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#TAU_WOMEN_POWER

Meet female researchers from Tel Aviv University who received the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grants this year.

Four female researchers from Tel Aviv University received the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grants, aimed to help promising mid-career researchers achieve their research goals. We spoke with the winners to hear how they feel about the award and hear any advice they may have for other aspiring researchers.

Prof. Miri Yemini | The School of Education at TAU’s Faculty of Humanities 

In her research, Yemini explores how young people from different backgrounds in different countries understand and appropriate global citizenship.

How did you feel when you heard that you’d be awarded the grant?

“I was very excited when I received the news about the grant. At the same time, I understand that winning the grant is just the beginning. It marks a long road ahead, with research and action, fueled by curiosity and perseverance.”

This year, the majority of TAU’s ERC grant recipients are female. How do you feel about that?

“I am happy for all the recipients and look forward to future updates on their research and results. I am eager to see more women in senior positions at Israeli universities, both in academic and administrational positions. I would also like to see a more diverse academia in terms of gender, religion, ethnicity, first-generation academics and more. We still have a long way to go in this respect.”

Do you have a personal message for young female researchers at the beginning of their career?

“To win a grant, you first need to submit. For me, it has been helpful to filter out fears and hesitations and focus on what interests and excites me research-wise. It is also important to bear in mind that behind most such achievements are at least twice as many failures – and these don’t tend to make the headlines.”

 

Prof. Miri Yemini

Prof. Limor Landsman | The Cell and Developmental Biology Department of TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine

Landsman researches the function of beta cells, cells that regulate insulin production, crucial for blood sugar control and for the prevention of diabetes. Her team studies how beta-cell function and mass are established and maintained in healthy individuals and why they are lost in instances of diabetes.

How did you feel when you heard that you won the grant?

“I felt happy and proud, but most of all relieved that my lab will be funded in the coming years, so that I can continue to advance our research in a direction that I believe will lead to new insights into diabetes.”

This year, most TAU’s ERC grant recipients are female. How do you feel about that?

“I am proud to be part of an academic institution that advocates excellence, of both women and men.”
 

Do you have a personal message for young female researchers at the beginning of their career?

“What I like about research is that nothing is known in advance, for better and for worse. That’s why I think it’s important not to be afraid to try, even if the chances are low. Did it work? Great! If it didn’t – allow yourself to be upset for a day or two and then dust if off and try a different direction.” 

 

Prof. Limor Landsman

 

Prof. Hila Shamir | Tel Aviv University – The Buchmann Faculty of Law

Shamir teaches and researches Employment, Labor, Immigration, and Welfare Law with a focus on issues of human trafficking, gender equality, informal work, and the law of global value chains. She is a second time ERC grant winner, and as part of her first ERC grant, she established the research group TraffLab: Labor Perspective to Human Trafficking.

In her current research, Shamir examines efforts to promote workers’ rights in global supply and production chains.

How did you feel when you heard that you’d be awarded the grant?

“I was very excited. This is the second time I receive an ERC grant, and I assumed that my chances were low as a result. So, the surprise of receiving the grant this year was great. I also feel an accompanying weight of responsibility and the desire to ensure efficient use of such a significant amount.”

This year, most of TAU’s ERC grant recipients are female. How do you feel about that?

“Very happy and not at all surprised. There are wonderful female researchers in the Israeli academia, and it is great to see their work receiving international recognition.”

Do you have a personal message for young female researchers at the beginning of their career?

“Don’t be afraid to submit a grant application, even if it may seem intimidating initially. Do invest some time on the submission, as a grant of this scale has the potential to greatly change the way we conduct research: it makes it possible to build a large research group; secure funding for researchers at the beginning of their career and enables significant research scope with a correspondingly strong potential to influence. Even if you should not end up winning, the attempt to think big and imagine research on such a scale is valuable in and by itself and could bear fruits further down the line. Good luck!”

