Faculty of Medicine Newsletter 32 (December 21, 2020 - January 3, 2021)

לניוזלטרים בעברית, לחץ כאן.

For PDF version, click here.

Covid-19 Update: The Third Lockdown

We wish a refuah shlema to those who are ill.

And we wish a healthy quarantine to those who were with them ?.

Prof. Daniel Glikman, Vice Dean for Pre-clinical Studies, reports that the management of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine along with the directors of the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Ziv Medical Center, and the Galilee Medical Center, with the cooperation of the Student Association, initiated a vaccination campaign against Corona for medical students, both in pre-clinical and clinical years, in the hospitals along with the vaccinated medical staff. Most of the Faculty's students have been vaccinated with the first vaccine in the series.

Rector Visits Safed Campus

Prof. Amnon Albeck
Prof. Amnon Albeck

The new Rector of Bar-Ilan University, Prof. Amnon Albeck, visited the Safed campus, just before the third lockdown, on December 21, 2020.

The Rector, accompanied by the Dean, Prof. Karl Skorecki, met with Faculty management, in particular, with Prof. Chaim Putterman, Associate Dean for Research, who explained all about the research taking place at the Faculty; with Prof. Eric Shinwell, Associate Dean for Medical Education, who offered a brief on the challenges of medical education at the Faculty in light of the Corona pandemic (and how the Faculty has overcome them!); and with Prof. Jean Soustiel, Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement, who spoke about senior staff recruitment plans for the coming years.

AcademyHealth.org Request for Proposal

Dr. Sivan Spitzer-Shohat, Head of Population Health Education, who has been working on a project for AcademyHealth, has informed that in light of the Faculty’s rich collaboration with health service providers and the community, especially during the Corona period, she has been asked to prepare a proposal for their annual conference. AcademyHealth is the largest professional umbrella organization for health systems research.

The conference, which takes place every year in June (this year, online), is the largest conference for the study of health systems and is attended by over 3,000 people.

Dr. Lilach Malatskey, Vice Dean for Community Education, wished Dr. Spitzer-Shohat success in this well-deserved endeavor, and the Dean of the Azrieli Faculty, Prof. Karl Skorecki, adds, “Congratulations on this tremendous achievement - both the very success of the project and the visibility and recognition following. This is the best proof of the close connections forged at all levels for this project, and should serve as an example for all, worldwide.”

Dr. Baruh Polis to Postdoc at Yale

Dr. Avraham Samson has proudly informed us that one of his students, Dr. Baruh Polis, has been accepted for a postdoc at Yale University, in the group of Arie Kaffman, MD PhD.  He is the second PhD student of Samson’s to be accepted at an Ivy League university.

The Dean Prof. Karl Skorecki, wrote to Samson, “This is indeed an outstanding tribute to your mentorship skills and to your dedication to the academic well-being and career development of your students.”

We wish you the best of success, and look forward to welcoming you back home afterwards.

Lama Milhim Wins Prestigious Award

Congratulations to Ms. Lama Milhim, a student in the hematology laboratory, mentored by Dr. Regina Michelis (profiled in Newsletter #25) at the Institute for Medical Research, Galilee Medical Center, Naharia, who was awarded a highly competitive and prestigious national scholarship for excellence in a research masters program for Arab scientists.

The Dean, Prof. Karl Skorecki, wrote to Ms. Milhim, “I wish you continued success in your scientific path and I am confident that you will continue to respectfully represent the Faculty of Medicine.”

And Also from GMC…GMC

Prof. Chaim Putterman excitedly adds, “I am very pleased to share with you some wonderful news… in the waning hours of 2020, four papers from the GMC research institute were accepted on or around the same day!

“We are very proud of the excellent research being performed in the Research Institute by our outstanding students, scientists, and physicians. We [are thankful for the] support of the research enterprise at GMC… which is helping transform our medical center into a leading university hospital in the North and beyond.” 

The Dean, Prof. Karl Skorecki, shared words of appreciation for the hard work, most especially in these trying days, to which Prof. Masad Barhoum, the director of GMC warmly agreed.

International Student Update

Dr. Dorith Raviv Shay, the Faculty’s BIU International School representative, has updated us that five new doctoral applicants have completed the admissions process and have passed the admissions committee of the School of Advanced Studies. We hope that in the very near future they will receive their letters of acceptance and be able to start the visa application process. They will be joining six new international students who have already started this year, with an additional three on their way to Israel.

Seminars

 •    Special Seminar: Picking a brain cell by cell, Cell-type-specific protein dynamics in the nervous system (Dr. Or Shahar hosted by Dr. Moshe Dessau)
•    Special Seminar: Activity-dependent remodeling of chromatin architecture mediates neuronal function in both healthy and diseased states (Dr. Asaf Marco hosted by Dr. Ronit Ilouz)
•    Upcoming: PhD Seminar: Modulation of Cellular Epigenetics by Kaposi’s Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus (Guy Journo supervised by Dr. Meir Shamay) 
 

Website: What’s New?          

Publications 

Reminder that publications by Azrieli faculty are generally posted in chronological order based on publication date, per PubMed listings.

  • Jacob Bornstein: Three-Year Follow-up of 2-Dose Versus 3-Dose HPV Vaccine (Pediatrics.)
  • Kamal Hamoud: Spinous Process Inclination in Degenerative Lmbar Spinal Stenosis Individuals (Biomed Res Int.)
  • Majdi Halabi: Comparison of Outcomes of Beta-Blocker Therapy after Acute Myocardial Infarction in Patients without Heart Failure or Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (From the Acute Coronary Syndromes Israeli Survey [ACSIS]) (Am J Cardiol.)
  • Samira Khoury, ThAvi Peretz: Genomic Analysis of Antimicrobial Resistance Genotype-to-Phenotype Agreement in Helicobacter pylori (Microorganisms .)arwat Haj Khalil, Eilam Palzur, Samer Srouji: A Multi-Chamber Gas System to Examine the Effect of Multiple Oxygen Conditions on Cell Culture (Tissue Eng Part C Methods.)
  • Hanan Rohana, Maya Azrad, Orna Nitzan, Dana Binyamin, Omry Koren, Avi Peretz: Characterization of Clostridioides difficile Strains, the Disease Severity, and the Microbial Changes They Induce (J Clin Med)
  • Ohad Ronen, Maya Oichman: National Differences on Cost-Analysis of Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier (Clin Endocrinol (Oxf).)
  • David Peleg, Steven L Warsof: Elective induction at 39 weeks (Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM.)

Faculty News

Prof. Samer Srouji
Prof. Samer Srouji

Media Exposure     

Image Gallery/Photo Albums        

Stay tuned for new pictures…

A Special Requestvideo

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine will be celebrating its ten-year anniversary. We invite and encourage you to send us a short (15-20 second) video (selfie or with assistance) of what the Faculty means to you, your experiences, growth, hopes for the future of the Faculty. Special credit for creativity! Send your videos to Hadas Oren via email or WhatsApp.

Comments/additions/updates?

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