Faculty News

Congratulations to 27 medical professionals who received certificates following their completion of a Bar-Ilan University Designated Programs course on mental health in the first five years of a child's life.

The ceremony, which was held at the Bar-Ilan U. Ramat Gan campus, was attended by Prof. Offer Amir, Associate Dean, Specialization and Continuing Education, and Noam David Reshelbach, the Administrative Head of the Faculty, along with Dr. Miri Keren and Dr. Izabella Mirochnik, the program coordinators.

The third cohort of this program will commence this year. Details (in Hebrew) here.

Congratulations to Azrieli Faculty of Medicine PIs (principal investigators) who just won ISF Grants.

Prof. Evan Elliott (Role of chromosome regulators in maintenance of neuronal function and behavior in adulthood)
Prof. Amnon Harel (Pushing pores to their limit - a study of perturbed nuclear pore function)
Dr. Ronit Ilouz (Characterization of protein aggregation promoted by a PKA-RIb mutation in a rare neurodegenerative disease)

In January 2022 we reported on the launch of an important program, the Ilanot Medical Leadership Program, thanks to the initiative and under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Health.

We are now excited to share, that a festive kick-off gathering took place at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine on July 14, 2022. In attendance were directors of affiliate hospitals Baruch Padeh Medical Center in Poria (Dr. Erez Onn), Ziv Medical Center (Prof. Salman Zarka), and EMMS (Scottish) Hospital (Dr. Fahed Hakim), as well as the CEO of the Office for the Development of the Periphery, Negev and Galilee (Ilan Shohat) - among other dignitaries.

This leadership program will open in the fall, with 20-30 first year Azrieli medical students from the four-year track. It includes substantial financial assistance throughout the medical training, mentorship, leadership training, and support during internship. Recipients commit to settling in the Galilee for 7 years after they graduate.

Following ceremonies at Ziv Medical Center and the Galilee Medical Center, on July 21, 2022 the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine hosted a ceremony to thank the excellent lecturers from the Faculty as well as the affiliated hospitals in Nazareth and area kupot holim and hospitals who are also actively involved in teaching the next generation of Israeli physicians.

Opening with a welcome by Sharon Mines, Administrative Deputy to the Associate Dean of Medical Education, the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Karl Skorecki; Associate Dean of Medical Education, Prof. Eric Shinwell; and the Head of Unit, Evaluation and Advancement of Education, Dr. Nomy Dickman, then took to the podium to warmly greet the crowd.

After a musical interlude, certificate recipients were invited one by one to the stage to receive their awards, by Profs. Skorecki and Shinwell as well as Prof. Michael Blank and Bat-El Yamin (Academic Staff Coordinator). Dr. Yossi Glustein spoke in the name of all of the award recipients.

A few pictures of the event, held in the Esther & Haim Carasso Auditorium, can be seen here (photo credit: Dror Miller).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

List of recipients (in Hebrew) as follows:

תארים מתקדמים

• פרופ' מיטל גל תנעמי
• ד"ר רונית אילוז

קדם קליני

• ד"ר אוסאמה חלבי
• ד"ר אלון ברש
• מר באסם חג'אזי
• ד"ר ג'ומאנה עיסא-חדד
• ד"ר דוד אנשל
• מר לי אזולאי
• פרופ' מיטל גל תנעמי
• פרופ' מיכאל אדלשטיין
• מר נדב טולדנו
• ד"ר ניר קוויט
• ד"ר עדי אור – מכבי משפחה
• ד"ר קובי ממן
• ד"ר רולא פרח- כללית גליל מערבי
• גב' רחל לוין
• פרופ' אוון אליוט + תארים מתקדמים
• פרופ' פיטר גילבי
• ד"ר סיוון שפיצר שוחט
• ד"ר שירל אוחיון
• גב' שלומית נשרי
• פרופ' אורלי אבני
• ד"ר זהר שני- גרשון
• ד"ר מיכאל בנד
• ד"ר מיכאל דה פריס
• גב' קרינה בוקלן
• ד"ר אכרם שרף

רפואת משפחה

• ד"ר ווליד טרבי- כללית גליל מערבי
• ד"ר מיכל גרינברג- מכבי
• ד"ר פהד סכס- כללית גליל מערבי
• ד"ר איריס הלביץ- כללית צפון
• ד"ר אלכסנדרה ורז'יביצקי- כללית צפון

