medical research

Illustrative image of a scientist in a lab (anyaivanova; iStock by Getty Images)

June 25, 2023, 11:42 am

Israel Science Foundation announces new program to support physician-researchers

$100 million MAVRI initiative funded by government and philanthropists will create positions and carve out time for doctors who also want to work in the lab

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Illustrative image: A human brain with degeneration, which is denoted in green. (Naeblys via iStock by Getty Images)

February 21, 2023, 10:14 pm

Israeli scientists say they cured mice of Alzheimer’s using newly developed molecule

Effectiveness shown via behavior tests and brain analysis, say authors of research; they stress it’s a small sample and progress to human drug, if successful, will take time

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative photo of a man with burn wounds to his hands, December 2, 2015. (Jim Cole/AP)

December 27, 2022, 4:31 pm

Can artificial skin be used to help burn victims? Growing industry eyes ‘revolution’

Researchers around the world strive to overcome hurdles of recreating complex functions of epidermis, with the aim of creating a cheap, efficient ‘ultimate dressing’

By Marie-Morgane LE MOEL and Daniel Lawler

Illustrative: a doctor carrying out checks for an autoimmune thyroid disease. (swpispix; iStock by Getty Images)

December 22, 2022, 6:53 pm

Israel’s medical big data deployed for autoimmune research at ambitious new center

Mass of detailed patient data put Israel at forefront of COVID research. Now, Tel Aviv University aims to use it to advance treatment of autoimmune diseases like MS and Crohn’s

By Nathan Jeffay

An elderly Israeli man receives a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose in Ashkelon on January 3, 2022. (Flash90)

December 16, 2022, 12:12 am

Israelis produced some 15% of world’s top COVID vaccine studies, analysis shows

Jewish state ranks 3rd in quantity of vaccine research in the New England Journal of Medicine; across journals, Israeli scientists produced 536 studies, averaging four per week

By Nathan Jeffay

Palestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli security forces during a protest in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near the West Bank city of Nablus, December 2, 2022 (Courtesy Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

December 6, 2022, 1:00 pm

Daily Briefing Dec. 6: Uptick in West Bank TikTok attacks; COVID vaccine study

Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian discusses West Bank intel and Iron Beam project as health reporter Nathan Jeffay talks side effects of COVID shots and women’s health research

By ToI Staff

Illustrative image: a woman experiencing a hot flush from menopause (Highwaystarz-Photography via iStock by Getty Images)

December 2, 2022, 11:53 am

Gynecology research neglects women after onset of menopause — Israeli study

Sociologist argues that while the transition is a major life event for half of the population, scholarship has overlooked it, causing women to miss out on medical progress

By Nathan Jeffay

Israelis ride their electric scooters on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, on May 5, 2021. (Miriam Alster/Flash 90)

December 1, 2022, 7:23 pm

In scooter-crazed Tel Aviv, 70% of injured rode helmet-less, 20% were drunk

Even those who protect heads often wear minimalist helmets; one such rider says: ‘I was hospitalized for several days, for three weeks afterwards I could hardly eat or drink’

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative image: artist's depiction of cells with X and Y chromosomes (frentusha via iStock by Getty Images)

November 29, 2022, 2:22 pm

In world first, Israeli lab derives male and female stem cells from same person

Using cells identical in genetic composition, but not in gender, scientists hope to be better able to understand how drugs affect men and women differently

By Nathan Jeffay

Likud leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Yair Lapid, and party leaders at a swearing-in ceremony of the 25th Knesset, at the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, November 15, 2022. (Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

November 16, 2022, 1:07 pm

Daily Briefing Nov. 16: Mixed reactions for 25th Knesset; MDs use new tumor tech

Knesset correspondent Carrie Keller-Lynn discusses the new parliament and activists at COP27, as health and science reporter Nathan Jeffay looks at sperm count research, tumor tech

By ToI Staff

Illustrative image: neurons in the human brain (iStock via Getty Images)

May 24, 2022, 2:22 pm

Israeli researchers discover gene mechanism thought to cause some forms of autism

Tel Aviv University study suggests existing experimental drug may lead to effective treatments for some cases of autism, schizophrenia and neurodegenerative diseases

By ToI Staff

A view of Earth from the ISS. (Elen11 via iStock by Getty Images)

March 8, 2022, 6:52 pm

Israel’s first ‘space medicine’ university course gets underway in Jerusalem

Professor Sara Eyal, clinical pharmacist who studies effects of microgravity on human biology, leads first-of-its-kind lecture series

By Ricky Ben-David

Illustrative image: 3D rendering of bacteria

September 17, 2021, 3:25 am

Israeli ‘antibacterial weapon’ arms good germs to kill bad germs

Helpful bacteria fire ‘poisoned arrows’ at infection-causing microbes in Tel Aviv University lab; they ‘permeate a neighboring cell by brute force and release toxins into it’

By Nathan Jeffay

Maimonides by Solomon Souza. Mahane Yehuda, Jerusalem, February 2016. (Renee Ghert-Zand/TOI)

August 13, 2021, 4:38 pm

Did Maimonides ignite the cannabis craze? Book probes roles of Jews in medicine

A new book chronicles the remedies prescribed by the first Jewish doctors and their Levantine counterparts all the way through to today’s cutting-edge innovations

By Rich Tenorio

Benny Landsman, 4, at Dayton Children’s Hospital April 8, 2021, before surgery to receive the first clinical trial of a new gene therapy for Canavan disease. (Courtesy of the Landsman family/ via Dayton Jewish Observer)

May 8, 2021, 3:46 am

New gene therapy trial in US offers hope for children with Canavan disease

4-year-old Benny Landsman is first to receive experimental procedure for condition that causes blindness, paralysis, seizures, and average life expectancy of under a decade

By Marshall Weiss