RTICC: Moving Research From Lab to Bedside to Marketplace
The Rappaport Technion Integrated Cancer Center
Moving Research From Lab to Bedside to Marketplace
Featuring Technion Cancer Experts:
Professors Yuval Shaked, Avi Schroeder, Asya Rolls, Irit Ben-Aharon
This is an exclusive interactive virtual event for RTICC Donors.
In the ongoing fight against cancer, Technion breakthroughs in diagnostics and treatments have improved and saved lives around the world. This year alone, scientists at the Rappaport Technion Integrated Cancer Center (RTICC) have advanced research on early detection of various cancers, curbing cancer metastasis, and personalized treatment.
We invite RTICC donors to join us for an exclusive look at the cutting-edge work you have been instrumental in promoting.
Panelists will discuss:
- issues of critical clinical importance for patients, including early diagnostics, chemotherapy, metastasis, and cancer prevention
- the assumption that cancer patients are at a higher risk for COVID-19
- advantages of the RTICC’s multidisciplinary approach
- efforts to ensure cancer treatment does not induce tumor regrowth
- a novel method of evaluating cancer drugs inside a patient’s body prior to treatment
- links between emotional state and cancer progression
There will be a 15-minute Q&A session following the discussion.
The webinar will be moderated by Sara Crown Star, a member of the Crown family of Chicago, prominent supporters of the RTICC.
Featured Speakers
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Professor Yuval Shaked is a member of the Department of Cell Biology and Cancer Science at the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. He heads the Rappaport Technion Integrated Cancer Center, which joins scientists, engineers, and clinicians in the fight against cancer. His studies on chemotherapy resistance have found that a patient’s response to therapy often protects tumor cells from its toxic effects, which can contribute to chemo-resistant tumors and even metastasis. Prof. Shaked co-founded three biotech companies, one of which is in an advanced clinical study of precision medicine in oncology.
Associate Professor Asya Rolls heads a lab in the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine that investigates the physiological mechanisms whereby emotions and thoughts affect health. For example, her laboratory showed that the release of the “feel-good neurotransmitter” dopamine disabled tumor-promoting cells in the immune system of mice, allowing them to fight cancer.
Associate Professor Avi Schroeder heads the Louis Family Laboratory for Targeted Drug Delivery and Personalized Medicine Technologies in the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering, where he is focused on targeted drug delivery methods and nanotechnologies. He has created a system that “barcodes” and tests various drugs inside a patient’s body to determine which chemotherapy works best before treatment begins. Most recently, he has been adapting his work on an antiviral for shrimp to develop a COVID-19 vaccine for humans.
Professor Irit Ben-Aharon is director of the Division of Oncology at Rambam Health Care Campus, which is affiliated with the Technion and is the largest cancer center in northern Israel. She earned her M.D. and Ph.D. at a joint program of Tel Aviv University and the National Institutes of Health. Her research focuses on the toxic effects of chemotherapy on fertility, and on the fetus during pregnancy.
