Campus-wide Research Initiatives
@ All Rights Reserved, Haguy Wolfenson Lab, Faculty of Medicine
The Rappaport Cancer Research Center (RTICC ) was established in 2016 through the leadership of distinguished Professor Aaron Ciechanover (co-recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) and the generous support of the Rappaport Foundation. Prof. Amir Orian (MD/PhD), Head of the Bruce and Ruth Rappaport Cancer Center from the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine [read more...]
The RTICC connects people and ideas, creating a hub for innovation in cancer research which will have national and international impact. It is unique in the sense that it brings together basic and translational cancer researchers, exact and computational scientists, engineers, oncologists and other clinicians from the Technion’s affiliated hospitals. A major current focus is the recruitment of excellent senior and junior investigators to the RTICC. A second mission is the education of the next generation of cancer researchers and physicians.
Towards these aims, the RTICC provides discovery platforms and cores essential for cutting edge science. Moreover, to translate discovery to interventions, The RTICC connects its members to industry and pharma at early discovery stages. The RTICC includes >70 laboratories from academic units throughout the Technion, and its physical heart will be at the new D. Dan and Betty Kahn Technion Human Health Building that is to be built next to the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine in the Bat Galim Campus.
THHI Grants
The launch of the THHI was accompanied by a call for innovative multi-disciplinary research projects. The three winning projects are “Technion-Rambam Center for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare”, “Synthetic biology & ultra-low power electronics to monitor signals in the GI tract” and “Metabolic MRI” [read more...]
Thirteen research groups from various Technion faculties participated in the competition, and ultimately, three groups were awarded grants. The grants were launched in March 2022 and are currently in their second year of activity.
- Closing the Loop: Technion-Rambam Center for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (now TERA) Lead investigators - Joachim A. Behar, Uri Shalit, Shie Mannor, Lior Gepstein, Shai Shen-Orr, Danny Eytan, Ronit Almog, Oren Caspi Promoting AI research in the medical field, which will lead to significant developments that benefit patients, through the creation of effective interfaces, collaborative work and synergy between an academic institution and a clinical center.
- Harnessing synthetic biology & ultra-low power electronics to monitor signals in the gastrointestinal tract Lead investigators - Ramez Daniel, Naama Geva-Zatorsky, Hossam Haick, Eilam Yalon, Shahar Kvatinksy Development of innovative systems for monitoring diseases in the digestive tract based on genetically engineered bacteria combined with nanometer electronic circuits.
- Metabolic MRI - a new non-invasive approach in clinical diagnosis, treatment and real-time investigation of human diseases Lead investigators – Aharon Blank, Katrien Vandoorne, Boaz Pokroy, Galit Saar Developing Technologies for measuring metabolism in living tissues using MRI, in order to understand physiological processes, for clinical diagnosis and for patient management.
Technion Center for Healthy Aging
Life expectancy is consistently increasing thanks to progress in health care, science, and technology. However, longer lives do not necessarily mean an improved quality of life for the elderly. In response to this important global challenge, the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has recently launched the Technion Center for Healthy Aging (iTechAge) [read more...]
iTechAge is an initiative involving more than 60 investigators from the entire campus that will collectively work to address many aspects of this challenge: Understanding cellular mechanisms of aging, characterizing aging at the systems level, understanding nutritional needs and developing personalized foods, developing assistive devices, designing appropriate living environments and integrating these into communities. The initiative is headed by Professor Shai Shen-Orr of the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Professor Uri Lesmes of the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, and Dr. Noga Ron-Harel of the Faculty of Biology.
The André Cohen Deloro Institute for Transformative Biomedical Sciences and Engineering will be housed in a new building whose construction is made possible by a generous donation of the Adelis Foundation. The Institute will serve as a metaphorical ‘lens’ for focusing and consolidating activities in the domain of human health [read more...]
The Deloro Institute will host thematic teams composed of investigators from a variety of academic units that wish to work together on human health-related fundamental question or central challenge with an expected life span of a decade or more. Each team will receive, share and collectively manage a common space, and will include resident, new and guest investigators. Teams will be assembled ‘bottom up’ through a structured germination and selection process. The Institute, located near the Faculties of Biomedical Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Engineering and the Emerson building is scheduled to be populated at the end of 2026.
