Magazine
Winter Edition 2022
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This year, BSF celebrates its 50th anniversary, as well as the 10th year of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) – BSF partnership. Anton Post shares why he believes these two milestones are very much linked – and why he is optimistic that BSF’s already impressive growth will continue well into the future.
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BSF’s newest representative from the United States possesses a unique combination of experience in both mechanical engineering and international collaborations. She talks about her experience in science and global affairs, and why the NSF – BSF partnership has become one of the NSF’s most successful international programs.
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As we recognize the 10th anniversary of the NSF-BSF partnership, we shed light on just two of the countless examples of how Israeli and American scientists have worked together and achieved impressive results that have the potential to transform our lives. One team has discovered how robots can make surgeries safer. The other has provided profound new insights on how the brain helps mammals to navigate spaces.
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Joshua Angrist is the 48th current or former BSF grantee to become a Nobel laureate. Now a celebrated economics professor at MIT, Angrist shares how his varied Israel experiences – including studies of class sizes and labor markets -- have shaped his career as a leader in the use of natural experiments in economics.
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…that a protein in mice could bring about a better understanding of obesity in humans? Or that non-invasive brain stimulation can help the elderly maintain balance? Or that advanced computational processing could be key to reversing hearing loss? With their BSF-supported projects, Israeli and American scientists are conducting experiments that can lead to promising advances in treating people facing these health issues.
Summer Edition 2021
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As people in Israel and the United States return to “normal” after a year unlike any other, Anton Post questions what “normal” even looks like right now and shares his believe that science can help us get to a place where we can create better and more sustainable ways of life in our future.
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Data and technology continue playing important roles in our understanding of the pandemic. Israel is a world-respected hub for data and technology – allowing current and former BSF grantees to make important discoveries in these unprecedented times.
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When it comes to relations between nations, Smyth has plenty of experience. He is currently the director of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Science and Technology Cooperation, which promotes American scientific leadership and fosters scientific and technological collaboration with allies and partners for mutual benefit. Last year, he was a National Security Affairs Fellow at Stanford University’s prestigious Hoover Institution, where he gained insights into the growing relationship between science, technology, and foreign policy.
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At a time when the need for first-rate scientific research and solutions has never been so urgent, BSF has just awarded close to $19 million in support of U.S.-Israel collaborative research, including first-year funding for more than 100 exciting new scientific projects.
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…that you can have your steak – and eat it guiltlessly? Thanks to BSF grantee Prof. Shulamit Levenberg, your juicy ribeye can now be guiltlessly devoured without sacrificing taste, texture, or a live animal. An internationally renowned scientist in tissue engineering and dean of the Technion’s Biomedical Engineering Department, Levenberg…
Winter Edition 2021
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In his first Magazine letter since becoming BSF’s Executive Director, Anton Post – himself a former BSF grantee – shares how his appreciation for the contributions of US-Israel science collaborations has grown even further during these challenging times.
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Shortly after becoming the 47th BSF grantee to receive a Nobel Price, Dr. Rice sat down with BSF for a far-reaching Zoom conversation, where he discussed his career, his current BSF project, the importance of US-Israel science partnerships – and some of the stranger aspects of becoming a Nobel laureate. (Hint: He now gets asked to autograph photos of his dogs.)
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Throughout her career, Dr. Iris Eisenberg has made a name for herself as a trailblazing biologist. As a new member of BSF’s Board of Governors, Eisenberg hopes to help Israeli and American scientists to follow paths toward their own discoveries.
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Already a pioneer in the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, Nobel Prize winner Dr. Charles Rice is teaming with Dr. Amir Shlomai to examine the connection between hepatitis B and liver cancer, with the hope that their work will eventually lead to new drugs that will significantly prolong patients’ lives.
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Neufeld Award winners study key issues relating to weight loss, brain tumors Since its inception more than 20 years ago, BSF’s Neufeld Award has meant important early recognition for young Israeli and U.S. scientists in the health field. The award honors the memory of BSF advocate Prof. Henry…
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Two teams of Israeli and American researchers – one pair with eyes on ancient civilization, and the other on taming a modern-day infectious bacterium – are the latest winners of BSF’s Bergmann Memorial Award. Read more about their projects and the discoveries they hope to make.
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…that cancer patients might have heightened COVID 19 fighting ability? It seems to defy logic, but Israeli cancer expert and recent BSF-grantee Prof. Yuval Shaked, just published a study in the peer-reviewed journal Cancers that points to the weakened immune system of oncology patients acting as a potential bulwark against…
Fall Edition 2020
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In his final magazine letter before he retires, Yair Rotstein looks back on his 16 years with BSF (including the past year’s pandemic-related challenges) and shares why BSF has a bright future ahead.