ילדים בקהילה

• ד"ר איאד עסאווי- כללית צפון
• ד"ר היתם שלבי- כללית צפון
• ד"ר ויקטוריה ויסמן- כללית גליל מערבי
• ד"ר יוסי גלושטיין- כללית צפון
• ד"ר נדיה לומלסקי- כללית צפון
• ד"ר עדיאל מרום- כללית גליל מערבי
• ד"ר עיסאם מוקלאשי- כללית צפון
• ד"ר שיבלי רושדי- כללית צפון

נשים בקהילה

• ד"ר איריס אוהל שני- כללית צפון
• ד"ר דרור להב- כללית גליל מערבי
• ד"ר אופליה אבו נסרא- כללית צפון

פסיכיאטריה

• ד"ר ג'ק חג'ז- שער מנשה
• ד"ר ורוניקה מירונוב- מזור
• ד"ר טטיאנה זיקר- שער מנשה
• ד"ר רונן הוברפלד- שער מנשה
• ד"ר יבגני שינקרנקו- שער מנשה

גינקולוגיה ומיילדות

• ד"ר אתי דניאל שפיגל- העמק
• ד"ר דניאל מלחי- העמק
• ד"ר הדס רובין- העמק
• ד"ר ניבאל חמאיסי- סקוטי
• ד"ר סוזן עבדל גאני- העמק
• ד"ר פאדל אבוסיביה- סקוטי
• ד"ר שבתאי רומנו- העמק
• ד"ר אלון טל- העמק
• ד"ר מנאל מסאלחה- העמק
• ד"ר לילך כהן- העמק
• ד"ר יהודה בן דוד- העמק

המטולוגיה

• ד"ר אביב אריאל- העמק

עיניים

• ד"ר נאיל מזאוי- צרפתי

גסטרו

• ד"ר אמיר מרעי- סקוטי

כירורגיה

• ד"ר אחמד לובאני- סקוטי

כירורגית לב חזה

• ד"ר רונן גלילי

פלסטיקה

• ד"ר טל טוביאס- העמק

אא"ג

• ד"ר נביל פראנש- צרפתי

מחלקות מצטיינות

•  מחלקת גינקולוגיה ומיילדות - העמק
• מחלקת המטולוגיה- העמק
• מחלקת גסטרו - סקוטי

קורסים מצטיינים

• פתולוגיה בסיסית – סרג'יו שוולב
• יק"ר ארבע שנתי – נג'יב דלי 

 

 

 

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine congratulates Dr. Shai Bel upon his receipt of a prestigious and competitive BSF grant.

The topic of his research is "Defining the role of interleukin 1b in host manipulation by Salmonella Typhimurium."

 

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine mourns the premature passing of one of its dear academic faculty members, Dr. Amir Kuperman z"l.

Translated from the ארגון רופאי המדינה (Israeli physicians association) Facebook post:

Below is what his friends, doctors in the pediatric ward at the Galilee Medical Center in Naharia, wrote about him.

Amir was born in 1966 in Petah Tikva. After military service he received his degree in medicine from the Tel Aviv University. After graduating, he specialized in pediatrics at the Edith Wolfson Medical Center and then went on to specialize in pediatric hemato-oncology at Schneider Children's Hospital.

Amir married Hila, and together they built their home at Kibbutz Ayalon in the north. In 2005, he began working at the Galilee Medical Center as a senior physician in the Department of Pediatrics and at the same time established the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Coagulation Disorders. Amir stood out as a dedicated, diligent, and curious doctor who devoted his energy to the field of research and study which he loved very much.

Amir was an outstanding teacher for many interns and students at the Medical Center and Azrieli Faculty of Medicine in Safed. He was a teacher par excellence and just recently received an award for being an outstanding lecturer in courses in various fields such as Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology, Infectious Diseases, Genetics, Introduction to Clinical Medicine and Pediatrics.

Dr. Kuperman was in the process of being promoted to professorship, a degree he obtained after much effort and work and was most deserving of it.

Amir was first and foremost a family man, and then a doctor. His many patients, thalassemia patients and patients with a variety of chronic hematological diseases, saw him as a constant address for problem solving and he was for them a father-doctor.

