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Desert University is an Oasis for Medical Research

Desert University is an Oasis for Medical Research

July 24, 2015

Medical Research

Jewish Journal of Los Angeles — BGU is Israel’s only university not found in the northern part of the country. This geographic anomaly, however, has not prevented the 46-year-old institution from excelling. One of the university’s established strengths is medical research and technology.

If David Ben-Gurion, the country’s first prime minister, could meet the researchers at his namesake university, he would probably see in them the pioneering spirit he embodied. As the statesman once said, “The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.”

This article highlights several key areas of breakthrough medical research being conducted by these pioneering researchers at BGU.

Prof. Smadar Cohen, director of BGU’s Center for Regenerative Medicine, Cellular Therapy and Stem Cell Research, and her colleagues have developed a gel-like substance made from algae that helps support regrowth of body tissues. They are using it to reduce damage to heart tissue after a heart attack.

Prof. Smadar Cohen (second from left) and student researchers

Prof. Smadar Cohen (second from left) and student researchers

Prof. Alon Friedman, of the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, has found that football players show signs of brain injury, likely stemming from the constant and repeated small impacts they experience. Prof. Friedman and his team devised a diagnostic tool to detect damage to the blood-brain barrier, the body’s protective mechanism for preventing most substances in the bloodstream from entering the brain and spinal cord.  The findings can help physicians decide when or if it is safe for an athlete to resume playing sports.

Prof. Alon Friedman

Prof. Alon Friedman

Prof. Yaniv Zigel, head of the Biomedical Signal Processing Research Lab in BGU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, and his team have developed an at-home testing technology that they hope will be an easier, less invasive way to detect sleep problems such as sleep apnea, snoring and insomnia.

Prof. Yaniv Zigel and Ph.D. candidate Eliran Dafna in their lab at BGU

Prof. Yaniv Zigel and Ph.D. candidate Eliran Dafna in their lab at BGU

Dr. David Zarrouk, director of BGU’s Bioinspired and Medical Robotics Laboratory, believes that nature can provide inspiration for designing the most effective and energy-efficient robots.

His lab focuses on robotic applications for medical, agricultural and search-and-rescue purposes.

Dr. Yuval Shahar, head of BGU’s Medical Informatics Research Center, has developed computer programs that synthesize data from body sensors, a patient’s medical records and established medical guidelines to provide alerts and recommendations.

Such systems could remind a patient with diabetes to check glucose levels or alert a physician about a patient’s irregular heart activity.

Read the full article by Nancy Sokoler Steiner on the Jewish Journal website >>