Israel Active

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have used a combination of 3 cancer treatments to prevent lung cancer tumors from re-occurring. In laboratory tests, when Tagrisso, Erbitux and Herceptin were used together they prevented the cancer from developing resistance to single treatments.

Israel’s Save Child’s Heart team is checking the hearts of 70 children at Kigali Teaching Hospital, Rwanda.  The 20 most severe cases will be immediately transferred to Israel with all costs covered.

Israeli biotech Redhill announced positive results of the Phase 3 trial for RB-104 in treating Crohn’s disease which affects 1.5 million people worldwide.

I reported previously on Israel’s Nucleix and its innovative blood and urine tests for early-stage cancer diagnostics. Nucleix has just received a grant of 2.5 million Euros from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program – its second grant in two years.

Three life-science multinationals will grow their Israeli R&D centers over the next six years. GE Healthcare’s ultrasound, Change Healthcare’s cardiology and Medtronic’s imaging systems will receive a boost via a $33 million grant from the Israel Innovation Authority.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University and the University of California have identified the reason for some dyslexics having low decoding skills but high reading comprehension. Dyslexics with a high neuron density in the left DLPFC of their frontal brain were still able to read well.

Uganda’s Health minister, Dr Jane Aceng, hailed the Israeli government for supporting health services delivery in the country. Dr Aceng spoke while commissioning a diabetes clinic at Kiboga Hospital, which was established with support from Israel.

Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have linked positive emotions with cancer remission. In laboratory tests, increased levels of the pleasurable neurotransmitter dopamine helped the immune system to reduce tumor size by 50 per cent.

Israeli humanitarian aid organization IsraAID set up a mobile dental clinic for one week in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. The four-person dental team treated many of the 190,000 refugees in the camp, many of whom had never received dental care in their lives.  

Israeli Border Police in the city of Hebron saved the life of a nine-month-old Palestinian Arab baby. Hearing shouts from a house, they found an unconscious baby boy and distraught parents. They administered CPR until an Israeli medical team arrived to restore the baby’s breathing.