Amir was a humane and dedicated physician to the many children he treated and a consultant available to many physicians in the Galilee region.

In addition to being a family man, Dr. Kuperman was a loving husband and a devoted and proud father to his children. Amir and his wife had many plans for the future but suddenly in January this year his family received the bitter news that Amir was suffering from a tumor which could not be overcome. Amir and his family did not give up and tried every possible weapon to fight the tumor. And this was Amir's way of treating his patients as well. He always looked for a solution and even believed in "miracles".

Amir's desire to return to his family and work that he loved so much, to return to teaching young doctors and feeling needed for his illness pushed him forward and again and again Amir emphasized this to his friends. It was one small moment of light in a difficult time when Amir managed despite the treatments to attend the Clinical Lecturers Certificate of Appreciation Ceremony, a moment that ignited hope in everyone's hearts, with great excitement.

On Friday, July 8, 2022, after several days of medical deterioration, Amir's soul was taken from us and returned to the Creator.

We will remember Dr. Kuperman as a son, a devoted and loving husband and father, and as a humane and diligent physician with a desire to move forward and advance the field of hematology for children in the Galilee.

Amir's departure from us very prematurely is a severe loss for all of us. But the memory of his actions, his concerns and achievements in the field of hematology, will accompany us as we continue on the path. His vision that good and professional medicine can be provided in the Galilee will continue to lighten our path.

May his memory be for a blessing.
 

 

 

Every year it gets more and more exciting - the MD graduation ceremony at Bar-Ilan University's Azrieli Faculty of Medicine in Safed.

This year, with beautiful July 4th weather, 62 students from the sixth four-year track graduating class, and 43 students from the seventh three-year track graduating class, were sworn in as physicians in the State of Israel. Fifty seven of these students - new doctors - are women.

Noam David Reshelbach, the Faculty Administrative Head, led the ceremony that was held outdoors on campus, with hundreds of proud participants gleaming.

After the official processions of Academic Management and Faculty, and the students, offering words of inspiration were Prof. Eric Shinwell, Associate Dean Medical Education, who opened with Maimonide's Physician's Prayer; Prof. Arye Zaban, President of Bar-Ilan University; the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Karl Skorecki; the Rector of Bar-Ilan University, Prof. Amnon Albek; the Mayor of Safed, Mr. Shuki Ohana; parent representative Dr. Dov Bandel; student Dr. Shirel Ohayon. The Maqamat Ensemble from Safed performed musical interludes throughout the ceremony.

The students took the Oath of the Hebrew Physician (written by Prof. L. Heylprin) then proceeded one by one to the dais, to the Dean and Rector. Handing out the diplomas were Sharon Mines, Administrative Deputy to the Associate Dean of Medical Education, and Bat El Yamin, Academic Staff Coordinator.

Congratulations!

Pictures can be seen here (Dror Miller, photographer).

 

It's graduation season!

This year we were proud to confer 16 MSc degrees at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine campus in Safed on June 29, 2022, and 11 PhD degrees at the main Bar-Ilan University campus in Ramat Gan on June 28, 2022.

In Safed, the ceremony was introduced by Hadas Hasidim, the graduate degree coordinator. After the academic procession and then procession of degree recipients, a short video describing the Faculty was shown. Greeting the participants next, was Prof. Karl Skorecki, Dean; Prof. Chaim Putterman, Associate Dean Research; and Prof. Meital Gal Tanamy, chairperson of the graduate degree committee at Azrieli. 

Ohad Malka then performed a musical interlude.

Dr. Ron Piran, a Faculty principal investigator, presented his research, after which the students were invited one by one to receive their degrees by Prof. Skorecki, Prof. Putterman, Prof. Tzipora C. Falik-Zaccai (Vice Dean, Medical Research) and Prof. Gal Tanamy. Academic Advisor names are in parenthesis:

With distinction:

Levin Varda Roza (Prof. Offer Amir, Dr. Natalya Volinsky)
Aias Meral (Dr. Avi Peretz)
Mesika Avraham Aviv (Prof. David Karasik, Prof. Tzipora C. Falik-Zaccai)
Anwar Dakwar (Dr. Ronit Ilouz)
Tel Paz Shahar (Dr. Shai Bel)

Jiryis Mervat (Dr. Nir Qvit)
Ghanayem Nasreen (Prof. Evan Elliott)
David Yehuda (Prof. David Karasik)
Verbner Nir (Prof. Omry Koren)
Houshan Esawi Kholoud (Dr. Hava Gil Henn)
Hijaze Manar (Dr. Ron Piran)
London Ania
Sawaied Yasmin (Dr. Shai Bel)
Saad Gewa (Dr. Avi Peretz)
Kadry Balqees (Prof. Omry Koren)
Kuc Martin (Prof. Omry Koren)

 

At the main Bar-Ilan campus, Azrieli doctoral students joined all BIU recipients at the conferment ceremony. Read more here.

