On 13/03/2024 between the hours of 11:00 – 14:30 no traffic of any kind will be allowed on campus. Additionally, in order to ensure the safety and security of runners, entry and exit of vehicles to and from the campus will not be allowed.
• In preparation for the race, on Tuesday, 12/03/2024 from 17:00 and until the end of the race at 14:30, parking will not be permitted between the Neve Sha’anan Gate and Lev HaCampus.
• To all those taking part in the race we wish you a challenging race.
Please remember, the Security Center emergency telephone number is 2222.
Currently an engineer in the R&D department at Biosense Webster, Alon Barash is someone who never gives up on his dreams. Despite being born with a hearing impairment, he recently completed his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and is pursuing a second degree in the same field.
Alon Barash
In addition to the usual challenges that accompany adolescence, military service, and education, Alon’s first challenge in life was learning to hear. “Hearing problems cause you to miss a lot of information and limit your scope of opportunities. As a person who cannot hear, you have to make a significant effort to grasp what others simply perceive. This is a limitation that has accompanied me at every stage of life and continues to challenge me in various areas – academic, social, and more. But at a young age, I decided that my hearing impairment would not dictate the course of my life.” Alon was born in Holon; at school he participated in the “Nachshon” leadership course. Later, he volunteered in the IDF and after completing his service, began a preparatory program that paved the way for his studies at the Technion. During his studies, Alon was introduced to cochlear implant technology, which allows hearing-impaired individuals to hear. During his undergraduate degree, he underwent surgery for a cochlear implant. He recalls, “After a long and difficult period of training and adaptation, there was a significant improvement in my hearing. Before the implant, I could only hear in one ear, which always required me to think about where I stood in relation to the person talking to me. Now I don’t have to think about it because the implant added another ear, a bionic ear, and that’s a huge change, even if it doesn’t replace a normal ear.”
During his degree in electrical engineering, Alon learned about signal processing. His personal story prompted him to explore the world of hearing impairments. At the end of his degree, he started a special project on spatial hearing research under the guidance of Prof. Yossi Atias and Nimrod Peleg, in a collaboration between the Technion and the University of Haifa. Through this research, Alon understood more about the challenges faced by people who have had hearing impairments since childhood. “I continued to act out of a desire to normalize the experiences of hearing-impaired individuals so they could integrate into society without the difficulties that I experienced.” While the company where Alon works, Biosense Webster, is not involved in the field of hearing devices, it does strive to improve people’s quality of life. The company focuses on three-dimensional mapping of the heart for the treatment of arrhythmias. Alon continues to bridge the technological world of electrical and computer engineering with the medical field.
In addition to his professional pursuits, Alon participated in the BrainTech hackathon at the Technion, with a project related to improving the lives of deaf people. He and his team (Ron Liraz, Gal Brown, Aviv Burshtein, Gal Baron and Ezra Ozery) developed an interactive game for learning sign language, based on a depth-sensing camera that identifies the user’s hand movements. The project won first place in the hackathon. Alon explains that with this game, people without hearing impairments can learn how to communicate with those who have hearing impairments more effectively and positively. “Despite the difficulties that come with a hearing impairment, I believe it also generates a mental resilience that allows people to succeed, even in challenging situations. If someone had told me that volunteering for the army or going to the Technion would be too hard for me – I wouldn’t have listened to them.”
According to Alon, family support played a decisive role. “A deaf or hearing-impaired child needs more assistance to bridge the linguistic gap and integrate. With the help of intensive treatment with a speech therapist and a lot of hearing exercises, I managed to integrate into regular education instead of special education. Fortunately, at the Technion, I received significant support from the Unit for the Advancement of Students. Dalia Peled, Sigal Blum, and Gil Berkovich helped me with various aspects. I would also like to thank Danit Cohen from the faculty for her help. In general, I think that since I started studying here, the Technion has improved significantly in assisting students in need. I can also say that I learned a lot of things I didn’t know before about accessibility.” Alon explains that in addition to the importance of tailored organizational support, the students’ collaboration is also required. “They are the ones determining what happens on the ground. The faculty can allocate reserved places for people with disabilities, but these places might be taken by regular students. Such situations taught me that I have to be always proactive. I turned to the faculty and the Unit for the Advancement of Students, emphasizing my and others’ special needs, and I didn’t give up. I used to think that I wanted to receive the same treatment as everyone else, but I learned to accept that due to my impairment, I need a different approach.
“Leaders of Hope – Intel’s Maker Group”
In recent months, Alon has volunteered for several initiatives: providing online lessons for students through “Lema’an Hatalmidim,” (For the Students) participating in “Leaders of Hope – Intel’s Maker Group,” delivering packages to soldiers, and more. Accessibility is a vast and complex world, and as Alon mentioned before, even those with disabilities do not understand it enough. “Social awareness of people’s limitations is like a muscle that requires training, or a flame that should not be extinguished. People live their lives and are not always attentive to the needs of others, especially those with disabilities. For this reason, one must know how to ask and remind people. In the end, I see myself not as an advocate of rights but as a regular student who doesn’t let his impairment define him, and I hope that other disabled students will feel the same.”
In conclusion, he summarizes, “My message is that anyone aspiring to overcome their limitations needs to deeply understand their boundaries, remember that it’s okay to ask for help, and that it’s possible to succeed just like anyone else.”