 

Prof. Hila Shamir

We wish our female rockstars congrats and good luck with their current research!


 Established in 2007 and annually awarded by the European Union, the ERC research grant is considered one of the most prestigious and important ones in the world of science. The four main types of ERC grants are: ERC Starting Grant, ERC Consolidator Grant, ERC Advanced Grant and the ERC Synergy Grant.

Declaration of the Tel Aviv University Senate Regarding the Violation of Israeli Democracy

“We call upon the government of Israel and the Knesset to halt legislation that fundamentally alters the democratic system of governance in Israel.”

Issued on March 1st, 2023

Since its founding, Tel Aviv University has upheld the core principles of academic excellence, improving Israeli society, and nurturing critical and creative thinking. We, the members of the Tel Aviv University Senate, are committed to the foundational values of the State of Israel as they were put forth in the Declaration of Independence, including fostering the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants, adhering to the foundations of freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel, ensuring the complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex, and guaranteeing freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture. Like other leading academic institutions around the world, the academic community at Tel Aviv University is committed to freedom of thought and expression, recognizing that these principles are the necessary conditions for research, academic thought, innovation, and scientific achievements.

In the past weeks it has become increasingly clear that these foundational values have been put in real and immediate danger by the accelerating legislative moves led by the current government coalition. The violations should concern every Israeli citizen who aspires to live in a free and democratic society.  We are adamantly opposed to any and all steps that would change the very basis of Israel’s system of governance.

The legislative measures led by the coalition go against the opinions and positions expressed by thousands of experts in Israel and worldwide, including Nobel Prize laureates, legal scholars, economists, and public intellectuals, who have stated in clear and unequivocal terms the dangers that will result from such legislation, and the real damages that Israel will likely suffer due to the legislative measures and their attending processes.

We are deeply concerned as well that these unprecedented attacks on the judicial branch are not the endpoint, but rather the preface to violations of other institutions including civil service, free media, and academia.  The legislative proposal to displace control over the National Library, which has long rested with academic experts, to the rule of political appointees, is an explicit example of inappropriate political intervention in academia, that threatens both autonomy in academic content, and research independence crucial to academic freedom.  The essential tasks of academia cannot, and must not, be conducted under political control.

­­­We call upon the government of Israel and the Knesset to halt legislation that fundamentally alters the democratic system of governance in Israel. We call upon the government of Israel to heed the voices of mass protests coming from all parts of the country and all sectors of Israeli society, and not to promote the destructive processes that are currently taking place. We call upon the government to stop legislation intended to fundamentally harm the autonomy of the legal system and to bring to a halt the dangerous trends of the past few weeks, which subvert the values of democracy, exclude populations and minorities, and lead the State of Israel into a disastrous abyss.

We are determined to struggle to preserve and protect the essential character of the State of Israel, for the autonomy of the legal system, and for the freedom of expression and research, and to take all action necessary, using all tools at our disposal permitted by law, to protect Israeli democracy and the rights of minorities.

New Snake Family Identified

As far as researchers are aware the Micrelapidae family includes only three species, one in Israel and neighboring countries, and two in East Africa.

An extensive international study identified a new family of snakes: Micrelapidae. According to the researchers, Micrelaps, small snakes usually with black and yellow rings, diverged from the rest of the evolutionary tree of snakes about 50 million years ago. As far as they know, the new family includes only three species, one in Israel and neighboring countries, and two in East Africa.

 

“Today we tend to assume that most large groups of animals, such as families, are already known to science, but sometimes we still encounter surprises, and this is what happened with Micrelapid snakes.” Prof. Shai Meiri

 

Exploring the Micrelaps’ Family Tree

The study was conducted by Prof. Shai Meiri of TAU’s School of Zoology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, and of The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History Museum, as well as researchers from Finland, the USA, Belgium, Madagascar, Hong Kong, and Israel. The paper was published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

“Today we tend to assume that most large groups of animals, such as families, are already known to science, but sometimes we still encounter surprises, and this is what happened with Micrelapid snakes,” explains Prof Meiri.

