It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our dear colleague and a cherished friend, Professor Moshe Kotler.

Professor Kotler devoted himself tirelessly to the pursuit of knowledge and research, leaving an indelible mark on our department and the field at large.
In a final act of generosity, Professor Kotler has chosen to contribute his body to science, continuing to inspire advancement even in his absence.

To honor his memory and offer condolences, you are invited to visit the family at the Dror Street 57, Mevaseret Zion, from Sunday to Thursday, 11th to 15th February 2024, between 4 PM and 8 PM.

It is with a profound sadness that the Lautenberg Center announces the passing of SFC Amichai Israel Yehoshua Oster, the brother of our department's Sara Oster.

The funeral will take place today, Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024, at 13:30 at the Karnei Shomron cemetery.

The family will sit Shiva on 8 Mish'ol HaYasmin Street, Karnei Shomron, and will accept visitors between 09:00-14:00 and 16:00-21:00.

We send our heartfelt condolences to Sara and embrace her and her family in these difficult time. May his memory be a blessing.

The Lautenberg Center extends its condolences to Yifat Ovadia of Enco Company for the loss of her son, Sgt. Ido Ovadia, who tragically lost his life during combat in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. Yifat fondly remembers Ido as a bright, compassionate, sociable, and affectionate young man. He was cherished by his friends and had a passion for playing tennis and basketball. Ido had aspired to become a combat soldier since his early high school years. He underwent and completed succesfuly special training for military service before entering the army. The funeral took place on Thursday, November 2. The family is currently sitting shiv'ah at their home at 14 Leah Goldberg Street, Tel Aviv.

The Lautenberg Center stands in solidarity with the brave IDF soldiers, dedicated security forces, and the citizens of the southern region who are confronting a severe and unprecedented terrorist threat. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of this violence. We wish a speedy recovery to the injured and pray for the safe return of all those who have been kidnapped, taken hostage, or are currently missing. The Lautenberg Center is actively supporting the residents of the south and the IDF soldiers through donations of coats and mobile chargers. We hold hope for brighter days ahead.

Congratulations to Dr. Yotam Drier and his former MSc. student Yahel Yedidya for their article published in PLoS Computational Biology!

The researchers revealed how SARS-CoV-2 infection perturbs enhancer-mediated regulation in lung alveolar cells to drive key pathways that support disease progression, including Wnt signaling, MAPK signaling and cell adhesion. In particular, they focus on the transcription factor WT1 and show its disruption by SARS-CoV-2 plays an important role in these perturbed transcriptional networks.

The Faculty of Medicine and the Department of Immunology and Cancer Research sadly announce the passing of Prof. Dov Bernard Solizeanou z”l.

He kindly donated his body to science, and therefore, no funeral will be held.

The Shiva will be in the family home on Orvani St. 1, Zichron Yaakov (Floor 5, Apartment 19), on Friday (11-16), Saturday (16-20), and Sunday-Tuesday (10-20).

Emails for condolences:
Oritsulitz@gmail.com or Anatsulke@gmail.com

הפקולטה לרפואה, המחלקה לאימונולוגיה וחקר הסרטן, מודיעים בצער רב על פטירתו של פרופ’ דב ברנרד סוליציאנו ז”ל.

 

תרם גופתו למדע (לא תתקיים לוויה).

 

יושבים שבעה בבית המנוח, רחוב העורבני 1 קומה 5, דירה 19 זכרון יעקב

שישי: 11-16, שבת: 16-20, א’-ג’: 10-20.

 

כתובת מייל למשלוח תנחומים:

oritsulitz@gmail.com או anatsulke@gmail.com

Congratulations to Dr. Yotam Drier for receiving the ICRF Acceleration Grant

Dr. Yotam Drier, in collaboration with Dr. Michal Rabani from the Silberman Institute of Life Science in the Hebrew University, received a grant from the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF). Together they will study the role of changes in enhancer RNA methylation in glioma, cholangiocarcinoma, and gastric cancer.

The 2023 Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research is given to Dr. Yotam Drier

Congratulations to Dr. Yotam Drier on receiving the prestigious Krill Prize for his outstanding contributions to scientific research.
The Krill Prize is awarded to outstanding academic faculty members and promising researchers from research universities in Israel who have demonstrated significant research breakthroughs and who are expected to lead research and academia in Israel in the future in the fields of exact sciences, life sciences, and medicine, engineering, and agriculture.

Congratulations to Prof. Moshe Kotler for his 2 studies published in The FEBS Journal!

In the first study, the researchers found that the protein APOBEC3G (A3G) helps repair DNA double-strand breaks and can even rescue mice from lethal doses of radiation. This protein is also involved in nucleotide excision repair and homologous recombination DNA repair pathways. These findings suggest that inhibiting A3G could increase the sensitivity of tumor cells to genotoxic treatments.