The Technion is the leading university in Israel and Europe, and one of the top one hundred in the world in terms of patents approved in the United States. This is reflected in the ranking by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), based on data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the year 2023.
The updated ranking places the Technion at 65th in the world, with 48 patents in the past year – a few places behind Yale, New York University, and the University of Washington. In first place in Israel and Europe, and also among the top 20 in the world for the number of approved patents in the United States, relative to the research faculty. This marks a rise of three places from 2022 when the Technion was ranked 68th in the world. The ranking editors note that: “the list highlights the importance of patents in the application of research and innovation in academia, as well as the central role of academic institutions in the field of innovation.”
Rona Samler, General Manager of T3 – the Technology Transfer Office at the Technion, expressed, “I am immensely proud to spotlight our remarkable achievement for the third consecutive year, securing the top position in Israel and Europe and among top 20 universities worldwide for the number of granted US patents per faculty. This outstanding feat underscores the scientific excellence of our esteemed faculty members and highlights T3’s leadership in effective intellectual property management. Our unwavering commitment to innovation and collaboration remains a driving force behind impactful contributions to the global landscape, solidifying Technion’s reputation as a pioneer in cutting-edge research and technological advancements.”
Prof. Lihi Zelnick-Manor
Prof. Lihi Zelnik-Manor, Executive Vice President for Innovation and Industry Relations at the Technion, commented: “the Technion invests significantly in fostering innovation and developing technological breakthroughs. As the Executive Vice President for Innovation and Industry Relations, I am proud to be part of an institution that invests resources in the technological market, ensuring that research breakthroughs do not remain confined to the boundaries of academia but positively impact the industrial sector and, consequently, society as a whole. Our commitment to bridging the gap between academia and industry is a central part of the Technion’s mission, as we strive to cultivate partnerships and promote innovation for the benefit of dual-world developments.”
The Technion’s patent portfolio currently includes 1815 registered patents and patent applications. The processes of commercialization and patent registration are led by T3 – Technion’s Technology Transfer Office, which collaborates extensively with industry and promotes the establishment of startup companies based on Technion’s technical knowledge—approximately 15 new startups each year.
On the morning of October 7th, Neta Portal and Santiago Perez woke up in their small apartment in Kfar Aza to the sound of warning sirens. They locked themselves in their safe room but were injured by the bullets that penetrated the door. When Santiago realized that the terrorists had thrown a grenade at the safe room door, he pushed Neta out of the window and followed her. While escaping from the apartment, they faced more gunfire from terrorists but managed to evade it and hide under one of the nearby buildings in the kibbutz. Santiago was hit in the back by a bullet, and Neta suffered seven gunshot wounds to her legs.
From left to right: Dr. Dana Solav, Neta Portal and Dr. Amir Haim
Both Neta and Santiago survived, injured but hidden, until they were rescued by Neta’s father, Deputy Chief Superintendent Shimon Portal. During her rehabilitation period at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center, Neta received a unique orthotic device tailored especially for her. The device will help her to walk while her severely injured ankle is unable to bear weight. The device was developed at the Technion and tailored to Neta based on a three-dimensional scan of her leg. The personalized device was built thanks to a long-standing collaboration between Dr. Dana Solav from the Technion’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Amir Haim from the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center. Both were doctoral students at the Technion under the guidance of Prof. Alon Wolf, currently dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and have maintained a fruitful professional relationship ever since.
According to Dr. Solav, the purpose of the device is to enable the recovery of mobility while practicing natural and symmetrical walking under the requirement that the ankle is entirely or partially offloaded. The device effectively transfers weight to the healthy part of the leg above the injured part, allowing walking without causing pain. Moreover, it features an adjustment mechanism that facilitates a gradual and measured increase of weight-bearing of the affected part, according to the level permitted by the clinical condition.
Dr. Solav added that while walking with the device, the knee and hip joints can move and function normally, which helps prevent muscle atrophy and bone density reduction, especially in long-term rehabilitation processes. The three-dimensional scan eliminates the need for a plaster cast, and the computational design process facilitates the fabrication process, which combines a lightweight aluminum frame and 3D-printed parts.
Ahmed Mawase, physiotherapist; Neta Portal, Dr. Dan Solav, Lee Jordan, lab engineer
Dr. Solav stated that in peacetime, injuries like Neta’s are uncommon. Unfortunately, in recent months, she has encountered other cases of soldiers with similar injuries. Sometimes, the injuries lead to amputation, but in many cases, doctors try to save the foot and ankle with complex surgeries, and the orthosis can improve the effectiveness of long-term rehabilitation after surgery. Additionally, they believe the orthosis can assist many diabetes patients who cannot walk due to pressure ulcers on the soles of their feet.
Dr. Solav’s research team, which consists of students and engineers, continues to develop and improve the orthosis while exploring its impact on walking. Simultaneously, the team is planning clinical trials in collaboration with Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center, and hoping to see many people improve their walking rehabilitation by using the innovative orthosis in the near future.
Neta Portal, walking with the aid of the device
Dr. Dana Solav, a faculty member in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion, completed her MSc and PhD under the guidance of Prof. Alon Wolf and Prof. Miles Rubin, and returned to the Technion as a faculty member after completing a post-doctorate at MIT. Her laboratory focuses on biomechanical interfaces, developing medical devices that connect to the body, such as prosthetics and braces, using 3D scans, medical imaging, and computer simulations.