“For years, they were considered members of the largest snake family, the Colubridae, but multiple DNA tests conducted over the last decade contradicted this classification. Since then, snake researchers around the world have tried to discover which family these snakes belong to – to no avail. In this study we joined the scientific effort.”

The researchers used micro-CT technology – high-resolution magnetic imaging, to examine the snake’s morphology, focusing specifically on the skull. In addition, they applied methods of deep genomic sequencing – examining about 4,500 ultra-conserved elements, namely regions in the genome that take millions of years to exhibit any change.

Prof. Meiri explains that “in addition to the DNA of Micrelaps, we sampled DNA from various snake groups to which they might have belonged. This way, we discovered some unique genomic elements in Micrelaps, which were not found in any of the other groups.”

 

Prof. Shai Meiri

 

“Even through these snakes have been known for decades, they were mistakenly included in other families for many years.” Prof. Shai Meiri

 

Family Relocation

According to the researchers their findings indicate that Micrelaps diverged from the rest of the evolutionary tree of snakes about 50 million years ago. Since then, these snakes have evolved independently, as a distinct and separate family.

Apparently, this is a very small family, including only three species: two in Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, and one in Israel and nearby regions (northern Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, southern Syria, and southern Lebanon). The geographic dispersion suggests that these snakes probably originated in Africa, and then, at some point in their history, some of them made their way north through the Great Rift Valley.

“In this study we were able to associate a new snake family – the Micrelapidae. Even through these snakes have been known for decades, they were mistakenly included in other families for many years. Since most animals have already been classified into well-defined families, such a discovery of a new family is quite a rare occurrence in modern science,” concludes Prof. Meiri.   

Featured image: Small with black and yellow rings, some 50 million years old. Meet the Micrelaps snake (photo: Alex Sablenco )

Breaking Glass Ceilings

Tel Aviv University alumna, Israela Tadela Baruch, launches project to empower Israeli women of Ethiopian descent.

“We are here to reach the forums where significant decisions are made that affect our daily lives and those of our children.”

This is an excerpt from a Facebook post from November 2nd 2022 that launched the “Tzahai” project (“light beam” in Amharic), initiated by Israela Tadela Baruch, an MA graduate in Public Policy at Tel Aviv University’s Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, who also has experience in communications and from the social sector. 

A New Direction

“As a mother of a toddler and with another one on the way, and after seven years of working in the field of communication, I encountered adversity where I least expected them: from women at a managerial level. That made me realize that if I want to succeed, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. I decided to take an independent path and pursue my passion for meaningful public engagement in a field close to my heart.”

 

 “I wanted a new direction – for us to be able to connect, not as women seeking help, but from a place of strength and power.”  Israela Tadela Baruch

 

Israela took part in an accelerator for social entrepreneurship through the World Zionist Organization and won an ‘outstanding enterprise’ grant. “I wanted to create a program to develop leadership skills among women from the Ethiopian community,” she explains. “That would equip them with the tools they need in order to enter Israeli politics and contribute to decision making. To add more nuance to Israel’s political landscape. I know women who have what it takes to execute public action, be it on local or national level.”

A group photo from the Tzahai group’s second meeting, where the women engaged in a fascinating discussion about politics, regime and social boundaries with political science expert, Dr. Hani Zubida (photo: from Tzahai’s Facebook page)

Israela mapped out all the existing organizations for Ethiopian women and found that they all dealt in the field of welfare. “I wanted a new direction – for us to be able to connect, not as women seeking help, but from a place of strength and power.”

Breaking Glass Ceilings

Prof. Itai Sened, the Dean of TAU’s Faculty of Social Sciences recognized the potential of Israela’s project, and encouraged her. She used connections she made in previous workplaces and managed to form a very diverse group, which included women at different stages of their professional lives from all over Israel.

