Israel is currently producing more than 100 Ph. D.s in the biological sciences each year but is unable to provide sufficient positions, facilities and equipment to take full advantage of this talent because of the heavy financial burdens related to defense, according to the Israel Cancer Research (ICRF), which held its first awards luncheon last week. The ICRF said that as a result too many such well-trained Israelis have emigrated to other countries looking for better opportunities, while others have had to enter unrelated fields to find employment.
Ameliorating this situation by creating in Israel major new programs for cancer research and care ultimately intended to benefit the entire Middle East is the ICRF’s stated purpose. The ICRF is backed in this effort by a Scientific Advisory Board which includes many of the leading scientists in American cancer research, both Jewish and non-Jewish.
Cancer research can be conducted in Israel at far less cost than several other countries, according to the ICRF. The ICRF claims that while a major research project in the United States costs from $300,000 to $500,000, it would run from $100,000 to $150,000 in Israel. Israel’s diverse population affords an unusual opportunity to study genetic, ethnic, cultural and psychological influences in the development of cancer, according to the ICRF.
Receiving fellowships at last week’s awards luncheon were five young Israeli scientists who are beginning careers in cancer research. They were: Shmuel Ben-Sasson, Louise Chen, Ami Klein, Ben-Ami Sela, and Baruch Velan. Two of these scientists have recently completed a period of training in the United States. Sela spent three years in the laboratory of Nobel Prize winner, Gerald M. Edelman at Rockefeller University, and Ben-Sasson is completing a year with William Terry at the Laboratory of Immunology, National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Ephraim Biegun, Counselor of Scientific Affairs at the Israel Mission to the United Nations, presented the awards.
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