Faculty News

Congratulations to two graduates of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine upon receipt of certificates of excellence on February 27, 2022 from the Emek Medical Center in Afula where they are doing their internship. Of five recipients, two are Azrieli graduates:

Dr. Orel Levy - who will be specializing in dermatology at Emek

Dr. Nadav Bandel - who will be specializing in orthopedic surgery at Emek

You make us proud!

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine was excited to host, in person, the 8th annual Galileum high school science and technology research final project conference. The Medical Cadet project, a prestigious three-year program for high school students in the Galilee, includes lectures, seminars, excursions, and ultimately, preparation of a final research paper under the supervision of an Azrieli Faculty of Medicine researcher. The highly regarded program counts towards the Bagrut matriculation for the students.

Dr. Shai Bel of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, pictured above, was guest lecturer.

This year, 33 students submitted research projects in the fields of medicine, agriculture, the environment, biology, microbiology, physics, genetics, and more. Four of the twelve prize winners at the March 10, 2022 conference and ceremony were supervised by Azrieli researchers:

נועה ויקסמן, מקיף אנה פרנק סאסא, חוקרת מלווה שולמית בן עוליאל
רננה פרץ, אולפנת אמי״ת צפת, חוקרת מלווה ד"ר שירה פרץ
גאזל עאמר, מקיף שש-שנתי עתיד פקיעין חוקרת מלווה ד"ר מיכל ורבנר
נעמה שרה לוי, אולפנת בני עקיבא מירון, חוקרת מלווה שולמית בן עוליאל 

Below are some pictures from the evening (sponsorship at the bottom).

Prof. Amnon Albeck, Rector of Bar-Ilan University, has sent a personal congratulatory letter to Prof. Omry Koren, one of fifteen Bar-Ilan University researchers who were chosen this year for this prize, for his achievements in the 2020-21 academic year. A celebratory event will take place in the coming months.

Congratulations, Prof. Koren!

Congratulations to Prof. Meital Gal-Tanami, Dr. Fadi Hassan, and Dr. Zaid abu Zaid on being chosen for the the Bar-Ilan University Vice Rector's Outstanding Teacher Award for the 2021-22 academic year. Ceremony to take place end of May 2022.

"Innovation" has become an integral part of day-to-day medical practice, based on unmet needs presented by health challenges. Accessibility of rapidly evolving technologies to health professionals, greatly expands opportunities for the benefit of patient care.

Professor Samer Srouji, Director of the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, and a leading clinician scientist at the Galilee Medical Center, an Azrieli Faculty of Medicine affiliate hospital, has proven experience in technologies such as advanced 3D printing in medicine among others.

Prof. Karl Skorecki, Dean of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, has now announced: "Professor Srouji, has now taken this expertise to lead Azrieli Faculty of Medicine activity as Chief Innovation Officer and founding director of the  program in Medical Innovation Education."

Welcome aboard!

Pictured left to right: Prof. Chaim Putterman, Associate Dean for Research; Prof. Srouji; Prof. Skorecki

Over 100 potential medical students Zoomed in to the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine "Open House" on February 9, 2022. Led by the Administrative Deputy to the Associate Dean of Medical Education, Sharon Mines, the evening opened with a few words by the Dean, Prof. Karl Skorecki; the Associate Dean of Medical Education, Prof. Eric Shinwell; the Vice Dean of Pre-Clinical Studies, Prof. Daniel Glikman; and the head of the four-year track application committee, Prof. Itay Onn. The potential students then went to separate "rooms" to meet with current students for a Q&A session.

Applications are no longer being accepted for the 2022-23 academic year, and we wish the applicants success. Applications for the Ilanot medical leadership program are being accepted through March 2022. An Ilanot Zoom Open House was held on February 7, 2022.

Bar-Ilan University will be holding Open House days via Zoom on February 18 and 20, 2022 for potential graduate degree students and those who wish to inquire about the MD program for the future.

Congratulations to the forty-eight Azrieli Faculty of Medicine students who received their White Coats on February 2, 2022.

Students from the eleventh class of the three-year track MD program convened at the Faculty to ceremoniously mark the transition from pre-clinical to clinical studies. 

Sharon Mines, Administrative Deputy to the Associate Dean of Medical Education, led the event, with the students watching the Zoom broadcast in the classrooms, and their friends and families, from home, due to the sensitive Covid-19 situation. After an opening "dvar Torah" by a student, Shenhav Albo, Ms. Mines invited Prof. Karl Skorecki (the Dean), Prof. Eric Shinwell (Associate Dean, Medical Education), and Prof. Johnny Younis (Vice Dean, Clinical Education) to share a few words. Afterwards, the students received the White Coats (in person) and posed for a group picture.

A short video prepared by the students, and a pre-recorded greeting from a class parent, were shown, and Basic Clinical Principles course coordinator, Prof. Kamal Hassan was presented with a certificate of appreciation.

We wish our students - our future doctors - success as they enter the next stage of their training.

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine woke to a barrage of press coverage following the publication of an important archeological finding in Scientific Reports by an international team led by Azrieli's Dr. Alon Barash, Prof. Ella Been of Ono Academic College, Prof. Miriam Belmaker of the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Omry Barzilai of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Examining the fossil, a 1.5 million year old bone, and the second-oldest hominin fossil to be found outside Israel, the researchers have been able to scientifically explain the nature of human migration from Africa.

Read more in Haaretz here and here, in ynet here, in the Jerusalem post here, and in walla here. In addition, a news item and interview on Israel's Kan 11 TV channel can be seen here.

It's a match made in heaven...or better yet, Safed.

Congratulations to two Azrieli Faculty of Medicine graduate students who met while studying at the Faculty and are now happily married.

What makes this story special is that both students are from different regions in India, and met here.