Practically all of the women she gathered were full-time working mothers. They still found time to meet once every two weeks for Israela’s leadership program.

 

Women attending the program (photo: from Tzahai’s Facebook page)

“I wanted the women to meet a wide variety of influential and inspiring individuals, both women and men. This could help them expand their public activities and enable them to create impactful women’s networks of their own – and new social initiatives for the [Ethiopian] community. It was important for me to equip them with skills such as building arguments and public speaking. “

The program covered a wide array of topics: politics and gender; ethnicity; economic status; feminism; introduction to local government and social networks. The list also included a storytelling workshop and meetings with Ethiopians from Israeli media.

Soon the group will be heading to the Knesset, where they will meet with Pnina Tamano-Shata, another graduate from TAU’s Department of Public Policy, the Chair of the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality.

 

“When my own two girls grow up, I would like female integration into political and social life to be a given. Today, for women in general and Ethiopian women in Israel in particular, it is hard to aspire to become politicians. I would like to change that.”  Israela Tadela Baruch

 

A Beam of Light

14 women participated in the first instalment, which took place in the University’s Social Sciences’ Naftali building. “We chose to call this program Tzahai, or ‘Beam of Light’ in Amharic,” says Israela. “When my own two girls grow up, I would like female integration into political and social life to be a given. Today, for women in general and Ethiopian women in Israel in particular, it is hard to aspire to become politicians. I would like to change that.”  

The second instalment of the Tzahai program will begin in October 2023. “There is no doubt that all the elections in the last five years and the lack of a stable government have resulted in some women realizing that they should be at the forefront. I can proudly say that a number of women from the pilot plan to run for local elections in 2023, using the skillset and network they’ve acquired,” says Israela.

She says that the education she received at Tel Aviv University contributed a lot to the project: “I participated in Dr. Yossi Boles’ elective course ‘Social Entrepreneurs in the Public Sector’, where I learned valuable insights. I also met women from different fields of interest who broadened my horizons. The icing on the cake is Prof. Itai Sened who supported, accompanied, advised – and most importantly believed in me.”

Israela’s message to social entrepreneurs who want to realize their ideas: “Don’t hesitate, believe in your idea, and do not wait for the right time to realize your dreams because that time is already yesterday.

 

“We are here to reach the forums where significant decisions are made that affect our daily lives and those of our children.” (photo: from Tzahai’s Facebook page)

Want to learn more?

Email: [email protected]

Follow the group on Facebook

Munich Philharmonic Names Lahav Shani its Next Chief Conductor

The 34-year-old Israeli musician and Tel Aviv University alumnus adds another top-notch orchestra to his portfolio.

Lahav Shani, Music Director with the Israel Philharmonic since 2020 and alumnus of Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, will take over as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, a leading German and international orchestra, starting September 2026.

The announcement was made last week by the mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter, who underscored the freshness Shani would bring to the orchestra as one of the youngest chief conductors in the ensemble’s history: “Lahav Shani is a perfect fit for the Munich Philharmonic. The city orchestra, with its tradition and renown, has been rejuvenated and is awakening a new excitement for classical music,” Reiter said.

Shani’s appointment was decided by the Munich City Council on the recommendation of the orchestra. He was present in the southern German city to sign the contract. “I met the orchestra just last year for the first time, and the relationship was immediately very strong, which is very promising (…) I’m looking forward to the coming years,” he said in a video which was posted on his own Instagram account, as well as on the Munich Philharmonic’s Twitter account following the signing.

Shani will continue his role at the Israel Philharmonic, and will be conducting both orchestras once he steps into his new role. 

Researchers Discover Mechanism that Facilitates Formation of Brain Metastases

Findings could help predict metastatic recurrence in the brain and a worse prognosis.

Brain metastases are one of the deadliest forms of cancer metastasis, with grave survival rates of less than one year in many cases. The incidence of brain metastases has been increasing in recent years and developing better therapeutic strategies for brain metastasis is an urgent need. In a new study from Tel Aviv University, researchers identified and characterized a new mechanism that facilitates the formation of brain metastases and found that impairing this mechanism significantly reduced the development of brain metastases in lab models.

 

“The findings establish LCN2 as a new prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target.” Prof. Neta Erez

 

On the Radar: LCN2

The research was led by Prof. Neta Erez, head of the laboratory for the biology of tumors from the Department of Pathology at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, and members of her team: Omer Adler, Yael Zeit, and Noam Cohen, in collaboration with Prof. Shlomit Yust Katz from Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson Hospital) and Prof. Tobias Pukrop from Regensburg Hospital, Germany. The study was supported by the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the Cancer Biology Research Center at Tel Aviv University, the Personalized Medicine Program of the Israel Science Foundation (ISF IPMP) and the German Cancer Research Foundation (DFG), and was published in the journal Nature Cancer.

In this new study, the researchers show that Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) [a protein which in humans is encoded by the LCN2 gene] is a key factor in inducing neuroinflammation in the brain. Moreover, the researchers found that high LCN2 levels in patients’ blood and brain metastases from several types of cancer are associated with disease progression and reduced survival.

LCN2 is a secreted protein that functions in the innate immune system and was originally discovered due to its ability to bind iron molecules and as part of the inflammatory process in fighting bacterial infection. LCN2 is produced by a large variety of cells and was shown to be involved in multiple cancer-related processes.

“Our findings reveal a previously unknown mechanism, mediated by LCN2, which reveals a central role for the mutual interactions between immune cells recruited to the brain (granulocytes) and brain glial cells (astrocytes) in promoting inflammation and in the formation of brain metastases. The findings establish LCN2 as a new prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target,” says Prof. Neta Erez.

 

“In blood and tissue samples from patients with brain metastases from three types of cancer, blood LCN2 levels were correlated with disease progression and with shorter survival, which positions LCN2 as a potential prognostic marker for brain metastases.” Prof. Neta Erez

 

LCN2 as a Predictive Marker for Brain Metastases

The researchers used models of melanoma and breast cancer brain metastases to reveal the mechanism by which neuroinflammation is activated in the metastatic niche in the brain.

“We show that signals secreted into the blood from the primary tumor stimulate pro-inflammatory activation of astrocytes in the brain. The astrocytes promote the recruitment of inflammatory cells from the bone marrow (granulocytes) into the brain, and they in turn become a main source of signaling by LCN2,” explains Prof. Erez.

“We demonstrated the importance of LCN2 for the development of metastases by genetically inhibiting its expression in mice, which resulted in a significant decrease in neuroinflammation and reduced brain metastases. Moreover, in blood and tissue samples from patients with brain metastases from three types of cancer, blood LCN2 levels were correlated with disease progression and with shorter survival, which positions LCN2 as a potential prognostic marker for brain metastases.”

Prof. Erez adds: “We analyzed the LCN2 protein levels in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of mice with brain metastases and found that LCN2 levels increased greatly in mice with melanoma and breast cancer metastases compared to healthy mice. Importantly – an increase in blood LCN2 preceded the detection of brain metastases by MRI. Furthermore, the mice in which LCN2 levels were very high developed brain metastases later, further establishing LCN2 as a predictive marker for brain metastases.”

The researchers also examined whether LCN2 is elevated in the blood of melanoma patients at the time of initial diagnosis, and whether it can be a prognostic factor. The findings indicated that patients with melanoma had significantly higher levels of LCN2 in their blood compared to samples from healthy individuals. Strikingly, patients who developed brain metastases displayed significantly higher levels of LCN2 even before the diagnosis of the metastases, and high levels of LCN2 in the blood correlated with worse survival.

“We have identified a new mechanism in which LCN2 mediates the communication between immune cells from the bone marrow and supporting cells in the brain, activates inflammatory mechanisms and thus helps the progression of metastatic disease in the brain, and demonstrated its importance. The functional and prognostic aspects of LCN2 that we have identified in brain metastases in mouse models as well as in cancer patients suggest that targeting LCN2 may be an effective therapeutic strategy to delay or prevent the recurrence of brain metastases,” summarizes Prof. Erez.

Travelling exhibition displayed for the first time in Israel

The Rosenberg – The German Federal Ministry of Justice in the Shadow of the Nazi Past.

In 2012, the German Federal Ministry of Justice tasked an independent academic commission with investigating the Ministry’s national-socialist past during the early years of the newly founded Federal Republic of Germany. The commission was given unrestricted access to the Ministry‘s files. In 2016/17, the commission published its concluding report in a book titled “The Rosenburg Files” (following World War II the Ministry’s offices were in the Rosenburg Castle in Bonn), which generated considerable interest among the German public and was widely covered in the media. 

The results were also made available to a wider audience through an illuminating and memorable travelling exhibition, now being displayed for the first time in Israel. 

Ministry of Justice Faces Up to its Past

The findings of the report cast a dark shadow on the first decades in the history of the Federal Ministry of Justice. Numerous members of the Ministry‘s executive staff had been involved in the power apparatus of the “Third Reich”: Of the 170 lawyers who held senior positions in the Ministry between 1949-1973, 90 had been members of the Nazi Party and 34 of the SA [short for ‘Sturmabteilung’ in German, the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party). This had far-reaching consequences with regard to the Federal Republic’s dealing with the aftermath of Nazism: Nazi laws were corrected only in a superficial manner, there was ongoing discrimination against former victims, and the prosecution of Nazi criminals was thwarted.

 

From the Rosenburg Exhibition at Tel Aviv University

Today, the German Federal Ministry of Justice is facing up to its history: The report from 2016/17 did not mark the end of the Rosenburg Project – the results have since been made available to a wider audience with an illuminating and memorable travelling exhibition, which seeks to raise awareness among a large audience of the historical injustice that took place post World War II at the hands of the Ministry itself. The exhibition, which seeks to shine light on what was previously in the shadows, has already been displayed in Germany, Poland and the USA and is now being displayed for the first time in Israel, coordinated by Minerva Center for Human Rights at Tel Aviv University.

The exhibition opening for “The Rosenburg – The Federal Ministry of Justice in the Shadow of the Nazi Past” took place at The Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University on February 20, 2023, in the presence of Dr. Marco Buschmann, German Federal Minister of Justice. Greetings were held by Prof. Yishai Blank, Dean, Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University, and Prof. Yoram Danziger, Justice (ret.) of the Supreme Court of Israel. The introductory lecture was held by Prof. Roni Stauber, Director of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University. 

Visit the Exhibition

Visit the exhibition at the University’s Buchmann Faculty of Law & the David J. Light Law Library in the Trubowicz Building from February 20th, 2023 through May 14th, 2023.

Featured image: From the exhibition opening. Left to right: Steffen Seibert, German Ambassador to Israel, Prof. Yishai Blank, Dean Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University, Prof. Mark Shtaif Rector of Tel Aviv University & Dr. Marco Buschmann, German Federal Minister of Justice (Photo: Yael Zur, Tel Aviv University)(Photo Credit: TAU)

Dan David Prize Announces 2023 Winners

Nine emerging historians, archaeologists, curators and digital humanists will each receive $300,000 USD, in recognition of their breakthrough achievements in the study of the past.

The Dan David Prize, the largest history prize in the world, today announced its 2023 winners – nine emerging scholars and practitioners, whose work illuminates the past in bold and creative ways. Each of the winners – who work in Kenya, Ireland, Denmark, Israel, Canada and the United States – will receive $300,000 (USD) in recognition of their achievements and to support their future endeavors.

“Our winners represent the new generation of historians,” said Ariel David, board member of the Prize and son of the founder. “They are changing our understanding of the past by asking new questions, targeting under-researched topics and using innovative methods. Many of the winners we are recognizing today are still in the early stages of their careers, but they have already challenged how we think about history. Understanding the past, in all its complexity, is critical to illuminating the present and confronting the challenges of the future.”