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Meet Prof. Anton Post, who becomes BSF’s new Executive Director in October. A former BSF grantee, this marine science pioneer comes to his new position with plenty of experience in Israel and the United States – and with big ideas for BSF’s future.
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Among many firsts, Prof. Mouna Maroun is the first Arab woman to head a university science department in Israel. As a new BSF Board of Governors member, she hopes to strengthen awareness of BSF among Arab students interested in science careers.
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As Israel and the United States continue facing the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, current and former BSF grantees are making promising discoveries in several areas, including more efficient testing, how the virus spreads, and how it affects the body and mind.
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…that playing hard to get could work after all? In a new study published this spring in the Journal of Personal and Social Relationships, BSF grantees Prof. Gurit Birnbaum of the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and Prof. Harry Reis of the University of Rochester suggest that playing hard to get – a…
Spring Edition 2020
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The coronavirus has meant major changes for every organization, including BSF. Yair Rotstein shares how BSF staff, along with nearly 1,500 grant proposal reviewers from around the world, continue working together remotely, despite all the closings and distance restrictions, to help support U.S.-Israel science partnerships.
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Gordon is a world-respected mental health expert. Hotez focuses on global health and vaccines. In the past few months, they have both been interviewed by many media outlets concerning the coronavirus. Here are some highlights of their informative appearances and interviews.
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Thanks to the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation - BSF Multiplier Research Grants Program, teams of scientists in Israel have partnered with contemporaries at UCLA and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). This has resulted in key funding for nine potentially transformative projects in a wide range of science fields.
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Long before the coronavirus, HIV caused fear around the world. Nearly 40 years since it first spread, there is still no vaccine. Two BSF-supported scientists aim for discoveries that could help change that. The goal is to quantify the effects of every single mutation associated with HIV.
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We asked current BSF grantees what they are doing to help fight the coronavirus – and the response was overwhelming. Here are brief explanations of how grantees from Israel and the United States are contributing to our knowledge and understanding of this worldwide pandemic.
Winter Edition 2020
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If you are like me, you’ve heard a lot lately about beginnings and endings. After all, we’ve just begun the 2020s, after ending a momentous decade. It’s the end of one era, and the start of a new one. This is true for me personally, as well. As most of you know, I am retiring this year. But I don’t think of this as an ending. I think of it as a new beginning, for me and for BSF.
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An early pioneer in unlocking the mysteries of DNA, Dr. Howard “Haim” Cedar has devoted his life and career to studying how the cells within our bodies select the genetic information they need to function and ignore the rest of the genetic package...
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When Prof. Shulamit Michaeli-Goldberg was a little girl, she wanted to be Marie Curie, the famed physicist who became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. Her “dream job” was to have a lab where she would doggedly investigate complex theories in the hopes of making transformative scientific discoveries....
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As tissues in the body fail or need replacing, a growing number of scientists are creating tissues in their labs that can help with ailments and even save lives when they are added to the body. For more than two decades, Prof. Shulamit Levenberg has been a trailblazer in this area...
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As data becomes ever more crucial for all types of businesses, it’s no wonder that companies have rapidly adopted the practice of data-driven decision making (DDD). At the same time, what is the connection between data and the managers using that information? How can small to medium size companies – ones that often do not have the resources to hire teams of analysts – compete with larger firms using the same information?
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…that joint NSF/BSF-funded research helped identify a potential new target in the fight against cancer? An international team of researchers, including NSF/BSF grantees from the U.S. and Israel, have discovered that a better understanding of a cancer-linked version of the protein mitoNEET can lead to new weapons for battling multiple…
Fall Edition 2019
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Yair Rotstein, Executive Director of the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation As we prepare to welcome the Jewish New Year, I look forward to the immediate future at BSF with great anticipation – and some mixed emotions. (More on that later.) First, let me share some exciting updates. As you might…
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NSF-BSF partnership adds three program areas Nicholas Anderson, NSF’s program director for physical and dynamic meteorology, and Anjuli Bamzai, Director of NSF’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences in front of a mural at NSF’s Washington D.C. headquarters. Adding to an already successful and far-reaching collaboration, BSF and the…
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Why do we sleep? BSF supported research has an answer From left, Alex Keene and Lior Appelbaum in Appelbaum’s lab at Bar Ilan University. Sleep. It’s something we all do, something we all need – and something that can lead to multiple health issues for those not getting the right…
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BSF grant brings together award-winning mathematicians and a rising Israeli star Akshay Venkatesh As two respected figures in the mathematics world, Elon Lindenstrauss and Akshay Venkatesh have known and collaborated with one another for many years. When they expressed interest in working together once more, they knew that a BSF…
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…that Israeli and U.S. scientists developed a glue that could prove effective for healing bodily tissues? Thanks to a team of Israeli and American researchers, doctors might one day glue their patients’ bodily tears and injuries back together. As part of a BSF-funded project, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of…