Israel Active

BioMed 2015 (May 12-14) in Tel Aviv is an annual event that draws hundreds of industry executives, scientists and engineers, with thousands of attendees from over 45 countries. Hundreds of Israeli life science companies exhibit their products, services and technologies.

As reported previously , the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel’s largest neuroscience center, has got “off the ground”. Now a further $30 million from the Safra Foundation will take it to the next level.

Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Harvard University in Massachusetts have succeeded in mapping the circuitry of the brain. The Neuronal Positioning System (NPS) maps neuronal circuits to help understand how messages are sent within the brain or to other parts of the body.

Researchers at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center have detected large concentrations of a specific antibody in some ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) sufferers. The same antibody is present when Celiac disease sufferers consume gluten. Further studies are being conducted into the link.

Two years ago, the international press reported that the Polio virus was found in Jerusalem’s sewage system, although no one was infected. I doubt if the press will report that the World Health Organization has now declared that the virus has been eradicated. That’s why I’m reporting it in my newsletter.

Israeli biotech Intec has signed a deal with a major (but unnamed) international company worth $150 million to distribute Intec’s treatment for mental and neurological diseases. The delayed release treatment remains intact until it reaches the intestines, in order to release more effectively into the body.

I reported on Israel’s EyeYon Medical’s contact lens to treat corneal edema in my newsletter. EyeYon began selling the product this year and has just raised $3.6 million of funds to help recruit staff and develop further innovative ophthalmologic products.

A $1.6 million gift to Israel’s Technion and Canada’s Waterloo University by the Gerald Schwartz & Heather Reisman Foundation will fund joint research into lung disease in prem babies, nanotechnology treatment therapy and quantum computing.

The new hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) unit at Israel’s Assaf Harofeh Medical Center has a capacity for 150 patients per day. It provides high-pressure oxygen to treat victims of diving accidents, burns, carbon monoxide poisoning, radiation damage, bone infections, fibromyalgia, strokes, dementia and more.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists have published more results of their research into the brains of the blind from birth. Their visual cortexes are similar to the fully sighted. They can even be trained to “see” sounds.