The 2023 winners are listed below:

Saheed Aderinto (Photo: JC Photography, Miami)

Prof. Saheed Aderinto from Florida International University uses unusual lenses such as sexuality, guns, animals and music to reexamine colonial identity and subjecthood in modern Africa, with a particular focus on Nigeria (photo: JC Photography, Miami).

Ana Antic (photo: Zarko Ivetic)

Prof. Ana Antic from the University of Copenhagen is a social and cultural historian whose research focuses on the relationship between politics, violence and psychiatry in twentieth century Europe, as well as the decolonisation of psychiatric practices and concepts (photo: Zarko Ivetic).

Karma Ben Johanan (photo: Avigail Piperno-Beer)

Karma Ben Johanan, a senior lecturer from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, looks at the relationships between different religious traditions, most recently working on how the Catholic Church responded to Jews after the reconciliation attempts of Vatican II, and how orthodox Jewish thinkers have responded to the same developments (photo: Avigail Piperno-Beer)

Elise Burton (photo courtesy of Elise Burton)

Asst. Prof. Elise Burton from University of Toronto is a historian of science, race and nationalism in the modern Middle East, focusing on the history of genetics, physical anthropology, evolutionary biology and biomedicine (photo: courtesy of Elise Burton).

Adam Clulow: Photo courtesy of Adam Clulow

Prof. Adam Clulow from University of Texas at Austin is a global historian who reassesses power relations between Europe and East Asia, and uses video games and VR to make history accessible to both students and the wider public (photo: courtesy of Adam Clulow).

Krista Goff: Courtesy of Krista Goff

Asst. Prof. Krista Goff from University of Miami uses oral history and everyday sources to understand the experiences of understudied ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union, especially those not recognized as nationalities by the state (photo: Courtesy of Krista Goff). 

Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers. Photo: Lily Cummings McCubbin

Prof. Stephanie Jones-Rogers explores women’s social, economic and legal relationships to enslaved people and to the slave trade in the trans-Atlantic world (photo: Lily Cummings McCubbin).

Anita Radini: Photo courtesy of Anita Radini

Asst. Prof. Anita Radini from University College, Dublin, is an “archaeologist of dirt” who analyzes the tiny remains of dust that collect in dental plaque, and uses them to learn about the work lives and environments of people in the past (photo: courtesty of Anita Radini).

Chao Tayiana Maina (photo: Lyra Aoko)

Chao Tayiana Maina is a public historian who uses digital technologies (she is the founder of African Digital Heritage) to capture and preserve previously hidden or suppressed historical narratives in Kenya, enabling communities to engage with their cultural heritage (photo: Lyra Aoko).

 

“We all share a past. We all shape the future”

“Insights about the past should circulate through every part of every community,” said Prof. Aviad Kleinberg, historian and Dan David Prize board member. “We all share a past. We all shape the future. Knowledge of the past – historical, not mythological – belongs to everyone. A culture that does not understand its past is like an individual with acute amnesia. Amnesia makes one bear the past’s consequences without awareness of it and without the power to escape it.”

The winners were selected from hundreds of nominations submitted by colleagues, institutions and the general public in an open nomination process. The finalists were chosen by a global committee of experts that changes annually. This year’s committee members were affiliated with a range of institutions including the universities of Cambridge, Paris, Pennsylvania and Seville. A full list of the 2023 committee is available here.

The Dan David Prize, endowed by the Dan David Foundation and headquartered at Tel Aviv University, was first established in 2001 by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Dan David, to reward innovative and interdisciplinary work that contributed to humanity. In 2021, the Prize was relaunched with a focus on historical research, honoring the founder’s passion for history and archaeology. Today, the Prize rewards emerging scholars, aiming to help both academics and public historians fulfill their potential at a time when support for the humanities is dwindling.