Dr. Amir Haim is the director of the Biomechanical Rehabilitation Unit, the chairman of the Research Authority and a senior physician in the Department of Orthopedic Rehabilitation at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center. He is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and an outstanding graduate of the combined MD/PhD track at the Technion – a track where participants complete a degree in medicine and a doctorate in philosophy.
This research is partially supported by the Henri Gutwirth Fund for the Promotion of Research.
In Dr. Solav’s laboratory there are other research projects, some of which are conducted in collaboration with the PTC company.
The Technion has been transforming itself in the last few decades and, as a result of substantial efforts, the percentage of female undergraduate students has consistently increased. This year, half of all new undergraduate students are women. The share of women pursuing advanced degrees is also on the rise.
Doctoral student Keren Or Greenberg in the Ullman Building’s new nursing room
A comprehensive study among female students and alumnae, led by Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Professor Adi Salzberg, revealed the need to establish a nursing and lactation room in every academic faculty. As a result of the survey, the University charted the exact requirements, set uniform standards for nursing rooms on campus, and purchased suitable furniture and equipment for each faculty, as well as for the Zielony Student Union Building and the Ullman Building, where all first-year students have classes.
Liza Shamaliov Zaretski, who headed the project
The project was headed by Liza Shamaliov Zaretski, who manages the Facebook groups “Women Students at the Technion” and “Moms at the Technion.” She explains that, “in December 2022, I checked the nursing room situation on campus. Since many students return to the University after maternity leave, and combine research with being a mom, I decided to take up the gauntlet and ensure that they would have nursing rooms that are close, accessible, and equipped – a room to nurse and to pump milk during the first few months after childbirth, which would make it easier to return to the University without having to give up nursing.”
All of the nursing rooms at the Technion are air conditioned and equipped with a nursing chair, a diaper changing station, a special refrigerator to store breast milk, and a work area that includes a computer table and chair. There is either a kitchenette next to each room or a sink inside each room for washing the pumping equipment.
“The welcome growth in the number of women studying at the Technion means that it is all the more important to provide the new mothers among them with suitable and respectful conditions for nursing or pumping milk in every department and faculty where they study or work,” says Prof. Adi Salzberg. “Maneuvering between family life and work or studies is often difficult and challenging – even more so for nursing mothers. The new nursing rooms are another way to help these women feel at home at the Technion. I would like to thank all those who worked on this important project and made it a success: deans and administrative heads; Deputy Director General of Operations Zahava Laniado; Efrat Barkai-Goral, who is charged with diversity, equality, and inclusion; and Liza Shamaliov Zaretski, who led the project with great dedication.”
Technion researchers have discovered a new phenomenon where sperm from mice can induce non-reproductive cells from hamsters to fuse and form a syncytia – a cell with multiple nuclei.
The study, published in eLife, finds that the degree of this multinucleation is dependent on the fertilizing potential of the sperm. With further validation, the findings could be used in the development of new diagnostic tools for male infertility.
According to the World Health Organization, infertility is estimated to affect around 15% of the world’s population. Possible solutions include assisted reproductive techniques, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). Previously, the hamster oocyte penetration test was used as a way to quantify the ability of a sperm to fertilize an egg – its fusogenic potential. However, this test is now considered obsolete, so there is no current standardized way to specifically analyze the fusogenic potential of a patient’s sperm.
“In mammals, the fusion of the sperm to the plasma membrane of the egg is mediated by the interaction between two proteins: IZUMO1 on the sperm, and JUNO on the egg, or oocyte,” explains co-author Clari Valansi, a lab manager at the Technion’s Faculty of Biology.
“In our previous work, we showed that mouse sperm can fuse to a type of connective cell called fibroblasts that have been altered to express JUNO,” adds co-author Nicolas Brukman, a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Biology. “In this study, we looked to further investigate the mechanisms of mammalian sperm-oocyte fusion.”
From left to right: Nicolas Brukman, Clari Valansi, and Prof. Benjamin Podbilewicz
The team started by incubating sperm from adult mice with Baby Hamster Kidney (BHK) cells that had been genetically modified to express JUNO. The team were surprised to discover that the sperm cells induced the BHK cells to fuse together and form one cell with multiple nuclei, or a syncytia. This effect was also observed when using the Human Embryonic Kidney cells.
They determined that this multinucleation was dependent on the presence of JUNO. However, this alone was not sufficient to induce the process. Rather, only cells with sperm fused to them formed syncytia, and the level of multinucleation was found to be dependent on the amount of sperm added to the cells. This suggests that the fusion of sperm with JUNO-expressing BHK cells is needed to induce the subsequent multinucleation of the BHK cells.
Next, the team asked whether the multinucleation required JUNO to be present on both fusing BHK cells. They employed a content-mixing experiment in which two populations of cells expressing different fluorescent markers were mixed and exposed to the mouse sperm. There was no BHK-BHK fusion when only one or neither of the cell populations expressed JUNO, suggesting that the sperm-induced multinucleation was indeed dependent on all of the BHK cells expressing JUNO. The team has dubbed this process SPICER (SPerm-Induced CEll-cell fusion Requiring JUNO).
