Israeli by birth, Kremer is a graduate of the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology where he earned a bachelors degree in computer science. He was also a captain in the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel and ALS

IsrALS was formed in 2004 by David Cohen, a businessman from Haifa who became sick with ALS one year prior. David identified with Galia Ness, a patient’s daughter, who wrote about her helplessness and frustration.

He, like Galia, concluded that ALS is only incurable because research funding was lacking, and decided to create a foundation to raise funds for the purpose of researching ALS in Israel. David surrounded himself with friends and family members to form IsrALS. Among the first to join were Prof. Peretz Lavie (President of the Technion as of October 2009); former MK Amram Mitzna; David Kahan; Ofer Ness, Shmulik Levi (who helped create the website) and many others. Among those who have joined was Nir Tzoran, who passed away at the beginning of April 2009. He became active in the foundation and, at the beginning of 2005, walked throughout Israel to raise awareness for the disease.

In 2005, Avihai Kramer joined the foundation. Avihai, just 29 years old, was diagnosed with ALS while a student at Harvard University. He enlisted his friends to create three teams: funding, awareness and research. The teams began to raise funds, recruit researchers to research ALS and campaigns raising awareness to the disease.

Since the foundation grew significantly, organizational changes were made: Avihai was appointed CEO, David – Chairman. In January 2006, Nir Tzoran replaced Avihai, and was CEO until his untimely and sudden death. At the time, Dov Lautman, also diagnosed with ALS, joined the foundation and was appointed president.

IsrALS‘ primary goal is to advance research of ALS in Israel. Indeed, since formed, it succeeded in dramatically transforming the research map. There was no ALS research in Israel prior to the formation of IsrALS; currently, more than 20 studies, funded by the foundation, are taking place in various academic institutions (The Technion, Weizmann Institute, Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University, Hebrew University) and medical centers (Tel Aviv and Hadassah Ein Carem). Israel hosts an annual scientific conference on ALS.

In addition to enhancing research and finding a cure, the foundation realizes and understands the needs of patients and their family members. With the realistic understanding of the difficulties brought about by the disease, the Foundation, at the beginning of 2008, established a support department headed by Moran Weiss, a social worker. Its goal is to assist patients with the challenges accompanying the disease. The support department specializes in utilizing rights; organizes support meetings and conferences; manages a cluster of paramedical services; provides communications services, enables easy access to computers, and more.

The foundation has an office in Haifa. Its staff includes Deputy CEO, Efrat Carmi, and Administration and Bookkeeping Manager, Dalia Ligati. The support department is located in Herzliya.

Moussa Youdim and ALS Research

Prof. Moussa Youdim

Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed three drugs to remove excess iron from the brains of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. The presence of too much iron in the brain is a hallmark of such diseases. The drugs, VK-28, HLA-20 and M30, mop up the iron before it can trigger a “brain rust” chemical reaction where highly active oxygen particles destroy brain cells. 
Professor Moussa Youdim of the Faculty of Medicine and his colleagues – Prof. Avraham Warshawsky (now deceased), Prof. Mati Fridkin and Ph.D. student Hailin Zheng from China – have received U.S. and worldwide patents on VK-28, HLA-20 and M30. Youdim says the three drugs could treat and perhaps prevent a range of diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).


You can read the full story of the work of Prof. Youdim in this story from the Jerusalem Post.


Prof. Youdim was recently made a Fellow at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. You can read more about it at Technion’s FOCUS.