PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2015
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Tag Archives: academia
Technion LIVE e-newsletter December 2011, breaking science & technology news from Israel
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The Technion Nobel Tradition
The Technion Nobel Laureates
Nobel Laureate Albert Einstein used to play violin in a string quartet with historic Technion architect and faculty member Prof. Alexander Baerwald. In the recession after WW1, dreams of making the Technion a functioning reality were slim, and Einstein was invited to come visit the waiting buildings designed by his friend and to advise on the dream of opening a technical institute in Haifa. On that day, the Nobel Laureate and his wife planted two trees to mark the occasion. On his return to Berlin, Einstein would open and chair the world’s first Technion society – the initiation of an apparatus that would generate a century of progress, teaching and expansion as the decade by decade, the Technion could anticpate and meet the needs of a fledgling nation.
On the 100th anniversary of the Technion’s first cornerstone, Technion’s Prof. Dan Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He is today Technion’s third Nobel Laureate, joining Prof. Avraham Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover. All three of them follow the spirit of scientific integrity and excellence in pure research displayed by founding father Albert Einstein, to whom the Technion owes so much. Scroll down to absorb a little of the Technion’s Nobel legacy.
LOKEY PARK ~ TECHNION GARDEN OF NOBEL LAUREATES
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| Lokey Park – a garden of trees planted by global Nobel Laureates at Technion City. |
Technion 2011 Nobel Laureate Danny Shectman will be joining a list of Nobel Laureates who planted trees to celebrate their visit to Technion. The tradition was begun by Prof. Albert Einstein – Chairman of the first Technion Society, who planted two palm trees in 1923 in front of the Technion’s majestic first building in Hadar, Haifa.
 |
| 1921: Albert Einstein initiates the Technion Nobel tradition. |
Nobel Laureate Trees planted at Lokey Park and on Technion soil.
- Prof. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, UK; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2009
- Professor Ada Yonath, Israel; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2009
- Professor Linda B. Buck, USA; Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine 2004
- Prof. Avram Hershko, Israel; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2004
- Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, Israel; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2004
- Prof. Tim Hunt. U.K; Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 2001
- Prof. Kurt Wüthrich, Switzerland; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2002
- Prof. Günter Blobel, USA; Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1999
- Prof. Ferid Murad, USA; Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1998
- Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn, France; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1987
- Prof. David Gross, USA; Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2004
- Prof. Elie Wiesel, USA; Nobel Laureate in Peace, 1986
- Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italy; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1986
- Albert Einstein, Germany/USA at old site; Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923
Technion’s Nobel Laureates in Chemistry – Collect the stamp, and watch this space for a New Nobel Edition!
ISRAEL POST – INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF CHEMISTRY 2011
Technion Prof. Ehud Keinan, President of the Israel Chemical Society, had the vision to celebrate the international year of chemistry in a manner suited to the world-class position of Israel’s three Nobel Laureates in science. With determination and application, he engineered the release of official stamps celebrating the Year of Chemistry, and Israel’s Nobel Laureates.
Ubiquitin
Why our proteins must die so that we may live
Proteins are the machines that drive our bodies. They are responsible for all our activities, from the beating of our hearts, to walking, seeing, hearing, digestion, respiration and even the secretion of waste materials. Unlike useful items that surround us, like furniture and clothing, our bodies’ proteins are dynamic. They are constantly being destroyed and rebuilt, again and again. Our bodies destroy on a daily basis up to 10% of our proteins and generate new ones instead. This phenomenon raises interesting questions: why does this process occur at all, and how does it occur? Which diseases would happen if this mechanism was to fail? How can we cure such diseases? As part of the body’s quality control mechanism, proteins are destroyed after fulfilling their specific function in case they have been damaged by heat, by pollutants, by genetic mutation, or simply because they are no longer needed. Professors Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and Irwin Rose of the University of California, Irvine, USA, were jointly awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the mechanism that removes damaged or unnecessary proteins. These proteins are labeled for destruction by another small protein called ubiquitin, whose general structure is shown on the stamp. The structure was adopted from W. J. Cook and his coworkers, the Journal of Molecular Biology, 1987. Once tagged by this “kiss of death” the labeled proteins are removed by a biological shredding machine called the proteasome, while sparing healthy, untagged proteins. Aberrations in this protein destruction process may result in numerous sicknesses, including certain types of cancers and brain diseases. Many pharmaceutical companies are working to develop drugs to combat such diseases. One such drug to treat multiple myeloma, which is a form of blood cancer, is already used clinically.
