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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.
Mar 17, 2020...
Israeli researchers hope to use artificial intelligence to map clusters of the new coronavirus in order to aid government efforts to curb the spread of the disease. To that end, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are collecting information about symptoms from interested members of the public.
The scientists leading the new project hope that after they gather sufficient data to prove its efficacy, the Health Ministry will add it to the growing number of tools that are being employed to address this unprecedented public health crisis.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/prof-ruth-arnon-lessons-from-influenza/
Mar 15, 2020...
With infections, as with football, a best offense is often a good defense. But while that strategy works for many infectious diseases, it doesn’t work with influenza; thanks to its readiness to mutate, the influenza virus effectively “shifts the goalposts” each year, requiring a new vaccination.
Renowned Weizmann Institute immunologist Prof. Ruth Arnon is spearheading a new defense—a universal influenza vaccine that is currently in Phase III of the clinical trial process—that focuses on the parts of the virus that stay the same from year to year, gluing the goalpost to the ground once and for all.
Jan 13, 2020...
A group of scientists led by a team from the Weizmann Institute of Science has devised a decoy molecule that could lead to the treatment of viruses that cross over from animals to humans.
A host of disease-causing viruses, which are called arenaviruses, “lurk in animal populations in various parts of the world, sometimes crossing over into humans,” the Rehovot-based Weizmann Institute said in a statement. “When they do cross over, they can be lethal, and only very few treatments exist.”
Feb 24, 2020...
For 86-year-old Prof. Ruth Arnon, nothing compares to waking up in the morning and going to work in the laboratory.
When it comes to being excited by experiments, age is simply not a factor for the world-renowned Weizmann Institute of Science biochemist and co-creator of multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone.
Born in Tel Aviv in 1933, Arnon’s academic background was in biochemistry, but she worked her entire career to advance a chemical approach to immunology.
Mar 25, 2020... In this videoconference hosted by Weizmann Canada, Prof. Sarel Fleishman of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Biomolecular Sciences gives a progress report on his lab’s coronavirus research. The coronavirus is so named because it is covered in “spikes” that look like the sun’s corona; Prof. Fleishman seeks to bind and neutralize the spike proteins, thus stopping the virus.
Mar 16, 2020... Prof. Gabi Barbash, Former Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Health and Director of the Weizmann Institute Bench-to-Bedside Program, which brings together scientists and physicians to fight disease, explains coronavirus from the perspective of public health. He also speaks to how it spreads and how it is different from other contagions.
Mar 25, 2020... In just one week, Profs. Ido Amit and Eran Elinav, both of the Department of Immunology, have built one of the highest-tech labs in the world. They developed a new type of PCR testing that is tremendously fast: if current capabilities test one patient at a time, the new method can test all of Israel simultaneously. The scientists intend to make their method available to anyone who needs it.
Mar 19, 2020... Dr. Noam Stern-Ginossar of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Molecular Genetics provides an overview – complete with helpful cartoons – of basic questions: what is a virus? Why is coronavirus worse than the flu? (One reason – it’s new and so we have no immunity.) What are the issues related to developing a vaccine? (Mostly it’s time; otherwise, we know what to do, she reassures us.)
Mar 24, 2020... “Vaccination is life.” Weizmann scientists give us a quick history lesson on the vaccine. Dr. Ziv Shulman, Prof Ruth Arnon, and Prof. Ido Amit explain humankind’s long knowledge of the immune system, Edward Jenner’s discovery of the vaccine, and the public-health implications of vaccination.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/decoy-molecule-neutralizes-a-range-of-viruses/
Jan 07, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—January 7, 2020—A host of disease-causing viruses called arenaviruses lurk in animal populations in various parts of the world, sometimes crossing over into humans. When they do cross over, they can be lethal, and only very few treatments exist. Researchers led by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now devised a clever decoy for these viruses that may keep them from spreading in the body.
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