Finally, the team evaluated the potential of SPICER in determining the fusogenic potential of sperm. They incubated mouse sperm in media that prevent capacitation – the process by which sperm acquires its fusogenic capacity – and found that they were subsequently unable to fuse to BHK cells and induce syncytia formation. Furthermore, fully capacitated sperm incubated with an antibody that blocks IZUMO1 also failed to form multinucleated cells. To examine whether the extent of cell-cell fusion relates to the sperm’s fertilizing capability, the team assessed the levels of multinucleation in parallel with the performance of the sperm during IVF. They detected a significant positive correlation between syncytia formation and the levels of fertilization. Taken together, these results suggest that SPICER relies on fully capacitated sperm, as well as the sperm’s fertilizing potential, supporting its potential use as a diagnostic tool for male infertility.
The authors call for more research in this area to validate their findings. Future experiments using human sperm would be required to fully realize the potential of SPICER in diagnostic settings.
“We have described a new phenomenon in which sperm cells can induce the fusion of cells expressing JUNO in culture, resembling the viral-like fusion of cells upon infection,” concludes co-author Prof. Benjamin Podbilewicz, of the Technion’s Faculty of Biology. “As the extent of multinucleation was correlated with the sperm’s fertilizing potential, SPICER could be a step towards the development of a reliable, fast, and simple method for predicting sperm function during the diagnosis of male infertility. It could also be used to predict the success of assisted reproductive techniques such as IVF, or in the agricultural world to evaluate the fertility of stud animals.”
Nicolas Brukman, Clari Valansi, and Prof. Benjamin Podbilewicz are inventors on a patent application filed by the Technion, based on this work.
On January 1, Professor Daniella Raveh made history as the first female dean of the Technion Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. An alumna of the Faculty, she graduated with honors and went on to earn both a master’s and Ph.D. degrees there. Prof. Raveh later became a prominent researcher in aeroelasticity and a popular lecturer as a member of the faculty.
Professor Raveh’s research field is Aeroelasticity, which concerns the interaction of aerodynamic forces and flexible structures. Today, as lighter and more flexible aircraft are being designed globally, a thorough study of aeroelastic phenomena is essential to understanding their flight performance. Prof. Raveh’s team researches high-fidelity models for aeroelastic analysis and conducts wind tunnel and flight tests to explore all aspects of this field.
Prof. Daniella Raveh
As dean, Prof. Raveh is responsible for implementing the Faculty’s academic program, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and research, and upholding high standards of research and teaching. She is committed to enhancing the Faculty’s reputation and accomplishments. Her perspective as an alumna is advantageous for the Faculty’s continuous endeavor to offer students and researchers an optimal environment for their studies and research.
Prof. Raveh’s appointment is a testament to the Technion’s commitment to nurturing and developing talent within its ranks. Her journey in the Faculty reflects its continuous efforts to train outstanding alumni to contribute significantly to aerospace science.
“I’m honored to become the dean of the Faculty where I once studied, after years of research and teaching,” said Prof. Raveh. “I am excited to contribute to the Faculty’s growth and success, and I look forward to collaborating with the academic, technical, and administrative staff, as well as the students, to maintain the Faculty’s progress and drive innovation in aerospace engineering. As an aerospace engineer, I have been fortunate to work with captivating subjects daily. Aerospace engineering is a field suitable for both men and women, and every skilled engineer who graduates from the Faculty is assured of engaging work in the field.”
Technion President Professor Uri Sivan congratulated Prof. Raveh: “The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering was the first Faculty to have been built on the new Technion campus in Neve Shaanan, and it is the only one in Israel that trains engineers in this field. During the last few decades, the Technion has been undergoing a transformation. The percentage of female undergraduate students is constantly growing and now stands at around half of all students. I’m very proud that this Faculty is now headed by a female dean who will inspire and serve as a role model for young women.”
Professor Tal Shima, the outgoing dean, said that he was very pleased with the appointment of Prof. Raveh: “I had the honor of serving as dean of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering for four years. It was a very challenging time, full of activity, and I sincerely hope that we succeeded in ensuring the future of the Faculty for generations to come. As an alumnus of the Faculty, it was a special honor to work with the excellent members of our academic, technical, and administrative faculty, educating and training the next generation, expanding the limits of knowledge in the field, and contributing to the State of Israel and its security. I would like to thank the Technion’s management, and especially Prof. Uri Sivan, for its strong support. I’m confident that Prof. Raveh will lead the Faculty excellently and will steer us towards new heights.”
New deans were recently appointed in three additional faculties: Prof. Miri Barak in the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Prof. Ori Lahav in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Prof. Efrat Lifshitz in the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry.
Researchers at the Technion’s Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences have discovered a subset of blood cells that predict the success of immunotherapy treatment. These findings are expected to streamline the process of matching an immunotherapy treatment to a specific patient, since it is very important to identify in advance those patients who will react to a given treatment.
The research published in Cancer Cell was led by doctoral student Madeleine Benguigui and post-doctoral fellow Dr. Tim J. Cooper, under the supervision of Professor Yuval Shaked of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. They contributed equally to the research and to the article. The translational research is based on RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), analysis of existing data, pre-clinical models of cancer, and the corroboration of the findings in humans.