Ehud Keinan Professor of Chemistry Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, President of the Israel Chemical Society, Editor in Chief, Israel Journal of Chemistry, Chairman of the Chemistry Committee, Ministry of Education Dr. Joerg Harms of the University of Hamburg is acknowledged for the ribosome graphics.
Technical Details:
Issue: January 2011
Design: Haimi Kivkovitch
Stamp Size: 30 mm x 40 mm
Plate nos: 823 (two phosphor bars)
824 (two phosphor bars)
Sheet of 15 stamps, Tabs: 5
Printers: Joh. Enschede, The Netherlands
Method of printing: Offset
The Technion Nobel Tradition
The Technion Nobel Laureates
Nobel Laureate Albert Einstein used to play violin in a string quartet with historic Technion architect and faculty member Prof. Alexander Baerwald. In the recession after WW1, dreams of making the Technion a functioning reality were slim, and Einstein was invited to come visit the waiting buildings designed by his friend and to advise on the dream of opening a technical institute in Haifa. On that day, the Nobel Laureate and his wife planted two trees to mark the occasion. On his return to Berlin, Einstein would open and chair the world’s first Technion society – the initiation of an apparatus that would generate a century of progress, teaching and expansion as the decade by decade, the Technion could anticpate and meet the needs of a fledgling nation.
On the 100th anniversary of the Technion’s first cornerstone, Technion’s Prof. Dan Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He is today Technion’s third Nobel Laureate, joining Prof. Avraham Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover. All three of them follow the spirit of scientific integrity and excellence in pure research displayed by founding father Albert Einstein, to whom the Technion owes so much. Scroll down to absorb a little of the Technion’s Nobel legacy.
LOKEY PARK ~ TECHNION GARDEN OF NOBEL LAUREATES
|
| Lokey Park – a garden of trees planted by global Nobel Laureates at Technion City. |
Technion 2011 Nobel Laureate Danny Shectman will be joining a list of Nobel Laureates who planted trees to celebrate their visit to Technion. The tradition was begun by Prof. Albert Einstein – Chairman of the first Technion Society, who planted two palm trees in 1923 in front of the Technion’s majestic first building in Hadar, Haifa.
|
| 1921: Albert Einstein initiates the Technion Nobel tradition. |
Nobel Laureate Trees planted at Lokey Park and on Technion soil.
- Prof. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, UK; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2009
- Professor Ada Yonath, Israel; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2009
- Professor Linda B. Buck, USA; Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine 2004
- Prof. Avram Hershko, Israel; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2004
- Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, Israel; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2004
- Prof. Tim Hunt. U.K; Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 2001
- Prof. Kurt Wüthrich, Switzerland; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2002
- Prof. Günter Blobel, USA; Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1999
- Prof. Ferid Murad, USA; Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1998
- Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn, France; Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1987
- Prof. David Gross, USA; Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2004
- Prof. Elie Wiesel, USA; Nobel Laureate in Peace, 1986
- Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italy; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1986
- Albert Einstein, Germany/USA at old site; Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923
Technion’s Nobel Laureates in Chemistry – Collect the stamp, and watch this space for a New Nobel Edition!
ISRAEL POST – INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF CHEMISTRY 2011
Technion Prof. Ehud Keinan, President of the Israel Chemical Society, had the vision to celebrate the international year of chemistry in a manner suited to the world-class position of Israel’s three Nobel Laureates in science. With determination and application, he engineered the release of official stamps celebrating the Year of Chemistry, and Israel’s Nobel Laureates.