Medical Sciences PhD recipients, from the Bar-Ilan list of doctoral recipients 2022:

 

 

Congratulations!

Pictured above: MSc graduation ceremony (credit: Dror Miller)

More pictures here.

 

The Forum of Azrieli Faculty of Medicine and Affiliate Medical Centers and District HMO management was held on Jun2 27, 2022. The forum meets every few months, each time hosted by a different medical center. This time the Haifa and Western Galilee District of Clalit Health Services had the honor.

Issues related to the activities of the Faculty and affiliate medical centers and health funds were discussed.

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine was pleased to host some 40 laboratory managers from the Bar-Ilan University main campus in Ramat Gan, on June 23, 2022.

The lab managers came to Safed to learn about and tour the facilities as well as meet fellow researchers.

Following registration and light refreshments (after the beautiful commute up North) the group was greeted by Prof. Chaim Putterman, Associate Dean Research and Noam David Reshelbach, Administrative Head of Faculty, as well as BIU's Deputy Director General of Administration and Human Resources, Maor Pinko. Accompanying the group on the tour were Dr. Moshe Dessau, Dr. Ella Maoz, Prof. Omry Koren, Prof. Michael Edelstein, and Prof. Chaim Putterman. Special thanks to Dr. Dorith Raviv Shay for making sure all progressed smoothly.

Pictured above (thanks to Dr. Dorith Raviv Shay): The group being introduced to the Anatomage Table

Once a year the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine publicly thanks and expresses its appreciation to its clinical lecturers.

On June 15, 2022 a ceremony was held at the Ziv Medical Center, and the next day, on June 16, at the Galilee Medical Center (GMC) in Nahariya.

Sharon Mines, Administrative Deputy to the Associate Dean of Medical Education, emceed each ceremony, opening by explaining that when we convene to grant certificates of appreciation for excellence, we are highlighting personal and organizational qualities of perseverance, patience, curiosity, leadership, self-improvement, and constant learning - so that we in turn, can train excellent medical professionals.

The following were invited to the podium to share a few words:

• Prof. Karl Skorecki, Dean
• Prof. Eric Shinwell, Associate Dean Medical Education
• Dr. Nomy Dickman, Head of Unit, Evaluation and Advancement of Education
• At Ziv, Prof. Salman Zarka, director of Ziv Medical Center and Chief Covid-19 Officer; at GMC, Prof. Masad Barhoum, General Director of GMC

At Ziv a few short musical interludes were led by sixteen year old Efrat Ohana of Safed and at GMC by Salwa Shluten

A full list of the Certificate recipients appears on the Hebrew version, here.

Pictured above, left to right: Dr. Amir Kuperman, Prof. Karl Skorecki, Prof. Masad Barhoum, and Hila Kuperman

Pictured below, clockwise from top left: Sharon Mines, Prof. Karl Skorecki, Prof. Eric Shinwell, Efrat Ohana, Prof. Salman Zarka, Dr. Nomy Dickman (photo credit: Simon Hadad)

Congratulations to two of our graduate students upon being chosen for the prestigious Rector's Honor Roll. Ceremony was held at the Ramat Gan campus on June 13, 2022.

We are proud of Tal Avitan, a masters degree student from Prof. Orly Avni's lab, and Wisal Sawaed (pictured above), a PhD student from Dr. Ron Piran's lab who received the honor by the Rector, Prof. Amnon Albeck.

The prize encourages academic excellence and advances the next generation of Israeli researchers.

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine appreciates the dedication of the second-year students who diligently filled out end-of-year feedback surveys. As a gesture of thanks, the class was awarded a monetary stipend.

