Israel Active

Tel Aviv University inaugurated the Sagol School of Neuroscience - the first of its kind in Israel – at the Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Hashomer. Three Israeli Nobel Prize winners attended the official opening.

Israel’s Teva and Gamida Cell Ltd have completed enrolment of patients for their Phase III clinical trial of StemEx, a cell therapy for the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma. StemEx is for adolescents and adults who cannot find family-related, matched bone marrow donors.

Israel’s Tiltan Pharma Ltd has begun a Phase II clinical trial of its TL-118 drug for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The trial will include 80 patients at three Israeli hospitals. TL-118 prevents blood flow to tumours, preventing their growth. Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem developed the drug.

12-year old Pavel Sadyshev from Kazakhstan suffers from Cerebral Palsy and was unable to walk until the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Assaf Harofeh Medical Centre brought him to Israel. Doctors at Harofeh used their world-recognised expertise in the field to operate on Pavel, who is now undergoing rehabilitation – all at Israel’s expense.

Israel’s Weizmann Institute scientists managed to trick the immune systems of mice into targeting one of body's players in the autoimmune process - an enzyme known as MMP9. The method has the potential to treat Crohn's plus opens up novel treatments for many other diseases.

Medi-tate Ltd. has obtained Europe’s CE Mark certification for its mechanical Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) device for a minimally invasive procedure to reshape the urethra. Medi-tate says that 15 million American men have the BPH symptom.

Israel’s VisionCare has raised a further $4 million to finance the marketing of its implantable telescope, smaller than a pea in size, for the treatment of end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

69 year-old retired paediatrician Dr Vladimir Promovich became blind last year. When doctors at Kaplan Medical Centre received a donated cornea, they used new technology to divide the cornea for transplantation into two recipients – one being Dr Promovich. After full recovery, Dr Promovich has promised to volunteer at Kaplan. “After all, I worked here, and now they have given me my sight back.”

Meir Turgeman was one of the first residents of Sderot in 1955. 25 years ago he became deaf due to defective middle ears. A titanium implant device was placed inside his skull, receiving and transferring stimuli directly to the auditory nerve and he began to hear immediately. Referring to the threat from Gaza rockets he said, “I will be able to run to the shelter when the Red Alert is sounded.”

Hebrew University of Jerusalem brain scientists have tapped onto the visual cortex of people suffering from congenital blindness by using sensory substitution devices (SSDs) – making it possible for them in effect to “see” and even describe objects. Video camera images are converted into “soundscapes,” using a predictable algorithm, allowing the user to listen to and then interpret the visual information coming from the camera.