Ubiquitin
Why our proteins must die so that we may live
Proteins are the machines that drive our bodies. They are responsible for all our activities, from the beating of our hearts, to walking, seeing, hearing, digestion, respiration and even the secretion of waste materials. Unlike useful items that surround us, like furniture and clothing, our bodies’ proteins are dynamic. They are constantly being destroyed and rebuilt, again and again. Our bodies destroy on a daily basis up to 10% of our proteins and generate new ones instead. This phenomenon raises interesting questions: why does this process occur at all, and how does it occur? Which diseases would happen if this mechanism was to fail? How can we cure such diseases? As part of the body’s quality control mechanism, proteins are destroyed after fulfilling their specific function in case they have been damaged by heat, by pollutants, by genetic mutation, or simply because they are no longer needed. Professors Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and Irwin Rose of the University of California, Irvine, USA, were jointly awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the mechanism that removes damaged or unnecessary proteins. These proteins are labeled for destruction by another small protein called ubiquitin, whose general structure is shown on the stamp. The structure was adopted from W. J. Cook and his coworkers, the Journal of Molecular Biology, 1987. Once tagged by this “kiss of death” the labeled proteins are removed by a biological shredding machine called the proteasome, while sparing healthy, untagged proteins. Aberrations in this protein destruction process may result in numerous sicknesses, including certain types of cancers and brain diseases. Many pharmaceutical companies are working to develop drugs to combat such diseases. One such drug to treat multiple myeloma, which is a form of blood cancer, is already used clinically.
Ehud Keinan Professor of Chemistry Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, President of the Israel Chemical Society, Editor in Chief, Israel Journal of Chemistry, Chairman of the Chemistry Committee, Ministry of Education Dr. Joerg Harms of the University of Hamburg is acknowledged for the ribosome graphics.
Technical Details:
Issue: January 2011
Design: Haimi Kivkovitch
Stamp Size: 30 mm x 40 mm
Plate nos: 823 (two phosphor bars)
824 (two phosphor bars)
Sheet of 15 stamps, Tabs: 5
Printers: Joh. Enschede, The Netherlands
Method of printing: Offset
Proofs of Progress, Prof. Yeshayahu Talmon, Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute
RBNI Director Prof. Yeshayahu Talmon
The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute has become an exemplary paradigm for progress. By giving inspired, but grounded, structure to create and nurture research into nanotechnology and science at Technion, the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute is at the global forefront of transforming teaching, science, technology and industry.
Active, ground-breaking research into the nano-dimension has been thriving in individual labs across the many faculties of the Technion for over a decade. The ingenuity, curiosity, expertise and global scientific direction was scattered in individual projects across campus long before the festive dedication ceremony of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute on June 7th 2005, held together with the visionary Russell Berrie Foundation trustees.
Yet the formation of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute as a unified multidisciplinary structure committed to nurturing nano research and cooperation, and bringing the expert infrastructure to campus to make that research possible had a local, national and international impact. Month by month we are witnessing a revolution and evolution of science, as Israel takes its place through a powerful, supportive structure at the pioneering frontier of future science and technology. Nano is not a dream or a fantasy, it is a global need – directed by the progress of science and technology in all fields, and thanks to the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Technion scientists are in a position where they can answer that need, maintaining Israel’s position at the cutting edge of world-class research and innovation.
The Triangle Donation Matching (TDM) 5-year program to transform Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NN) research in Israeli universities was set up in 2005 at the Technion. The rapid and evident success of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (resulting partly from the great pool of excellent scientists already active in nanoresearch at Technion) inspired the birth of five other such nano centers at other universities in Israel in 2006, leading to a total investment of $220 million over five years in addition to tens of millions of dollars raised in research funds from Israeli and international funding agencies. The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute has also had a dramatic impact on the development of Israeli nano industry.
