Rambam Health Care Campus and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology created a joint research fund interdisciplinary projects to develop new therapies, rapid diagnostic methods, healthcare innovations and more, the two institutions said in a joint statement.The result of a joint initiative of Technion president Prof. Uri Sivan and Rambam director-general Dr. Michael Halberthal, the projects supported by the fund will encourage collaborative research efforts between physicians, scientists and engineers."In recent months, the world has faced a health crisis which has affected all areas of life," Halberthal explained."A crisis of such proportions also presents opportunities. In our case, the situation boosted the joint collaboration between physician, researcher, inventor and engineer in their shared fight to curb COVID-19 and was based on a longstanding partnership between Rambam and Technion. This is how connections and solutions were created for all aspects of diagnostics and therapeutics during this crisis – this is the strength of our partnership.""Following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Technion has taken steps to tackle the situation on all fronts – diagnosis, exit strategy, personalized therapies, reducing the spread of infection and protecting medical staff," Sivan added."This was done by pooling our expertise, from artificial intelligence and mathematical modeling to immunology, chemical engineering, robotics, and so on. The close ties between Technion and Rambam – as well as between medicine and engineering – is of enormous benefit in the war against COVID-19."The two institutions, which are both located in the Haifa area, have had a strong partnership in recent months, working together to research and develop new innovations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. These joint research efforts have already resulted in innovative developments that have helped treat patients, reduced the total of new infections and protected healthcare workers amid the crisis.One such innovation that was the result of this partnership was a new and more efficient method of diagnosing COVID-19, which the two institutions tested in March 2020."This experiment conducted by Technion and Rambam researchers is complex, and under normal circumstances would take months," Sivan said at the time. "This is a remarkable example of the mobilization of an outstanding team in a time of crisis. The initial experiment was completed in less than four days."
Another innovation made in May was a
home-test for COVID-19 that could give results within an hour.
"The new test's reliability was measured using 200 biological samples from confirmed coronavirus patients and patients suspected of infection with the virus. The samples were supplied by the coronavirus biobank at Rambam Health Care Campus," Technion's Prof. Naama Geva-Zatorsky, who developed the test, said at the time.
Celia Jean and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.