Photo, from left: Prof. Yuval Shaked, Madeleine Benguigui and Dr. Tim J. Cooper
Background
Immunotherapy, which is considered one of the most important breakthroughs in the treatment of cancer, is based on the understanding that the natural immune system excels at attacking cancer cells in a selective and precise manner. The problem is that, in many cases, the cancerous tumor tricks the immune system and prevents it from identifying the cells as enemies. Immunotherapy is based on the concept that, instead of attacking the cancer with chemotherapy drugs that also harm healthy tissue, it is preferable to boost the immune system with the goal to identify cancer cells as enemies and let it do the rest of the work on its own.
Despite the remarkable success of the immunotherapy approach for treating cancer, its effectiveness is still limited to around 40% of all patients. This means that many patients receive this harsh treatment without positive results. Consequently, it is crucial to attain a deep understanding of biological reactions to these treatments and to identify biomarkers that can predict the treatment’s future success.
Biomarkers are an important component of personalized medicine, which help physicians make educated medical decisions and formulate optimal treatment protocols adapted to the specific patient and their medical profile. Biomarkers are already being used for immunotherapy treatments, but they are obtained through biopsies – an invasive procedure that can endanger the patient. Moreover, this approach fails to sufficiently take into account the specific patient’s immune profile and its predictive capability is limited. For this reason, a great deal of research in this field – both in industry and in academia – strives to find new ways to predict which patients will respond to immunotherapy treatments.
The research itself
Technion researchers who focused on antibody-based immunotherapy discovered biomarkers that predict a specific patient’s response to the treatment. Since these biomarkers are in the bloodstream, they don’t require taking biopsies from the tumor – an invasive procedure that is not always feasible and, as mentioned, can sometimes endanger the patient.
In brief, the researchers discovered that a protein called STING, that activates the immune system, is triggered by cancerous growths, and is especially pronounced in cancer cells that will respond to immunotherapy treatment. This protein is manifested in interferon protein, which in turn stimulates neutrophils to be differentiated to a specific type (which expresses the protein Ly6Ehi). These neutrophils act directly on the immune system and stimulate it to target the cancerous tumor. Indeed, the researchers discovered that, these neutrophils may help the actual treatment, as their presence in the tumor prompts greater sensitivity to immunotherapy treatment.
The researchers inferred that testing the levels of Ly6Ehi neutrophils in the patient’s blood could serve as an efficient biomarker for predicting the response to immunotherapy treatment. The researchers tested these findings, which were based on pre-clinical studies, on patients with lung cancer and melanoma. These findings are consistent with the analysis of existing data on 1,237 cancer patients who underwent antibody-based immunotherapy treatments. Therefore, they demonstrated the neutrophils’ ability to predict with a high degree of precision, response to immunotherapy in humans.
The technology developed by Prof. Yuval Shaked’s research group was registered as a patent and it is currently in the midst of a tech transfer process with the company OncoHost, in order to continue its development. Prof. Shaked points out that the technology can be used with the ubiquitous flow cytometry device, which can be found in almost every hospital and is approved by the regulatory agencies.
Various research groups from Israel and around the world took part in the research, including physicians and researchers from the Hadassah, Rambam, and Sheba Medical Centers, as well as from the University of Haifa, Heidelberg University (Germany), and Yale University (USA).
The research was supported by a European Research Council (ERC) grant, the Bruce & Ruth Rappaport Cancer Research Center, Israel Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health (USA), Ariane de Rothschild Foundation (Ariane de Rothschild Women’s Doctoral Program scholarship), and the Rappaport Technion Integrated Cancer Center (RTICC) as part of the Steven & Beverly Rubenstein Charitable Foundation Fellowship Fund for Cancer Research.
The grants are intended to prove feasibility and accelerate the translation of academic research projects into the application and commercialization phase, including founding start-up companies
Prof. Yoav Shechtman
Prof. Netanel Korin
Prof. Shahar Kvatinsky
Three Technion researchers were recently awarded advanced Proof of Concept grants from the European Research Council (ERC). Each researcher will receive €150,000, to be used for advancing the translation of their academic research into commercial applications, including founding start-up companies. These grants are only offered to researchers who have previously received ERC grants.
Associate Professor Shahar Kvatinsky of the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering will use his grant to build computers with much faster data processing capabilities. Thanks to an innovative computer architecture, the computing will take place in the computer’s memory rather than in the actual data processor. These innovative computers will be significantly faster than existing computers and will facilitate the management and analysis of intricate data sets in diverse sectors, such as finance, healthcare, and social media platforms.
Associate Professor Yoav Shechtman of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering will use his grant to develop sensitive detection of protein concentrations using computational microscopy. The researchers developed a simple and fast way to measure concentrations of protein in samples of blood or other bodily fluids. The method is based on a microscope with the addition of an optical element designed in Prof. Shechtman’s laboratory. The system tracks fluorescent particles attached to the protein of interest through antibodies. The images are processed by a computer, and the protein concentration is extracted algorithmically. This new method is being studied to monitor protein in the immune system of cancer patients undergoing biological treatment, to enable early detection of side effects and, hopefully, provide preventive treatment. The research is being carried out in collaboration with the Rambam Health Care Campus.
