Israel Active

UK Member of Parliament and Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Wes Streeting visited Israel as a member of Labour Friends of Israel. He praised Israel’s “remarkable advances in medical technology” and how they could be used to improve NHS care in Britain.

A new documentary, Tel Aviv 911, is a firsthand, behind-the-scenes account of Martin Himel’s 22-year experience as a volunteer senior medic with Israel’s elite paramedic organization Magen David Adom (MDA). Tel Aviv 911 debuts on May 16 at 9pm ET on Vision TV in Canada.

The 20th annual 3-day Biomed Israel summit has 10 different tracks including infectious diseases, robotics in the medical field, AI and machine learning, precision cancer diagnostics and therapies, and “bio food”. Some 6,000 scientists, healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors will attend.

Volunteer EMTs from Israel’s United Hatzalah saved three Israelis thanks to their 3-minute response. Firstly, a 105-year-old Haifa woman who choked on her breakfast. Then a kindergarten teacher in Ashdod who collapsed in front of her class. Finally, an 86-year-old grandmother on Mother’s Day.

Israel’s OmnySense has upgraded its telemedicine thermometer (see previously) into a health-tracking device that measures respiratory rate, pulse rate, ECG, and blood oxygen. It is currently undergoing clinical trials with doctors at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, to detect lung conditions.

Israel’s BioGenCell (see previously) has completed Phase 1 clinical trials at Israel’s Laniado Medical Center, of its stem cell therapy to cure chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLI). Nine patients have had their legs saved from amputation. BioGenCell will now proceed to Phase 2 trials.

Most research related to Coronavirus mutations looks at the virus and how it infects a vaccinated individual. But researchers at Israel’s Technion have been analyzing how the mutation is formed. This provides a new opportunity for spotting weaknesses in the virus that can be exploited.

Israeli NGO Save A Child’s Heart brought 5-year-old Karina from Ukraine to Israel for surgery to fix her atrial septal (hole in the heart) defect. Following the catheterization operation, Karina is expected to enjoy a normal life.

Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have found a gene in the non-coding (“junk”) part of the genome that reduces five-fold the risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The gene IL18RAP can contain mutations that reduce inflammation in the brain.

When United Hatzalah paramedic Leah helped deliver a baby girl in Jerusalem, she remembered the address. Three years previously it had taken 40 minutes of CPR and several shocks from a defibrillator, to restore the pulse of the baby’s father after he had suffered cardiac arrest.