The Cancer Research Center aspires to connect people and ideas, creating a hub for innovation in cancer research which will have national and international impact. Specifically, it is focused on recruiting strong senior and junior investigators, connecting basic science investigators from all domains to clinically relevant research and clinical departments in affiliated hospitals / medical centers, connecting Cancer Research Center researchers to industry and pharma at early discovery stages, educating
the next generation of cancer researchers, and providing its investigators with advanced research infrastructure deemed essential for cutting edge research.
The Cancer Research Center will move to the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Technion Human Health Building that is to be built next to the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine in the Bat Galim Campus.
Bioconvergence and the Wolfe Center
@ All Rights Reserved, Amit Meller Lab, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering
Research in the realm of human health is experiencing a convergence of traditional biomedical sciences with ‘High -Tech 1.0’ - electronics, optics, materials, software and AI – a trend now referred to as Bioconvergence. The importance of Bioconvergence cannot be overstated, as it has the potential to transform healthcare. In line with this realization, the Technion and Rambam Health Care Campus, through the generous support of Andrea and Lawrence Wolfe, are establishing the Wolfe Center for Engineering and Medicine at the Rambam campus to serve as a Bioconvergence focal point [read more...]
As a technically-oriented academic institution that also plays a crucial role in fueling economic growth, the Technion views bioconvergence as a prioritized strategic direction in terms of research, education, collaboration with clinical institutes and with the healthcare industry. In line with this vision, the Technion and Rambam Health Care Campus have recently launched an alliance, and through the generous support of Andrea and Lawrence Wolfe are establishing the Wolfe Center for Engineering and Medicine. The center will occupy two floors within the new Helmsley Health Discovery Tower at the Rambam campus. This center will provide specialized spaces and resources for project-based clinical-academic-industrial collaborative research and development. As such, it will serve as a clinical staging ground and testbed for innovative research carried out by Technion investigators, engineers, clinicians and students.
AI, Machine Learning and Big Data
The fields of artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning are undergoing a revolution, with huge implications to almost every aspect of society. The Technion’s activities in this domain are organized as “Tech.AI”. One of this hub’s verticals is Tech.AI.BioMed which includes multiple activities in the realms of biomedical science and engineering [read more...]
AI, machine learning and big data activities related to human health include:
- The Zimin Institute for AI Solutions in Healthcare - launched in June 2022 as a joint-initiative between the Zimin Foundation and the Technion. The Institutes mission is to better healthcare through development and application of ML and AI at all levels of the healthcare and life sciences sectors. It is currently headed by Prof. Shai Shen-Orr of the Faculty of Medicine.
- Technion-Pfizer Alliance in Pharma AI – part of a strategic partnership formulated in 2022 between the Technion and Pfizer. Within this project, Pfizer is working with select groups of Technion investigators on addressing major health related challenges through ML and AI.
- Technion-Rambam Initiative in Medical AI (TERA) - launched in March 2022 as a joint-initiative of The Technion and Rambam Health Care Campus. Its mission is to initiate, support and promote joint academic research and educational activities of the two institutions and additional partners in the field of medical AI. TERA is uniquely poised to develop AI based solutions and rapidly translate them to clinical-studies in real-world settings, aimed at assessing their efficacy in improving patient treatment and clinical outcomes. Put differently, TERA aims to close the loop between medical data and biological samples and their actionable benefit to patient care. Funded by a THHI-sponsored grant program, TERA is headed by Dr. Joachim Behar of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering.
- Technion-Cincinnati Children’s Bridge to Next Gen Medicine – this joint Computational Medicine Program between the Technion and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center tackles child-health challenges through synergistic collaboration of a world-leading medical institute specializing in pediatrics with a world-leading technical university excelling in data-science.
The Prince Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Brain
@ All Rights Reserved, Noam Ziv Lab, Faculty of Medicine
The prevalence of Aging-related impairments of cognitive functions and motor capabilities, as well as neurodegenerative conditions are expected to grow in the future with increasing life expectancy. The Allen and Jewel Prince Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Brain was established in 2012, through a generous gift of Allen and Jewel Prince, with the aim of addressing these challenges through basic and translational research. [read more...]
The Center is currently composed of eleven groups, all embarked on an extraordinary journey of discovery to unlock the secrets of the human brain, how this mysterious organ maintains itself, and how and why critical functions are, unfortunately, lost. The current director of the Prince Center is Prof. Jackie Schiller of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine.