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** Please note that TAU's web site may be offline from time to time for security reasons due to the current situation in Israel. If this is the case when you try to access these links, please return to this email at a later date to try the links again.
Dear Friends,
I just returned from Washington, DC, where I attended an Israel Campus Coalition ICC/National Leadership Summit for 500 American pro-Israel students. On an uplifting note, I'm pleased to report that the future is in good hands. These young people are fighting on our front lines in our way, just as the young people of the IDF are fighting in Israel (not to put too fine a point on the analogy). Also, to date, Israel has won six medals at the Olympics. We have a lot to be proud of and thankful for.
In these tense and complicated times for both Israel and diaspora Jewry, our spirit of resilience and community is more profound than ever. What defines us is our values, what we stand for, what we represent to the world: democracy, rule of law, our institutions, who we are, and even how we fight. I am proud to be the Chairman of American Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU) because it gives me a direct connection to the people of Israel through one of its most important institutions of learning. Tel Aviv University (TAU) is an exemplar of higher education and free speech in these trying times. Through it all, education is proving to be the foundation of Israeli civil society. TAU contributes to both Israel and the world with its first-rate programs, life-saving research, and incredible student body — even under duress!
By supporting TAU you are part of helping to build Israel's future and to ensure that the innovation and progress to breakthroughs continue. For example, Professor Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, one of Israel's most renowned scientists, led a team in her lab who 3-D printed an entire active brain tumor for the first time ever. The scientific breakthrough will aid in the battle against cancer by allowing researchers to develop individualized cures for patients. Professor Satchi-Fainaro has taken her research and scientific findings to the next level with a newly-formed company, Selectin Therapeutics, Inc., and she is working in collaboration with scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City to develop nanoparticle technologies for pediatric brain cancer. In short, the research that started at TAU now has the potential to save children and eventually adults with brain cancer.
In Professor Oded Rechavi's lab in the Department of Neurobiology at the Sagol School of Neuroscience, he and a team are working on a cure for brain disease. In a joint study with the University of Glasgow, they have reengineered parasites, usually a feared threat, and turned them into a groundbreaking tool for delivering drugs to the brain.
If you watched the Olympics opening ceremony, you may have noticed the young woman carrying Israel's flag. Andrea "Andi" Murez is a recent grad and now proud alumna of the medical school. She is also a recipient of a Sylvan Adams Olympic sports scholarship at TAU, which she credits with helping her career. Murez is a three-time Olympian in swimming, and she notes that the scholarship allowed her to focus on her studies in medical school and training in the pool instead of trying to manage a job to help her financially.
If you weren't able to attend AFTAU's emergency webinar briefing, Iran's War Against Israel, featuring Professor Meir Litvak, the Director of The Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at TAU, the largest center for Iranian studies in the Middle East outside of Iran, you can watch a recording here.
I am pleased to share a brief video, Innovation at TAU in 2024, to remind you what supporting TAU can lead to.
Praying for peace for Israel and wishing you a good rest of the summer.
Shabbat shalom.
Sincerely,
Dr. Garry A. Rayant
Chairman, American Friends of Tel Aviv University
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