From the Lab to the Patient’s Bedside: Technion and Rambam Establish the Andrea and Lawrence Wolfe Center for Translational Medicine and Engineering

A comprehensive agreement between the Technion and Rambam Health Care Campus to establish the Wolfe Center for Translational Medicine and Engineering was signed recently by Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan and Rambam Health Care Campus Director General Dr. Michal Mekel. The Center will bring together physicians, scientists, and engineers to advance and accelerate the development of treatments and technologies that will improve the lives of patients in Israel and around the world.

Made possible by a generous donation from Andrea and Larry Wolfe, the Center will be established in the Helmsley Health Discovery Tower at Rambam.  The Wolfe Center will span two floors and include advanced research laboratories in areas including artificial intelligence and medicine, biochips, drug delivery and molecular therapies, innovation in medical devices, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and healthcare systems operations. Bringing these fields together under one roof is intended to create a unique working environment in which new ideas can rapidly progress from basic research to clinical application.

Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan said at the signing ceremony: “The joint agreement we are signing today is a natural continuation of the vision of the founders of the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, who understood the power of combining medicine, science, engineering, and technology for the benefit of humanity. The combination of a research hospital and a technological university provide the entire value chain, from the patient’s bedside to the research and development laboratories and back to the patient’s bedside.”

Prof. Sivan thanked the donors, saying: “Andrea and Larry Wolfe are true partners who have maintained longstanding ties with both the Technion and Rambam and are deeply involved with both institutions. They made possible the initiative that led to the agreement we are signing today. This is a wonderful example of the power of philanthropy to drive major initiatives that would not otherwise get underway. Andrea and Larry have not only contributed generously but have embraced the vision at the heart of this collaboration – the aspiration to solve major problems facing humanity by combining science, medicine, and engineering.”

Rambam Health Care Campus Director General Dr. Michal Mekel spoke at the signing ceremony about Kurt Semm, the father of modern laparoscopy, whose innovation was rooted in the fact that he was both a physician and an ingenious toolmaker. “His contribution,” said Dr. Mekel, “was one of the great revolutions in the history of surgery, and to this day it enables many procedures to be performed in a minimally invasive manner. Today, as researchers and physicians, it is clear to us that medicine cannot exist and advance without research – not only research in the life sciences, but also in engineering. Breakthroughs emerge when different worlds meet, and in our case, when medicine meets engineering.”

She thanked Prof. Rafi Beyar, former director general of Rambam, for his vision in establishing the center – a vision he began advancing some 20 years ago.

“Signing ceremonies are about far more than a formal act,” said Dr. Rafi Aviram, Technion executive vice president and director general, who moderated the ceremony. “They are an expression of mutual trust, a shared vision, and the commitment of partners on a common path. The agreement we are signing today is another important step in strengthening the relationship between the Technion and Rambam, and its signing symbolizes not only an achievement in the present but also a promise for the future. It reflects a belief in the power of partnership, knowledge sharing, creativity, and our ability to bring about meaningful change by working together.”

Prof. Noam Ziv, deputy senior executive vice president for engineering, life sciences and medicine, said: “Establishing the Wolfe Center involves a certain leap of faith, a bold step taken with conviction even when the outcome is not certain. Nevertheless, judging by the number of joint projects involving Technion and Rambam researchers, which continues to grow from year to year, there is ample reason for optimism about the outcome.

“One small story that many may not know perhaps points to what lies ahead: very recently, in a competition for a single joint research grant titled ‘Implementing Artificial Intelligence Models in the Hospital of the Future,’ the winning proposal came from an extraordinary team comprising a researcher from the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, a researcher from the Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences, the director of Rambam’s Ambulatory Services Division, and a senior member of Rambam’s administration – demonstrating just how broad the potential scope of our joint activities can be.”

Prof. Lior Gepstein, director of the Research Division at Rambam and a faculty member in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, said: “This is a significant moment for us, the realization of a longstanding dream and, above all, an opportunity to define how we want to conduct applied medical, scientific, and engineering research at the Technion and Rambam.

“The Wolfe Center for Translational Medicine and Engineering was born from the understanding that the complex challenges of medicine do not stop at the boundaries of a single discipline. To find new solutions, we must bring together medical teams with firsthand knowledge of patients’ needs, scientists who investigate the mechanisms of life, and engineers who know how to transform an idea into a practical solution.

“Its location in the Helmsley Health Discovery Tower at Rambam will provide an environment in which questions arising at the patient’s bedside can become research projects, and research achievements can rapidly be translated into new medical treatments. The agreement we are signing today is not the finish line, but the starting point, and the center’s success will be measured not only by the number of studies, papers, or patents it produces, but by our ability to build a shared community, transform medical needs into practical solutions, and bring those solutions to patients.”

The signing ceremony was attended on behalf of the Technion by Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan; Senior Executive Vice President Prof. Danny Raz; Executive Vice President and Director General Dr. Rafi Aviram; Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Prof. Oded Rabinovitch; Executive Vice President for Research Prof. Noam Adir, Vice President for External Relations and Resource Development Prof. Lihi Zelnik-Manor, Deputy Senior Executive Vice President for Engineering, Life Sciences and Medicine Prof. Noam Ziv; Deputy Director General of Operations Zahava Laniado; Chief Financial Officer Keren Berko, CPA; Legal Counsel Adv. Heli Ben-Ari and Dr. Merav Saker.

Representing Rambam Health Care Campus were Rambam Director General Dr. Michal Mekel; Deputy Directors General Dr. Avi Weissman, Prof. Yael Shachor, Dr. Nati Horowitz, and Nissim Haim; President of the International Friends Associations Prof. Rafi Beyar; Director of the Research Division Prof. Lior Gepstein; and Director of External Relations Dr. Esti Golan.

Photo credit: Rami Shlush, Technion Spokesperson’s Office