Rajesh Detrojais is from Dr. Frenkel-Morgenstern's lab, and Trishna Saha from Dr. Avraham Samson's lab. After the wedding, which was just held in December 2021, in India, Rajesh set off for Canada for his post-doc and Trishna has returned to Safed to finish her PhD, after which she will join her new husband in Toronto.

The young couple have shared with us a few words:

"This is Rajesh Detroja and Trishna Saha, students of Bar-Ilan University, now husband and wife too. Rajesh came from the west part of India (Rajkot) to study towards his PhD at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine in March 2017; Trishna from the east part of India (Kolkata) in March 2018. Since then, we have become best friends and started sharing our student and personal life together in the beautiful city Safed. We enjoyed many events and festivals at both the campuses, Safed and Ramat Gan. We cooked food together, studied, enjoyed the weekends with other friends, traveled to tourist as well as other offbeat places in Israel and Jordan. We also enjoyed the company of Israeli families and friends outside the campus. All these events kept us closer always, which eventually lead to our marriage and made us partners for life. We thank Bar-Ilan University, friends, and Israel for all the memorable events and life experiences."

Mazal tov!

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine is excited to announce a new Medical Leadership program under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Health, called Ilanot. The program launched at an impressive Zoom gathering on January 23, 2022.

In attendance and offering words of greeting were the Minister of Health, Nitzan Horovitz; Minister of Education, Yifat Shasha-Biton; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, Oded Forer; Director of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Nachman Ash; President of Bar-Ilan University, Prof. Arie Zaban; Dean of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Karl Skorecki; and the Mayor of Safed, Shuki Ohana. 

Participants then broke off into working groups in separate "rooms" to brainstorm and further discuss the program, its goals, challenges, and details.

The conference/meeting introduced the program to the leaders and community and at the same time, was open to hear the opinions and suggestions of the local authorities, health and education officials, community organizations, and most importantly - residents of the North.

The goal of Ilanot is to shape the future medical and health leadership in Israel.

Learn more (in Hebrew) here.

With some 90 students carefully selected from high schools in the North of Israel, the Medical Cadet program launched again this year with an impressive Zoom ceremony held on the evening of January 10, 2022.

Prof. Tzipora C. Falik-Zaccai, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine Vice Dean for Medical Research, and Prof. Anan Abassi, Director General of Ziv Medical Center, opened with greetings. Afterwards, Dr. Chen Shochat described the details of the prestigious 3-year program. Dr. Ron Piran, a researcher at the Azrieli Faculty then gave a brief lecture on diabetes, an important area of study being researched at the Faculty.

We wish the students success and look forward to reading their final papers...and perhaps even meeting them in the Azrieli classroom, as medical students, in the future!

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine was excited to host MK Idit Silman and MK Iman Khatib-Yasin on January 6, 2022.

MK Silman initiated the visit, in her capacity as Chairperson of the Knesset Health Committee, to discuss governmental funding of the Russell Berrie Galilee Diabetes SPHERE.

The entourage met with Prof. Chaim Putterman, Associate Dean of Research, and Prof. Naim Shehadeh and Dr. Sivan Spitzer who direct the SPHERE.

לעברית, כאן.

Prof. Tzipora Falik-Zaccai of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine and the Galilee Medical Center has been awarded the Minister of Health distinction for access to medical rights in the field of health.

Falik-Zaccai was granted the award for activities that take place at the genetics institute she heads, making genetic tests accessible to the population of the villages in the north of the country, in order to prevent infant morbidity and mortality from hereditary diseases. 

"For me, this is a life project that has lasted almost 20 years. Our region includes some ​​650,000 people, where very often the populations are small and intermarriage rates are high, resulting in a high rate of hereditary diseases, birth defects and infant mortality. I believe that this is an important goal that can be changed. With the help of our genetics technology and knowledge, our project has changed the reality in the area. From a reality of lack of awareness, fear of genetic testing and fear of various stigmas, we have reached the point where we are welcome in every village, are located within Tipat Halav centers with Ministry of Health nurses and performing genetic testing on the population. I have a wonderful team that came to the plate, with everyone taking a role and doing their best to make the project a success," said Dr. Falik-Zaccai.

The award is given annually in recognition of organizations and individuals involved in promoting rights in the health care system. The ceremony, which took place recently in Cinema City, was attended by Minister of Health Nitzan Horowitz, Director General of his office Prof. Nachman Ash, Chairman of the Medical Association Prof. Zion Hagai, Chairman of the Coalition Committee and Chairman of the Health Committee MK Idit Silman, and senior members of the Patient Rights Association.

Short video (in Hebrew) here.

[Photo credit: Yael Zur]

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine held a meeting of the Forum of Azrieli-affiliated Medical Centers, at the EMMS (Scottish) Hospital in Nazareth, on December 16, 2021. In attendance were the medical center directors, and Azrieli management. 

We thank EMMS Nazareth, especially Dr. Fahed Hakim, the general director, for hosting the meeting.

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine was honored to host Mr. Maciej Kaczorovski, a North Macedonian diplomat, on December 8, 2021.

Mr. Kaczorovski, who was accompanied by Dr. Rachel-Shelly Levy-Drummer, Bar-Ilan University Academic Secretary, met with the Azrieli Faculty Dean, Prof. Karl Skorecki; the Administrative Head, Noam David Reshelbach; and BIU International School Representative, Dr. Dorith Raviv-Shay. He also visited Dr. Moshe Dessau's laboratory and learned about the Corona research being done at the Faculty, and Dr. Alon Barash showed him the Faculty's unique Anatomage Table.

We look forward to collaboration in the future.

Picture left to right: Kaczorovski, Levy-Drummer, Dessau, Reshelbach