The momentum of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute and the clarity of its vision and direction inspired other philanthropists to answer the call of scientific need and to invest in the future. Over five years, the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute scientists tripled the amount of the funding from external grants. The evidence of the clearly operating, highly productive structure of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute has formed a model for effective multidisciplinary research, exposing a national and international need for such structures. As a result, major donors have committed to investing in additional centers at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
Our first priority at the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute is education, for on this, the security and future of the state of Israel depend. The future of scientific research in Israel and its high-tech success, is personified by its young people. the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute’s Norman Seiden Multidisciplinary Graduate Program in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology was the first in Israel to award advanced degrees in the field. Following the success of this program, two similar initiatives were recently born at the Hebrew University and at the Tel Aviv University (towards an MSc degree). Graduates of the Norman Seiden Graduate Program, equipped with a unique multidisciplinary education, will have a dramatic impact on research in industry and academia.
The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, a powerful Israeli nano center, is also an international magnet. The Institute hosts winter schools, which bring together world-renowned researchers with graduate students from Technion and other Israeli universities. In addition, the Nevet research program is actively supporting international collaboration between Technion and scientists from Israel, Germany, Singapore and others.
In response to a rising need, RBNI has taken a new initiative to develop the field of NanoMed. Major donors have already committed to invest in this scientifically fascinating center to nurture active collaborations between Technion’s nano scientists and its stellar researchers in life sciences. Breakthrough research focused on identifying and curing cancer and kidney-related diseases are already underway. Much of Technion research into NanoMed opens the promise of a revolution in new medical treatments and world health-care. Research projects such as the “Electronic Nose” – detecting cancer via breath analysis – give a glimpse of the miracles nanoscience can perform when combined with life sciences and applied to medical research.
The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute is also nurturing other innovative multidisciplinary drives, such as the Technion’s courageous move into energy research, environmental research and security. Examples include the photovoltaic cells project; sensors for monitoring water quality; and research into the identification of toxic air-borne chemicals.
The combination of world-class Nano infrastructure with exclusive expertise, means Technion is a first port of call for industry. Approximately 120 research groups from industry have used this equipment over the past five years, in addition to dozens of academic groups.
A Message from Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie
Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie
Where once there were separate faculties and individual research scientists or groups, today Technion is home to a dynamic multidisciplinary community, where science and technology are daily being recreated across the thresholds of former limitations. Of course, in a country the size of Israel, the intense and highly prolific activity at RBNI rapidly gained a status of national importance, as the institute became the nerve center of Israel’s flourishing nano community.
In the past five years, 111 projects were launched in cooperation with industry and through RBNI’s active role in the government MAGNET consortia. By 2009, 104 patent applications were made with a myriad of success stories leading to the transfer of intellectual property rights to multinational companies or to hot Israeli start-up firms.
But first and foremost, Technion is a university committed to education. The need for an excellent program to bring students the highest skills and knowledge today, is paramount to being at the frontiers of nano-industry, education and research tomorrow. The Norman Seiden Multidisciplinary Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology was the first of its kind in Israel to grant advanced degrees in nanoscience and nanotechnology. As a result of its success, two similar programs have now been launched at other universities in Israel.
In addition to its top graduate program, RBNI uses its powerful research base to widen its circles of influence in Israel and beyond. The Winter Schools gather world-class international researchers with hundreds of students. The 58 “Nevet” research projects involve in-depth collaborations between Technion and scientists in Europe, Asia and other institutes in Israel. These collaborations generate joint workshops, joint funding of research projects, and vital student exchange.
With each semester RBNI expands. To date thirteen dynamic new faculty members have been recruited from the world’s top universities. Eight infrastructure centers were established or upgraded; 43 research labs, and five student labs were modernized and reequipped.
These key facilities are put to work with wisdom and vision, serving not only projects from across the Technion faculties, but also dozens of research groups from other universities and from industry.
Indeed, the birth of RBNI initiated a cultural transformation at Technion City. Whether in the Calatrava Obelisk signaling technological marvel and scientific discovery at the heart of campus, or in the stateliness of the Russell Berrie Promenade, or in the many upgrades and new laboratories creating academic synergy on campus, it is a transformation underway that no visitor – young or old – could miss.