The Faculty awards a symbolic cash prize for the class with the highest and most consistent response rate.

Last year this class also won.

Dr. Nomy Dickman,  head of the unit for Development and Evaluation of Education , was pleased to hear about the constructive use of the gift - in addition to covering the costs for a group outing, the class chose to purchase helpful equipment for class recording, a tablet, camera, and microphone. Graduate degree students who also received a stipend were able to purchase vouchers for Golda ice cream. She added, "The Faculty hopes that response rates will remain high." This feedback is also important for faculty advancement.

The students add: "We would like to give our thanks, and express our gratitude and appreciation for receiving an award for completing teaching surveys. We were able to hold a class evening attended by over 40 class members. The evening contributed greatly to our bonding, and was a great end to two pre-clinical years of study. Our thanks and appreciation also to all who assisted in receiving the grant: the Dean, Prof. Karl Skorecki; the Vice Rector, Prof. Arie Reich; Associate Dean of Medical Education, Prof. Eric Shinwell; Vice Dean for Pre-Clinical Studies, Prof. Daniel Glikman; Vice Dean of Clinical Education, Prof. Johnny Younis; Chair of the Graduate Committee, Prof. Meital Gal Tanami; Faculty Development Coordinator and Teaching Advocate, Ms. Shlomit Yosef; Mr. Bassem Hijazi, Ilana Bar Sabag; and Administrative Head of the Faculty, Mr. Noam David Reshelbach.

Pictured: The class during their outing

 

 

Seventy-five Azrieli Faculty of Medicine medical students from the four-year track received their coveted White Coats at a very exciting in-person ceremony at the Yigal Allon Cultural Center in Safed, on June 1, 2022. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, previous ceremonies were much smaller and had taken place on campus. This is the tenth cohort of the four-year track -  meaning, students who are pursuing the MD degree after having been awarded their bachelors degree. They commenced their studies at the height of the Covid-19 challenge.

Sharon Mines, Administrative Deputy to the Associate Dean of Medical Education, opened by explaining that the White Coat ceremony signifies the transition from the two-year pre-clinical (largely classroom) studies to the two-year clinical (hospital-based) bedside component.

Shira and Ateret Schwartz, the wife and young daughter of student Haggai Schwartz, gave a moving dvar Torah from the podium, after which the Dean, Prof. Karl Skorecki, greeted the crowd by recorded message, as he was unable to attend due to quarantine restrictions.

Up next to share very warm words to the full-house crowd, were Prof. Eric Shinwell, Associate Dean, Medical Education, and Prof. Daniel Glikman, Vice Dean, Pre-Clinical Studies. Their presentations were warm, educational, and enjoyable as always.

At this point, a student-prepared video clip encapsulating the student experience in pictures and short vignettes, was projected.

Returning to the podium, Professors Shinwell and Glikman, accompanied by coordinator Bat-El Menachem, called upon the three merit-based scholarship recipients of the Paul and Edwina Heller Memorial Fund: Aya Binenbaum, Hani Makhoul, and Gal Raz (pictured below).

The remaining 72 students were then called to the stage by name, one by one, per class, by their HILA (Professional Foundations for the Future Doctor) course instructors.

After all students donned their white coats, the father of student Netta Sorek, Dr. Motti Sorek, shared a few words, and two student representative - Hana Abu Rabia and Inbar Yorish Zur - were also invited as class representatives to speak.

Class picture, singing of Hatikva, then lots of hugs and kisses!

Pictures (credit to Dror Miller) can be seen here.

 

 

Researchers from the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine were honored to present their research at a daylong conference hosted by Bar-Ilan's Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center on May 30, 2022.

After opening remarks by the head of the Center, Prof. Alon Korngreen, who blessed the initiative, stressing the importance of cross-cultivation of scientific ideas and gathering among researchers from different departments and faculties who may not be aware of many of the labs at BIU (pointing out that geographic distance should not be a hindrance!) - eleven researchers presented their ideas, including posters by others for breaktime discussions.

From Azrieli, short lectures were given by Dr. Hava Gil Henn, Dr. Hanna Keren, Dr. Ronit Ilouz, Dr. Liron Rozenkrantz, and Prof. Evan Elliott.

Pictured below, the Gonda Brain Center. Pictured above, Dr. Keren and Dr. Rozenkrantz.