Associate Professor Netanel Korin of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering is using his grant to develop a solution aimed at preventing blood clots in prosthetic heart valves, a problem related to the abnormal flow in these valves. He was inspired by passive flow control phenomena observed in nature and applied in the aerodynamics industry. Following this principle, a slight modification in the physical structure of a fish fin, bird wing, or airplane wing can induce a significant change in flow characteristics, providing substantial benefits for swimming or flying. Similarly, Prof. Korin and his team aim to develop a novel artificial valve that utilizes passive flow control and redirects a portion of the blood flow to “wash” areas where blood clots are likely to accumulate. The research in Prof. Korin’s lab is led by Yevgeniy Kreinin as part of his doctoral research.
The Technion announced today that two well-known foundations have joined together in a collaborative effort to enhance the Technion Human Health Initiative. The undertaking will establish the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Human Health Building, which will be home to the Bruce and Ruth Rappaport Cancer Research Center.
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At the cornerstone laying ceremony
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Prof. Aaron Ciechanover
From left to right: Larry and Andi Wolfe, Irith Rappaport, Shir Goldstein and Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan
From left to right: Advocate Moriel Matalon, Larry and Andi Wolfe, Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan, Irith Rappaport, Glen Perry and Shir Goldstein.
Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan said, “The construction of this building and the cancer research center housed in it is nothing less than a historic event. We are celebrating today two of the largest donations in the history of the Technion, which were made possible thanks to a first of its kind partnership between two foundations that share a long-standing tradition of generously supporting the Technion: the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation and The Bruce and Ruth Rappaport Foundation.”
“I lack the words to fully describe our gratitude to these two foundations and to those who worked tirelessly to bring the dream to life,” continued President Sivan. “The goals of the gift, reflected in the titles of the building and the research center, are cancer research and human health, using a multidisciplinary approach and relying on all the Technion’s capabilities and its close ties with hospitals, in particular with the Rambam Healthcare Campus. I find it symbolic that these donations are made on the golden jubilee of the Technion Faculty of Medicine, and at the opening of the Technion Centennial year. The generosity and the vision of the donors reflected in this initiative will lead the Technion to new heights. We will advance into the second century of the Technion, able to improve the lives of millions of people in Israel and around the world.”
The cornerstone laying ceremony was held during the Technion’s Board of Governors meeting in June at the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. Participants included philanthropists Ms. Irith Rappaport and Andi and Larry Wolfe; Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan; Dean of the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Prof. Ami Aronheim; Nobel Laureate and Distinguished Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, who will be the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the new Cancer Research Center; Prof. Amir Orian, head of the Cancer Research Center; members of the Technion senior administration and Board of Governors; faculty members; and representatives of Technion Societies around the world.
Nobel Laureate Distinguished Professor Aaron Ciechanover, who conceived and established the center, recalled a line from the Mishnah that Bruce Rappaport used to quote: “without flour there is no Torah, but with no Torah there is no flour.” “This wisdom accompanied Bruce for decades. The Technion provided the Torah, the learning, he’d say, while the Rappaport family provided the flour.”
“I started to dream about this Center when the first cancer drug based on the ubiquitin mechanism, which Professor Hershko and I discovered, came to the market,” he continued. “When you start basic research, you never know where it’s going to lead you. We, the researchers, are committed to turn this Center into a world leader research center.”
Ruth and Bruce Rappaport, may their memory be a blessing, were two of the greatest friends of the Technion and among the generous philanthropists whose donations assisted in erecting the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine building and the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences. The faculty building was inaugurated in 1979. Even then, the Rappaports believed faculty members would come to win the Nobel Prize; a prophecy that came true when Distinguished Professors Avram Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004. In addition to raising the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Ruth and Bruce Rappaport, together with the Rambam Health Care Campus, initiated the construction of the Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital.
Ruth and Bruce Rappaport were Technion Guardians; a title reserved for those who made among the highest level of commitments to the Technion. In 2014, the Technion awarded Ruth Rappaport an honorary doctorate. She passed away in 2018, eight years after her husband Bruce. Their philanthropic legacy is continued by their daughters Ms. Irith Rappaport and Dr. Vered Drenger. In appreciation of her outstanding contribution to the Technion and to other philanthropic causes, the Technion awarded Ms. Irith Rappaport an honorary doctorate in 2022.
“I would like to dedicate this day and moment to my late sister Shoshana, who passed away last July after relentlessly fighting cancer for 7 years,” Ms. Irith Rappaport spoke at the ceremony. “Despite the best available doctors, medications and innovative treatments that helped delay the bitter end, eventually the disease won. I’m sure that most of you have experienced such painful losses. Unfortunately, millions around the world are facing the same fate as we speak, and therefore it is clear to me that there is still a long way to go and a lot of research to be done in developing a comprehensive solution to this cursed disease. My parents, who were true guardians of this academic institution, would undoubtedly be delighted to see their vision and values transformed into reality with the same passion and excitement they always had in their philanthropy. Because at the end of the day, philanthropy is about passion and people. I can only hope that the research that will be carried out in the new Center will keep pushing the boundaries of innovation for the betterment of mankind.”