The transformative impact of RBNI has been a direct result of the wisdom, vision and application of its leadership. Considering the vast sea of potential and promise that each new nano-scale discovery reveals, clear foresight and organization are critical for progress. At present, RBNI has targeted three key focus areas for nano research: tissue engineering, photovoltaic cells (at the key junction of energy research and nanoscience), and NanoMed – which is creating and empowering the incredible medical potential found in the synergy of RBNI researchers with the excellent scientists at the Lorry I. Lokey Interdisciplinary Center for Life Sciences and Engineering.
I congratulate RBNI and its leadership on the successful formulation of one of Israel’s most dynamic and transformational structures for scientific and technological progress. I look forward to overseeing and witnessing the ramifications of RBNI in the discoveries, collaborations, applications, start-ups, and excellent students of the future.
In the past five years, 111 projects were launched in cooperation with industry and through RBNI’s active role in the government MAGNET consortia. By 2009, 104 patent applications were made with a myriad of success stories leading to the transfer of intellectual property rights to multinational companies or to hot Israeli start-up firms.
But first and foremost, Technion is a university committed to education. The need for an excellent program to bring students the highest skills and knowledge today, is paramount to being at the frontiers of nano-industry, education and research tomorrow. The Norman Seiden Multidisciplinary Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology was the first of its kind in Israel to grant advanced degrees in nanoscience and nanotechnology. As a result of its success, two similar programs have now been launched at other universities in Israel.
In addition to its top graduate program, RBNI uses its powerful research base to widen its circles of influence in Israel and beyond. The Winter Schools gather world-class international researchers with hundreds of students. The 58 “Nevet” research projects involve in-depth collaborations between Technion and scientists in Europe, Asia and other institutes in Israel. These collaborations generate joint workshops, joint funding of research projects, and vital student exchange.
With each semester RBNI expands. To date thirteen dynamic new faculty members have been recruited from the world’s top universities. Eight infrastructure centers were established or upgraded; 43 research labs, and five student labs were modernized and reequipped.
These key facilities are put to work with wisdom and vision, serving not only projects from across the Technion faculties, but also dozens of research groups from other universities and from industry.
Indeed, the birth of RBNI initiated a cultural transformation at Technion City. Whether in the Calatrava Obelisk signaling technological marvel and scientific discovery at the heart of campus, or in the stateliness of the Russell Berrie Promenade, or in the many upgrades and new laboratories creating academic synergy on campus, it is a transformation underway that no visitor – young or old – could miss.
The transformative impact of RBNI has been a direct result of the wisdom, vision and application of its leadership. Considering the vast sea of potential and promise that each new nano-scale discovery reveals, clear foresight and organization are critical for progress. At present, RBNI has targeted three key focus areas for nano research: tissue engineering, photovoltaic cells (at the key junction of energy research and nanoscience), and NanoMed – which is creating and empowering the incredible medical potential found in the synergy of RBNI researchers with the excellent scientists at the Lorry I. Lokey Interdisciplinary Center for Life Sciences and Engineering.
I congratulate RBNI and its leadership on the successful formulation of one of Israel’s most dynamic and transformational structures for scientific and technological progress. I look forward to overseeing and witnessing the ramifications of RBNI in the discoveries, collaborations, applications, start-ups, and excellent students of the future.
Proud 2B Technion ~ Awards and Prize
Who recently brought home two Krill prizes, the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Emet Prize, the US Medal of Science, The France-Israel Foundation Prize and seven European Research Grants?
The Krill Prize
Dr. Oren Cohen.
Dr. Oren Cohen, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Physics, and Dr. Yuval Shaked, a senior lecturer at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, have received the Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research for 2011.
Dr. Yuval Shaked.
The Krill Prize is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation to excelling faculty members at Israel’s universities who have not yet been granted tenure. This year two of the eight winners of the Krill prize are from Technion.
Both Cohen and Shaked joined Technion in 2008; Cohen as a Horev Fellow and Shaked as a Landau Fellow in the Leaders in Science and Technology Program. Cohen’s research interests are in non-linear and ultra-fast optics, optical imaging and nonlinear dynamics. Shaked’s research interests are in tumor angiogenesis and tumor biomarkers.
