Dear Friends,
It is with tremendous pride and excitement that I share the news that Tel Aviv University (TAU) has been ranked the number one university in Israel and #116 in the world by the prestigious National Taiwan University (NTU), which ranks the 874 top global universities. Rankings are based on the number of academic publications and citations, alongside indexes of research excellence. Additionally, the Faculty of Medicine was ranked #92, up from #98 in last year’s ranking, and TAU's George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences ranked #108 in the world, five places higher than last year's #113. The top tier teaching and research is made possible with your support. We thank you for partnering in TAU's quest for excellence.
News about Covid continues to dominate headlines worldwide. Researchers at Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience have developed an oxygen treatment that has proven effective in treating long-term Covid symptoms. The team exposed patients to intensive Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and found significant improvement in cognitive, neurological, and psychiatric functions. Specifically, patients showed improvement in global cognitive function, attention, executive functions, had more energy, slept better, and had less body pain, among other symptoms. Long Covid affects up to 30% of patients, and this new study offers hope to millions of those suffering.
A new study from Professor Carmit Levy's lab showed that sun exposure increases men's appetites but not women's. The findings indicate that, in males, sun exposure activates a protein called p53 that signals the body to produce a hormone that stimulates the appetite. In females, the hormone estrogen blocks the interaction between p53 and the hormone and does not stimulate the urge to eat after being in the sun. The study encourages more research into therapies for metabolic diseases and appetite disorders.
If you are in Israel and visiting campus, I encourage you to spend time at the ANU Museum of the Jewish People. ANU has extensive interactive exhibits that explore all aspects and contributions of the story of the Jewish people. And while walking around TAU, include a stop at the Cymbalista Synagogue in the middle of campus. The Synagogue was recently designated a protected "heritage site" by the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel and is the youngest building in Israel to have received this designation. Completed in 1998, the building features two spiraling towers, meant to evoke a Torah scroll.
I conclude this letter with news of new leadership at Tel Aviv University. Wishing a hearty mazel tov and congratulations to Professor Dan Amiram, CPA, who has begun his tenure as Dean of the Coller School of Management, and Professor Noam Eliaz, Dean of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering. Professor Amiram's areas of expertise and research are capital markets, banks, and other financial institutions. His research shows how information, taxation, and economic laws play a key role in the decision-making processes of investors, managers, and financial institutions. Professor Eliaz is the founder of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at TAU. Products from his research are being used in defense organizations and implant companies.
Enjoy the rest of the summer. Wishing you a shabbat shalom.
Jennifer Gross Chief Executive Officer
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