Israel Active

Released hostage Emily Demari has undergone surgery to reduce the terrible pain in her hands after nerves were stitched together improperly at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital. Emily lost two fingers when Hamas terrorists shot her dog in her hands. Her 3-fingered hand-sign has become a resilience symbol.

For its 30th anniversary, Israel’s Ono Academic College is opening its International School this Oct at its Kiryat Ono campus. Its Occupational Therapy (OT) program is tailored for new olim, with personalized curricula, accommodation, a simulation center, and dedicated mentors.

The Helmsley Charitable Trust has donated $5.45 million to construct a state-of-the-art Medical Technology building at the Israel’s Holon Institute of Technology (HIT). It will educate the next generation of medics, focusing on digital health, AI, and medical technology innovation.

Israel’s Pylon Medical has developed a first-of-its-kind system for treating carotid artery disease, one of the leading risk factors for stroke. Pylon’s new “specialty kit” includes a balloon catheter, an artery closure device, and an aspiration system that removes plaque in clogged neck blood vessels.

Israel needs 2,000 new doctors every year but only gets 1,200. So it is opening three new medical schools, The private Reichman University in Herzliya (88 graduates) opened on 2nd Feb. Two others, at Haifa University (66) and Weizmann Institute of Science (40), are to open in Oct.

Another Israeli startup presenting at the Conference of Presidents’ “Resilience Panel” was appscent medical. Its SCENTIFIC® device is the world’s first non-intrusive, contactless, drug-free home use solution for the potentially dangerous sleep apnea condition.

One of the Israeli startups presenting at the Conference of Presidents’ “Resilience Panel” was neao - a pioneering Virtual Reality platform for remote group therapy. It features anonymity (with avatars), wider access and accessibility, and tailored environments.  

Israel’s Lavaa Health’s platform can identify disease and hard-to-diagnose illnesses at the earliest stage, allowing doctors to quickly draw up efficient treatment plans. It uses AI to connect a person’s medical data with its own massive database and identify hard-to-diagnose or rare illnesses.

Tel Aviv University scientists have developed an innovative biosensor imaging tool for measuring the gene PTEN, whose mutations are linked to cancer and autism. It should help develop personalized treatments and aid early disease detection and more effective therapies.

Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute have discovered a unique genetic mechanism that provides cells with rapid protection against viruses. Normally, molecules NORAD and STAT3 control the immune system. On virus attack, the cells eat NORAD, and STAT3 unleashes an immune response.