Dan and Betty Kahn, of blessed memory, were among the Technion’s most important benefactors and Technion Guardians. The bond between Dan and Betty Kahn and the Technion was forged in the early 1960s, and in 2008 their foundation constructed the D. Dan and Betty Kahn School of Mechanical Engineering. Dan and Betty Kahn were among the original contributors to the first building of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. Dan Kahn was a member of the Technion Board of Governors and the American Technion Society (ATS) Board of Directors and served as the president of ATS – Detroit. The Technion awarded him an Honorary Fellowship in 2006, and in 2011 bestowed upon him an Honorary Doctorate. The legacy of Dan and Betty Kahn is continued today by their daughter Andrea (Andi) together with her husband Larry Wolfe. Larry embraced philanthropy following Dan Kahn’s example, deepening his involvement with the Jewish community in Detroit, the U.S., and Israel. In 2012 he was named president of the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation. In this capacity, he is involved in the Michigan-Israel Partnership for Research and Education, in which the Technion plays a major role. Andi Wolfe is active on multiple boards involving Jewish communities in Israel and the USA. She has been a member of the local and National Boards of Directors of the ATS for many years and is a member of the Technion Board of Governors. Last year, Andi and Larry Wolfe established the Wolfe Center for Translational Medicine and Engineering in the Helmsley Health Discovery Tower; a collaboration between the Technion and Rambam Healthcare Campus. The Wolfe Center serves as a platform for in-depth applicative clinical research.
“On behalf of the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation and my fellow Trustees, Patti Aaron and Arthur Weiss, I would like to thank President Uri Sivan for his vision of undertaking the Technion Human Health Initiative, Professor Aaron Ciechanover for his leadership and most importantly the Rappaport Foundation for its participation is this ambitious project,” said Larry Wolfe, President of the Khan Foundation.
Prof. Ami Aronheim, Dean of the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine said, “It is a symbolic event. Here will be combined the engineering strength of the Technion and the clinical strength of the affiliated hospital. The faculty and the hospital will become a leading player in cancer research, a research hub for innovation. The Center will enable us to conduct cutting-edge research that would serve as a catalyst for developing life-saving treatments. Your support and endless generosity have made this dream come true.”
On Sunday, the Technion halted all activities and held a rally in solidarity with the hostages being held incaptivity by Hamas
Hundreds of students and administrative and academic staff members took part in a rally to mark 100 days since the events of October 7th and to identify with the children, women, men, and elderly still being held hostage in the Gaza Strip. At 11 o’clock on Sunday, January 14th, the Technion suspended all teaching, research and other activities in solidarity with the hostages and their families.
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Carmit Palty Katzir
Itay Israel
Prof. Adi Salzberg
Adi Kikozashvili
Students with yellow balloons
Students at the Technion rally
The rally, which was organized by the Technion Student Association together with the Technion, included speeches by Prof. Adi Salzberg, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion; Itay Israel, Chair of the Technion Student Association; and family members of hostages: Carmit Palty Katzir from Kibbutz Nir Oz, (the wife of Prof. Raz Palty of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine), whose brother Elad Katzir is a hostage in Gaza; and Adi Kikozashvili, a student in the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering whose brother Shlomi Ziv is being held captive in Gaza.
“Today, January 14th, 2024, is the first day of the new academic year at the Technion. It is the 100th time that we are opening a new academic year,” Prof. Adi Salzberg said at the rally. “The first day of a new academic year is usually a festive and happy occasion, but today we are unable to feel joy because this day marks exactly 100 days since the horrendous massacre carried out by the Hamas terrorists on October 7th; 100 days since the cruel kidnapping of hundreds of women, men, children and elderly to the Gaza Strip, which is contrary to every moral principle and certainly to international law. Each and every hostage is an entire world. We must not despair, we must not give up until every last hostage returns home safely, and their families will be able to breathe once again.”
“100 days is such a long amount of time,” said Itay Israel at the rally. “That’s 100 days during which they weren’t at home, where they ought to be. We must do everything possible for their return. This should be the first and the only priority. One hundred days in captivity is 100 days too many.”
Carmit Palty Katzir, whose mother Hanna Katzir was released from Hamas captivity but whose brother Elad is still in Gaza, said: “Unfortunately, the stories told by those who returned from captivity revealed to us how life as a hostage of Hamas looks and feels, including starvation, physical and psychological violence, abuse and severe medical neglect.
We must not be indifferent to their suffering. Each of us should see ourselves as if we are hostages in Gaza. They need us to cry out for them. Each day in captivity has an enormous price, whose significance is life or death. This is an emergency, and we are being tested as a society and a country. It is our moral duty to ensure that they return home today. It is the State’s basic duty to protect its citizens and to act with determination to bring them home alive. We must not get used to the idea that they are there, wounded in enemy territory, and we are here. The struggle to release the hostages must not become ‘business as usual.’”
“It has already been 100 days during each of which they again experience the hell of October 7th,” she continued. “The difference between them and us is that we are here, protected against the rain, violence and hunger – free, while they are there, in a physical and psychological abyss, in the grip of monsters, experiencing never-ending terror. Israeli society will not heal and recover until they come back to us.”