France-Israel Foundation Prize
Prof. Ori Lahav
Held in Paris at INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research), the France-Israel Foundation presented its annual bilateral prize of the scientific commission presided over by Edith Cresson, former Prime Minister of France.
This year’s theme was Water Engineering and Technion‘s Prof. Ori Lahav received the award along with Moshe Herzberg from Ben-Gurion University and a French researcher from CNRS. Lahav is an associate professor at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a member of the Grand Water Research Institute at Technion.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Prof. Emeritus Reuven Rubinstein
Prof. Emeritus Reuven Rubinstein from the Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management has received the Lifetime Professional Achievement Award, the highest honor given by INFORMS Simulation Society. The award recognizes major contributions to the field of simulation that are sustained over most of a professional career, with the critical consideration being the total impact of those contributions on the field.
Prof. Rubinstein has been a pivotal figure in the theory and practice of simulation as we know it today. His career reflects a high level of creativity and contribution, with a willingness to explore new areas and an amazing ability to suggest surprising new avenues of research and to influence subsequent work.
U.S. National Medals of Science
Two Israeli physicists—both Technion graduates—were among the top 10 scientists awarded the U.S. National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama in November 2010.
Technion alum Prof. Yakir Aharonov
Prof. Yakir Aharonov, a professor at the Chapman University in California, was honored for his work in quantum physics. Prof. Amnon Yariv, of the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), was noted for his work in photonics and quantum electronics that has helped developments in optics and light wave communications.
Prof. Yakir Aharonov, a professor at the Chapman University in California, was honored for his work in quantum physics. Prof. Amnon Yariv, of the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), was noted for his work in photonics and quantum electronics that has helped developments in optics and light wave communications.
Technion alum Prof. Amnon Yariv.
European Research Grants x7
Prof. Ron Kimmel
This year, seven Technion faculty members receive research grants from the European Research Council (ERC). These accumulated grants amount to more than €11.5 m.
Advanced Grants are awarded to Prof. Ron Kimmel from the Faculty of Computer Science for Non-Rigid Shape Reconstruction and Deformation Analysis, and to Prof. Benjamin Podbilewicz from the Faculty of Biology for Mechanisms of Cell Fusion in Eukaryotes.
Prof. Benjamin Podbilewicz
Starting Grants – awarded to researchers who have obtained their PhD more than two but less than 12 years prior to the call for proposals – go to Assoc. Prof. Yuval Ishai and to Assoc. Prof. Amir Shpilka, both of the Faculty of Computer Science; to Prof. Lior Gepstein and to Dr Yuval Shaked, both of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine; and to Dr Hossam Haick of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering.
The ERC is the first European funding body set up to support investigator-driven frontier research. Its main aim is to stimulate scientific excellence by supporting and encouraging the very best, truly creative scientists to be adventurous and take risks in their research, going beyond established frontiers of knowledge and the boundaries of disciplines.
The Emet Prize
Prof. Emeritus Moussa Youdim
Prof. Emeritus Moussa Youdim was awarded the 2010 EMET Prize for Brain Science in the category of Life Sciences. The EMET Prize is an annual award given for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far reaching influence and significant contribution to society.
Prof. Youdim is internationally renowned for his brain research and drug development in depressive illness and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. He has established the importance of monoamine oxidase and brain iron metabolism for brain function that can lead to cognitive impairments and neurodegenerative diseases. Research together with
Technion colleague Prof. John Finberg has led to the development – in conjunction with Teva Pharmaceuticals – of the second generation of monoamine oxidase inhibitor anti-Parkinson drug, Rasagiline (Azilect®).
Youdim holds more than 100 international patents in the field of neuropsychiatric drug development and cardiovascular drugs. He acts as a consultant for several major international pharmaceutical companies and he serves on many national and international scientific and grant giving committees.
Recently Moussa Youdim was awarded The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) LifeTime Achievement Award for contribution to the field and drug development and was elected to the Leopoldina Germany Academy of Sciences (the world’s oldest Academy).