A sample of new ideas and projects:
Top researchers in the Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics in the Faculty of Health Sciences together with partners from Soroka Medical Center are collaborating in the worldwide efforts towards developing an accurate assessment of corona risk to infected individuals and efficient therapeutics. They aim to 1.) develop a novel approach which will identify neutralizing monoclonal antibodies capable of inhibiting viral entry into target cells; 2.) develop techniques based on 'ADE' (antibody dependent enhancement) to predict the severity of COVID-19 and the resultant need for ICU treatment. An advanced research lab has been made available to the consortium. This research facility is restricted and controlled at all times and workers are under medical surveillance. As a result, experimentation can take place based on live SARS-CoV-2 virus samples.
A team of researchers spearheaded by Prof. Golan Shahar from the Dept. of Psychology of BGU is
studying the behavioral unfolding of COVID-19 in Israel. In addition to Prof. Shahar, who serves as
Zlotowski Chair of Neuropsychology and Director of Clinical Psychology at BGU, the team consists of:
Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel, Professor of Community Health and Vice President for International
Affairs, Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, M.D., Head of the School of Public Health at BGU, Prof. David Greenberg,
M.D., Head of Pediatrics at Soroka Hospital and an expert on infectious diseases, and Prof. Itamar Grotto,
Vice-CEO of Israel Ministry of Health. The team has contacted a representative sample of Jewish Israeli
adults prior to the entry of COVID-19 to Israel, and is assessing them every week, focusing on their
anxiety, perception of the crisis, attitudes towards the Ministry of Health, and compliance with the
Ministry of Health's instructions. Four assessments have already been conducted, and many more are
planned during this unparalleled, sophisticated study. Results will inform policy makers on emotional
responses of the Israeli public in the face of the ongoing medical crisis
Dr. Galia Fuchs conducts research which examines tourism, tourist behavior, travel, and vacation consumption patterns in light of risk perception. Her work incorporates the process of forming risk perception, risk reduction strategies, rationalization, and tactics to minimize danger when visiting highly volatile destination points. Her research is relevant to travel and tourism in times of threat, including security-related situations, natural disasters, and epidemics. Prof. Poria is researching ways in which the tourism industry can overcome major upheavals such as the coronavirus crisis, including exploring solutions to address the economic and social impact of massive employee layoffs. Both researchers are members of the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management.
Prof. Clarfield, M.D., is an expert in care of the aged and gerontology. He was formerly the Head of the Division of Geriatrics at the Ministry of Health, before joining the Faculty of Health Sciences (BGU) and Soroka Medical Center. Dr. Stav Shapira is on the faculty of the School of Public Health. She conducts research in the areas of preparedness and response to emergency and disaster situations. Her focus is on vulnerable populations (e.g. the elderly, chronically ill, etc.), and she also investigates the integration of different technologies in the emergency arena. She seeks to identify resilience factors that can be used to strengthen the population and to reduce the negative impact of emergencies. With a deep concern for the elderly who are especially vulnerable, this team (with Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel and Dr. Paula Feder Bubis) had already begun to establish a system to identify, map, and assist elderly people in need of care in the event of a natural disaster (such as earthquake). This initiative will be repurposed for the current Coronavirus crisis, and will incorporate innovative technological applications to customize an effective system.
Dr. Ben-Yoav is a member of the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering. He works in a well-define specialty area, Lab-on-a-Chip Device Integration. His work incorporates and integrates biology, electrochemistry, engineering, and materials science. He has expertise in the fields of biosensors and bioelectronics. Dr. Ben-Yoav has achieved success with Analytical Micro-Systems for Personalized Health Monitoring. He is confident in his ability to work towards a device which will allow self-testing with definitive results – all within five minutes! He will collaborate with medical researchers with access to, and expertise in, naturally produced antibodies.
Dr. Odeya Cohen is a member of the faculty in the Dept. of Nursing and serves as the head of the Masters' Program in Emergency Medicine at the Faculty of Health Sciences. Her research focuses on emergency preparedness and response and on the wellbeing of medical personnel in emergencies. Her proposal is for two collaborative projects with communication experts and researchers from the Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering: (1) to crosscheck formal publications and conversions in the social media on a timeline related to crisis phases; (2) to understand the experience and difficulties of professional health teams worldwide by analyzing the narrative that is reflected in social media.
