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History Was Made
History was made last week with the naming of the new Tel Aviv University Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, the Gray School of Medicine, and the Gray School of Medical Sciences. Mindy and Jon Gray, through The Gray Foundation, have generously made a $125 million gift to Tel Aviv University to significantly expand capacity at the Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences. In making the announcement, the Grays said, “We’ve been searching for a way to make a meaningful impact in Israel since the tragic events of October 7th. We can think of no better way to accelerate healing than by supporting an institution that touches the lives of so many. This gift will expand Tel Aviv University’s capacity to educate new healthcare professionals, including underrepresented students, and create state of the art research facilities – building on our longtime support for medical research and access to higher education.” The gift is the largest ever made to TAU. READ MORE and VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE INAUGURATION
New Hope for Burn Victims
Severe burn wounds present a major global health issue, affecting millions annually and resulting in high morbidity, scarring, limited mobility, and prolonged recovery. Professor Lihi Adler-Abramovich and her team, in collaboration with Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, have developed a new skin substitute for treating severe burn injuries, made from the patient’s own cells. The bioengineered skin equivalent is mechanically robust, easy to handle, fully autologous, and exhibits no contraction, offering a transformative therapeutic alternative for the treatment of severe burn injuries. READ MORE
Talking to the Animals?
The Jeremy Coller Foundation and TAU announced the four finalists for the first annual $100,000 prize from the Coller Dolittle Challenge for Interspecies Two-Way Communication. Annual prizes of $100,000 will be awarded until a team “cracks the code” of interspecies communication, winning the $10 million Grand Prize. The four finalists have used cutting-edge technology and breath-taking ingenuity to decipher, interface, and mimic non-human organism communication, using a non-invasive approach to understand how these species communicate in unique depth and eliciting responses to signals sent by humans. READ MORE
Second Annual Tel Aviv Conference
Tel Aviv Conference: Future of Israel, held last week at TAU in collaboration with the Kadar Foundation, drew a large and diverse audience. The annual conference, held this year for the second time, aims to broaden and deepen public discourse by making academic research and interdisciplinary perspectives accessible. “Academia must serve as a beacon illuminating the path for all of society. We do not have the luxury to stand aside and hope things turn out well,” TAU President Professor Ariel Porat said in his opening address. READ MORE
ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
Purple Biotech Ltd., a clinical-stage company developing first-in-class therapies that seek to overcome tumor immune evasion and drug resistance, announced the appointment of TAU alum Shai Lankry as its Chief Financial Officer on May 12. “We are pleased to welcome Shai on board," said Purple Biotech CEO Gil Efron. "His extensive experience in the U.S. and European biotech and pharma markets, coupled with his passion for guiding companies towards financial success, make him a great match for Purple Biotech as we advance our pipeline into late-stage trials with the potential for strategic partnerships.” Shai holds an MBA degree in Finance from TAU. Congratulations, Shai! READ MORE
ON THE AIR
In a recent episode of the podcast series TAU Unbound, Ambassador Ido Aharoni spoke with TAU's Dr. Nadav Cohen, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and a rising star in the field of artificial intelligence and data analytics, to answer the question "What is AI and why should we learn more about it?" Dr. Cohen also discusses the meaning of neural networks and the pros and cons of the AI revolution. WATCH AND LISTEN HERE
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