Israel Active

Scientists at Israel’s Technion have developed a system for the selective nanoscale transport of the chemotherapeutic Dasatinib in young patients. Polymer micelles enhanced with sugar carry the chemical to cancer cells alone, thus maximizing its efficiency without harming healthy tissues.

Israel’s Beyeonics Surgical (a subsidiary of Elbit) develops Augmented Reality (AR) visualization for surgeons. A head-mounted visor transmits real-time high-resolution imaging of the surgical area, plus patient data, directly before surgeons’ eyes. Beyeonics has just raised $11.5 million of funds.

Israel’s LR Group is launching Biohouse - a $14 million network of biotech hubs, initially in Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center and then at two other Israeli hospitals, plus Boston and New York. The Hadassah hub can host 40-50 medical device and digital health startups and is already 40% full.

Sophie Donio from Eilat is Israel's first female EMS ambucycle driver. She is a single working mother, a therapist and a diving instructor who gives up her free time to volunteer with United Hatzalah as an EMT first responder and rush out to save the lives of people she has never met.

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical Center have discovered that the human body’s “natural killer” cells improve their ability to fight diseases affecting the fetus following the first pregnancy. It could lead to new fertility treatments

Israel has launched an $8.4 million p.a. program that enables startups to try out their technologies with the medical data of the four health services. It is part of the National Digital Health plan which aims to make Israel a global leader in digital health technologies.

The Californian healthcare company GRAIL Inc is sponsoring a research program to detect cancer early, led by Hebrew University Professor Yuval Dor. The program will analyze fragmented DNA in the bloodstream that derives from tumors, to identify the type of cancer responsible.

I reported previously on Israel’s MeMed which has developed ImmunoXpert – a fast test to determine whether an infection is bacterial or virus. ImmunoXpert is now EU approved and a recent study shows it can reduce unnecessary antibiotic use by nearly 90%.

Israeli startup PulseNmore.is completing development of a revolutionary handheld ultrasound device that will allow pregnant women to check on the health of their baby using a smartphone. On its website, PulseNmore says it’s in stealth mode, so shhh! this new “baby” is asleep.

I reported previously that Ben Gurion University Professor Varda Shoshan-Barmatz had discovered that suppressing the protein VDAC1 inhibits tumor growth. Her team’s latest research shows that small interfering ribonucleic acids (siRNAs) can reprogram the cancer cells back to normal-like cells.  Ointment for pre-skin cancer is in Phase 2 trials.