The nine 2023 winners will be honored at the Dan David Prize Award Ceremony in Tel Aviv in May.

About the Dan David Prize

The Dan David Prize is the largest history prize in the world. Dan David, the founder of the Prize, believed that knowledge of the past enriches us and helps us grapple with the challenges of the present, and is a foundation for reimagining our collective future. At a time of diminishing support for the humanities, the Prize celebrates the next generation of outstanding historians, archaeologists, curators and digital humanists. Each year, up to nine researchers are awarded $300,000 each in recognition of their achievements and to support their future endeavors.

To learn more about Dan David, the Prize and the 2023 winners, visit www.dandavidprize.org.

Prestigious Grant from the European Innovation Council Awarded to Tel Aviv University’s Research Team

Dr. Iftach Nachman from the Faculty of Life Sciences leads the Israeli research team, as part of an international consortium.

The European Innovation Council Pathfinder Challenges program announced a 4.95M Euro funding to an international consortium from six countries. Dr. Iftach Nachman from the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry & Biophysics at The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University leads the Israeli research team. The funding is given to an international consortium for the development of the Supervised Morphogenesis in Gastruloids (SUMO) project.

As part of the SUMO project, the researchers develop embryo like models (called ‘gastruloids’) based on pluripotent stem cells, to mimic cardiac and gastric tissues. With the help of advanced microscopy and machine learning, the consortium aims to make the gastruloids more robust and reproducible. The researchers hope that those models could be implemented in drug scanning and study of mutations in the future, and thus be a viable substitute to the use of lab animals.

Dr. Iftach Nachman: “In recent years the research field of embryonic models is seeing a huge boost. One of the main problems with growing such in-vitro stem-cell based models (and organoids in general) is the great variability between the different samples. We need to learn how to tame and control this variability to realize the promise of those models to the fields of medicine and basic science. This grant will enable us to deepen the scope of the research in this field.”

The SUMO consortium unites researchers from the University Hospital Oslo, Norway (HTH director: Stefan Krauss, coordinator), Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) (Jesse Veenvliet), Imperial College London, UK (HTH PI: Molly Stevens), University of Glasgow, UK (HTH PI: Nikolaj Gadegaard), Tel Aviv University, Israel (Iftach Nachman), Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Germany (Jens von Kries) and University of Oslo (HTH PI: Jan Helge Solbakk). 

 

European Innovation Council - Funded by the European Union

Prof. Dan Peer Appointed as Member of the Prestigious American National Academy of Engineering

In recognition of his groundbreaking research developing unique strategies for delivering RNA molecules.

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the three National Academies in the USA (Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering), has announced the appointment of Prof. Dan Peer from Tel Aviv University, currently TAU’s VP R&D and Head of the Nanomedicine Lab at The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and from The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, as Member of the Academy, in recognition of his groundbreaking research developing unique strategies for delivering RNA molecules.

Prof. Peer is a trailblazing scientist and pioneer in developing RNA-based molecular drugs for a wide range of diseases, including inflammatory bowel diseases; blood, brain, and ovarian cancers; and rare genetic diseases.

He also investigates the use of RNA molecules as vaccines for viral diseases and develops nano-scale drug carriers that can target specific cells selectively. Among his landmark achievements: Prof. Peer and his lab were first in the world to demonstrate a process for production of medicinal proteins by RNA molecules in animals, as well as use of short RNA to silence genes in immune cells, and gene editing by means of nanoparticles that target specific cells when injected into the bloodstream.

In addition to his innovative research, Prof. Peer serves in several leading positions: TAU’s VP R&D, Chair of Ramot – the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University, and Chair of TAU Ventures. Prof. Peer is also a member of the American Society for Cell Biology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Over the years he has contributed to many inventions (over 130 patents filed), commercialized through several companies, and established startups in Israel, the UK, and the USA.

Featured image: Prof. Dan Peer (Photo Credit: TAU)

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