Adi Kikozashvili, whose brother Shlomi was kidnapped to Gaza from the Nova music festival where he worked as part of the security detail, said: “On the morning of Simhat Torah, October 7th, on that horrible morning when Israel suffered a terrible blow, my brother was taken hostage. Shlomi is my big brother, the oldest sibling. He is the first to give me advice, to comfort me, the first to be there when needed, and I miss him so much. Next week, he will celebrate his 41st birthday. I wish that we will celebrate with him at home! Please spread unconditional love and reduce the amount of gratuitous hatred, pay attention to the friend sitting next to you in class, look people in the eye, see what is good in them, support one another, hug one another. I ask myself how it will be possible to return to my studies in these circumstances and the truth is that I have no idea. But we will do it with all the help and support that the Technion is giving us. We will succeed.”
Professor Avner Rothschild’s research group at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology developed a new green technology for producing hydrogen
Professor Avner Rothschild
From right to left: Dr. Anna Breytus, Matan Sananis, Dr. Yelena Davidova and Ilya Slobodkin
A group of researchers from the Technion Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering is presenting a new technology for producing green hydrogen using renewable energy. Their breakthrough was recently published in Nature Materials. The novel technology embodies significant advantages compared to other processes for producing green hydrogen, and its development into a commercial technology is likely to reduce the costs and accelerate the use of green hydrogen as a clean, sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
Using hydrogen as a fuel instead of coal, gasoline, and “natural” gas will reduce the use of these fuels and greenhouse gas emissions from various sources, including transportation, the production of materials and chemicals, and industrial heating. Unlike these fuels, which emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when they combust in the air, using hydrogen produces water and is therefore considered a clean fuel.
However, the most common way to produce hydrogen involves using natural gas (or coal) and the process emits large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – thereby canceling out its advantages as a green, sustainable alternative for fossil fuels. In 2022, global consumption of hydrogen stood at approximately 95 million tons – a quantity suitable for improving various fuel products, and especially to produce ammonia, which is needed for manufacturing agricultural fertilizers. Nearly all of the hydrogen that is consumed today is produced from fossil fuels, which is why it is called “gray hydrogen” (made from methane) or “black hydrogen” (made from coal). Hydrogen production using these methods is responsible for around 2.5% of the annual global carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere as a result of human actions. Replacing gray hydrogen with green hydrogen is necessary in order to reduce this significant source of emissions and replace polluting fossil fuels with clean, sustainable hydrogen.
Various estimates predict that green hydrogen is likely to account for around 10% of the global energy market at net zero emissions – the current target for mitigating climate change and global warming as a result of the greenhouse effect due to increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That is the reason for the enormous importance of green hydrogen in combatting global warming.
Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis – electrochemical decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen using energy from renewable sources such as wind and sun. Electrolysis was discovered more than 200 years ago, and since then it has undergone many developments and improvements. However, it is still too expensive for producing green hydrogen at a competitive price. One of the technological challenges that limit the use of electrolysis for producing large amounts of green hydrogen – amounts that would help achieve plans to attain net zero carbon emissions – is the need for expensive membranes, gaskets and sealing components to separate the cathodic and anodic compartments.
Several years ago, Technion researchers presented an innovative and efficient electrolysis technique that doesn’t require a membrane and sealing to separate the two parts of the cell, since the hydrogen and the oxygen are produced at different stages of the process, unlike in regular electrolysis where they are created simultaneously. This novel process, called E-TAC, was developed by Dr. Hen Dotan and Dr. Avigail Landman under the supervision of Prof. Avner Rothschild and Prof. Gideon Grader. They partnered with the entrepreneur Talmon Marco to fulfill the process’s potential and develop commercial applications.
Details of the new technology
The researchers from Prof. Rothschild’s group at the Technion are now presenting a new process whereby hydrogen and oxygen are produced simultaneously in two separate cells, unlike the E-TAC process where they are produced in the same cell but at different stages. The new process was developed by Ilia Slobodkin as part of his master’s thesis, with the help of Senior Researcher Dr. Elena Davydova and Dr. Anna Breytus and master’s student Matan Sananis.
This novel process bypasses operational challenges and limitations of the solid electrode where the oxygen is produced in the E-TAC technique by replacing it with NaBr aqueous electrolyte in water. This replacement paves the way for a continuous process (as opposed to a batch process with E-TAC) and repeals the need to swing cold and hot electrolytes alternately through the cell. The bromide anions in the electrolyte are oxidized to bromate while producing hydrogen in a cathode, and they then flow with the aqueous electrolyte to a different cell, where they are turned back into their original state while at the same time producing oxygen, and this process keeps repeating itself. In this way, hydrogen and oxygen are produced at the same time in two separate cells in a continuous process without any temperature changes, unlike with E-TAC. Moreover, the oxygen is produced in the aqueous electrolyte and not in the solid electrode as in E-TAC, and it is therefore not dependent on the rate and capacity limitations typical of those types of electrodes, such as chargeable batteries.
In the article published in Nature Materials, the researchers describe their basic experiments which prove the preliminary feasibility of the proposed process, and present results that demonstrate its high efficiency and ability to work at high electric current, meaning that hydrogen can be produced at a high rate. At the same time, there is still a long way ahead for developing a new technology based on the scientific breakthrough depicted in the article. Such a technology is likely to get past the many obstacles on the way to industrial production of green hydrogen as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
Prof. Rothschild is a member of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program, the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Sustainability Center for Catalysis, and the National Research Institute for Energy Storage. The research was supported by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and JNF-KKL’s Climate Solution Prize.
