can explode when overloaded. E-cigarettes, airplanes and electric vehicles also blow up from overheated batteries.
“When you sit on an e-bike, right over the battery, you are sitting on energy that is equivalent to 1 kilo of gunpowder, and in electric cars it’s equivalent to 100 times that much,” points out Niles Fleischer, CEO of Israeli startup ALGOLiON.
Apr 27, 2020...
COVID-19 has separated us from the world in surprising ways. Yes, we all miss our friends and loved ones, and we miss going to restaurants and stores and movies and concerts. But there’s another pastime that COVID-19 has deprived us of, even if we don’t realize it: the simple pleasure of subconsciously touching our own faces and sniffing our hands.
As COVID-19 spread, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned people against touching their faces — and for good reason: A 2006 study suggested that nearly 25 percent of respiratory disease transfer could be attributed to people touching their faces.
Apr 27, 2020... On May 2, 1986, while visiting my long-term colleague and friend Richard O’Reilly, the head of bone marrow transplantation at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, I received a strange phone call. It was from Richard Champlin, who worked at the Bone Marrow Transplant Center at UCLA. He tended to speak very fast, so it took me some time to understand from his over-excited voice that he was about to leave the next day for Moscow.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/coronavirus-testing-at-the-weizmann-institute/
Apr 21, 2020... One of the many challenges facing humankind during the coronavirus pandemic is testing – or, more accurately, lack of it. As the Weizmann Institute of Science pivoted its resources – human and lab alike – to addressing coronavirus, developing accurate, scaled-up testing was one of its main areas of focus. In keeping with the philosophy embraced by the worldwide Weizmann family, Institute President Prof. Alon Chen says: “During this crisis, we are harnessing our capabilities in basic research and applying them to the benefit of humanity.”
Mar 30, 2020... In this videoconference presentation, Dr. Nir London of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Organic Chemistry describes what he calls the “COVID Moonshot.” The project is co-led by Frank van Delft of Oxford University and Diamond Light Source (the U.K.’s synchrotron science facility), who was also on the call. Dr. London discusses various approaches to coronavirus, including the value of standard approaches such as vaccines and antivirals.
Apr 02, 2020... In this videoconference, Dr. Ron Diskin shares a new presentation on coronavirus and the state of the research. He goes from the history of the virus – from discovery to how it moves through animals and humans...
Apr 02, 2020... In this videoconference, Prof. Benny Geiger, Head of the Institute’s Department of Immunology, gives an overview of what the Institute as a community is doing to fight coronavirus, and how researchers from across Israel have created a scientific support network.
Apr 05, 2020... This clever and engaging animation accompanies Dr. Ron Diskin’s overview of coronavirus – a whole history in less than three minutes! He takes us from its discovery in the 1960s to the 2002 SARS outbreak to MERS in 2012 to today.
Apr 06, 2020... This impressive and inspiring video is a fast-paced snapshot of the Weizmann Institute’s rapid response to coronavirus. There are now more than 50 projects underway, many in collaboration with prestigious institutions around the world.
Apr 07, 2020... Prof. Alon Chen – president of the Weizmann Institute and a leading neurobiologist who studies mental health – shares a two-part presentation in this videoconference with American Committee supporters.