Israel Active

Professor Ofer Mandelboim of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has won the 2015 Kaye Innovation for discovering that blocking the NKp46 receptor on Natural Killer cells delays or prevents the onset of Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes. Israel’s BioLineRX developed BL-9020 to target NKp46.

The 2nd Joint Symposium took place last week between Dublin’s Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute and Israel’s Weizmann and Technion Institutes. See the pdf report on last year’s event and joint Israeli-Irish research into cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Here’s another chance to take the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s free nine-week introductory course by Professor Idan Segev on neuroscience. Over 60,000 took the original “Synapses, Neurons and Brains” course, including many from Arab countries.

BBC and Sky TV headlines hailed a first for a baby born after ovarian tissue taken from the mother was transplanted back. Readers will know that Israeli doctors also have done this, without any international media fanfare.

In clinical tests, scientists at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University working with Canada’s McGill University discovered DNA methylation changes occur during an addict’s withdrawal process. These changes increased cravings and by administering a DNA methylation inhibitor, the cravings ceased.

Spinal surgeons have now performed over 10,000 procedures using the Renaissance Guidance System (and its earlier Spine Assist version) developed by Israel’s Mazor Robotics. The system is now also being used to perform brain surgery.

Canada’s Azrieli Foundation has donated $10 million to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for researching genetic disorders. The new Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research will focus on Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, diabetes, and Fragile X syndrome.

Israel’s Nuvo Group has developed the PregSense monitor for expectant mothers that need to keep a check on their fetus but do not require hospitalization. Sensors on an elastic harness transmit data via bluetooth to a smartphone for storage in the cloud that physicians can access.

Israel’s MyMDband is a smart waterproof lifetime-guaranteed silicon band with a laser-engraved QR code on a stainless-steel buckle that displays all the data needed immediately after it’s scanned: prior medical conditions, current medications, allergies. Everything a paramedic needs to know.

Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute discovered how lung cancer cells adapt to stop the effectiveness of treatment that block tumor growth. So they have found a solution that targets the adaptations. Applying three treatments together stops tumor growth permanently.