To the article–>

In the second study, transgenic mice expressing A3G were able to survive lethal doses of radiation, while wild-type mice did not. A3G was also found to promote error-free repair of DNA damage. These findings have important implications for cancer treatment – inhibiting A3G may make genotoxic therapies more effective, while increasing A3G activity may help protect against radiation exposure.

To the article–>

Models for participation of A3G in DNA damage repair. (A) (DNA) double-strand break repair pathways. (B) UV-damage repair: (B1) GG-NER; (B2) transcription-coupled UV damage repair; (B3) topoisomerase I-mediated NER-independent UV damage repair.

The 2023 Rappaport Prize is given to Prof. Eli Pikarsky

We are thrilled to extend our warmest congratulations to Prof. Eli Pikarsky for being awarded the highly esteemed 2023 Rappaport Prize. This award is a testament to Prof. Pikarsky’s outstanding contributions to the research of inflammation and hepatocellular carcinoma, which have garnered worldwide recognition.
The Rappaport Prize, awarded biennially by the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, recognizes individuals who have made exceptional advances in biomedical research. Prof. Pikarsky’s work on the link between inflammation and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma has significantly contributed to our understanding of the mechanisms behind cancer development and has opened up new avenues for therapeutic interventions.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Pikarsky for this well-deserved recognition of his achievements, and we look forward to seeing his continued contributions to the field of biomedical research.

Congratulations to Prof. Moshe Kotler for his 2 studies published in The FEBS Journal!

In the first study, the researchers found that the protein APOBEC3G (A3G) helps repair DNA double-strand breaks and can even rescue mice from lethal doses of radiation. This protein is also involved in nucleotide excision repair and homologous recombination DNA repair pathways. These findings suggest that inhibiting A3G could increase the sensitivity of tumor cells to genotoxic treatments.

To the article–>

In the second study, transgenic mice expressing A3G were able to survive lethal doses of radiation, while wild-type mice did not. A3G was also found to promote error-free repair of DNA damage. These findings have important implications for cancer treatment – inhibiting A3G may make genotoxic therapies more effective, while increasing A3G activity may help protect against radiation exposure.

To the article–>

Models for participation of A3G in DNA damage repair. (A) (DNA) double-strand break repair pathways. (B) UV-damage repair: (B1) GG-NER; (B2) transcription-coupled UV damage repair; (B3) topoisomerase I-mediated NER-independent UV damage repair.

Congratulations to Professor Nir Friedman for receiving the prestigious Landau Prize from the Mifal HaPais Council for Culture and the Arts!

This award recognizes Professor Friedman’s exceptional contributions to the field of computational biology, particularly in the development of machine-learning techniques for analyzing human genomes in the medical field. His pioneering work, which has allowed for highly sensitive measurements of DNA fragments in blood samples and has been widely cited in scientific research, has helped pave the way in the emerging field of personalized medicine.

Congratulations to Prof. Rami Aqeilan and his former Ph.D. student Dr. Hussam Husanie for their article published in Cell Death and Disease!

In the article, the researchers found that the protein WWOX may play a key role in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer. When WWOX was deleted in mice, it led to the formation of precancerous lesions and pancreatic cancer. Overexpression of WWOX in human pancreatic cancer cells reduced their aggressiveness in both lab and animal studies. These findings suggest that WWOX may be a promising target for pancreatic cancer treatment and may lead to new and improved treatment modalities.

Fig. 1: Wwox deletion synergies with KrasG12D activation by accelerating neoplastic lesions formation. (A) Illustration of KWC mice generation, Ptf1a-CreER mice were crossed with Rosa26-LSL- tdTomato to generate WT mice. WT mice were crossed with Kras+/LSL-G12D mice to generate KC mice. KC mice were crossed with (Wwoxf/f) mice to generate either KWC or WC mice. (B) Immunofluorescence of tdTomato (magnification, ×40), immunostaining of WWOX and pERK respectively in KWC, and WT mice (magnification, ×20).

Congratulations to Prof. Michal Baniyash and her team for their articles published in Current Protocols in Immunology!

In the three articles, published back-to-back, the researchers specify the need to study chronic inflammation related immune suppression, and show how robust chronic inflammation can be performed in-vivo. They later elaborate on different methodologies to evaluate the related immune suppression using various in-vivo and ex-vivo immunological assays.

Figure 4: Immunofluorescence images showing the distribution of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) stained with the pan-MDSC marker Gr-1 (green) in the spleens of control (A) and inflamed (B) mice. Evident is the morphology of T (red) and B (orange) zones within the spleen and MDSCs surrounding these structures.

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