Dr. Nissim is a faculty member in the Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management and conducts his research under the auspices of the Cyber Security Research Center at BGU. Dr. Nissim is extremely knowledgeable in multiple facets of computers, information systems security, and machine learning. He applies his knowledge and expertise in these fields to bioinformatics and can customize computer algorithms for Corona by incorporating medical data (gender, age, blood stats, etc.) and time stamps. Dr. Nissim will collaborate with medical researchers with access to the appropriate data sets.
Dr. Stav Shapira is a faculty member in the School of Public Health. She conducts research in the areas of preparedness and response to emergency and disaster situations. Dr. Jessica Cauchard is a member of the Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management, an expert in human-drone interaction. They are currently conducting research that focuses on integrating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, known as drones, for increasing access to emergency healthcare and delivering relief supplies such as food, water and medications to vulnerable populations during large-scale public health emergencies such as the current COVID-19 eruption. The study conducts a socially-sensitive exploration of the acceptance of medical relief drones among different vulnerable population groups in Israeli society such as older persons and ethnic minorities.
Their ultimate goal is to develop effective strategies aimed to minimize exposure among at-risk populations as well as to prevent the potential deterioration of patients with chronic illness during acute events such as a viral pandemic.
Dr. Arnusch works for the Dept. of Desalination and Water Treatment, focusing his efforts on the design of ultra-effective membranes via the development of polymer compositions. While he currently works on water purification by developing membrane with anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties, , he is convinced that he can concurrently work on air filters with enhanced anti-viral properties. The air filters could then be incorporated into individual face masks, building ventilation systems, and private and public vehicles (e.g. cars and buses). Dr. Arnusch will team-up with medical researchers (immunology experts) to test the air filters and their anti-viral effectiveness.
Additional BGU experts and contributors to the Task Force:
Clinical Microbiology and Public Health / Prof. Jacob Moran-Gilad M.D.
Prof. Moran-Gilad is a clinical microbiologist and public health specialist with broad experience in medical administration and emergency management (he is a member of the Dept. of Health Systems Management). He has key positions with the Israeli Ministry of Health, including being a member of the National Advisory Committee for Outbreak Management. Prof. Moran-Gilad also has unique experience in terms of multi-country disease surveillance.
Soroka Clinical Research Center / Prof. Victor Novack M.D., Ph.D.
Prof. Novack is the founding director of Soroka Clinical Research Center, affiliated to BGU. He is a Professor of Medicine at the Faculty of Health Sciences, an attending physician in the Division of Medicine at the Soroka Medical Center, and a Senior Scientist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. Prof. Novack is an Associate and Statistical Editor of the European Journal of Internal Medicine.
School of Public Health / Prof. Nadav Davidovitch M.D., Ph.D.
Prof. Davidovitch is the Director of the newly established School of Public Health at BGU. His expertise encompasses both social and environmental epidemiology. He further specializes in health policy, public
health, public health ethics, and preventive measures in epidemiolocal scenarios.
Communication Studies / Prof. Zvi Reich
Prof. Reich is an expert on several interrelated topics in the fields of mass communication, the media, journalism, and news practices. At various times, he was an expert, external consultant for media strategies, and he advised various Israeli government ministries. He has lectured extensively and his topics include, formation patterns of news and crisis communication, and won an award for a co-authored work, "Emergency Communication Guide for Public Entities."
Health Systems Management / Prof. Avishay Goldberg
Prof. Goldberg is the Chair of the Dept. of Health Systems Management. He is also a Director of the PREPARED Center for Emergency Response Research, and a member of the National Council for Logistics in Health Care (the Israel Ministry of Health). He is an active member of several committees dedicated to promote emergency preparedness in Israel.
Medical Anthropology / Dr. Anat Rosenthal
Dr. Anat Rosenthal is a Medical Anthropologist and a member of the Dept. of Health Systems Management. Her research focuses on healthcare delivery in resource-limited environments in the developing world. She was a Fulbright Fellow at the Dept. of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, she participated in a project studying the impact of polio eradication campaigns on primary healthcare services in developing countries.
BGU is home to:
The PREPARED Center for Emergency Response Research / Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel
'PREPARED' was established in 2009 as a BGU research center with the aim to develop and foster applied research activity in the field of disaster and emergency preparedness and response. The Center is comprehensive and interdisciplinary, and health-related emergency situations are one of its major areas of expertise. Prof. Aharonson-Daniel is an acknowledged expert on injury epidemiology and community resilience. She is a full professor in the School of Public Health and Vice President for Global Engagement at BGU.
