BGU is an important player in the international bio-medical research arena. Pioneering research is conducted by highly respected senior faculty, a cadre of young scientists returning to Israel from prestigious institutions, and exceptional graduate and postgraduate research fellows. Collaborations between the health, natural and engineering sciences foster an environment of research innovation. BGU’s commitment to community is reflected in research focusing on the health problems of the Negev, especially in the fields of genetics, nutrition and psychiatry.
The brain is the seat of human consciousness. It guides our perceptions and governs our interpretation of the world around us. When the human mind is compromised – by disease or unexplained disorders – quality of life suffers. BGU researchers in the Inter-Faculty Brain Sciences School and Brain Imaging Research Center are gaining insight toward developing new treatments and, possibly, cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s, stroke, trauma-induced epilepsy, Parkinson’s, and mental illness. Donate to brain research>>
Israel’s National Autism Research Center, established at BGU in partnership with Soroka University Medical Center, is the first center in Israel that combines community and clinical care with research in the same location. The center aims to translate scientific discoveries into treatments and tools to improve quality of life for children with autism. Support autism research>>
Help BGU recruit and retain leading brain researchers, provide fellowships to the best students, and purchase equipment.
Researchers at BGU’s Clinical Islet Laboratory are pursuing three major goals: transplants and new drugs, gene therapy, and the creation of a “transgenic” mouse that can tolerate human material for experimentation. They’re working on new drugs based on the alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) protein that reduces inflammation. Recent clinical trials demonstrated that infusion of AAT in recently diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients could eventually eliminate the need for insulin injections. A new clinical trial is under way to evaluate AAT dosing levels and duration.
Support clinical trials, provide research fellowships, purchase specialized equipment, and fund the creation of the “BGU Mouse.”
One in every fourth person worldwide is either overweight or obese. The medical doctors, geneticists, biochemists, epidemiologists, and environmental physicists at BGU’s S. Daniel Abraham International Center for Health and Nutrition are exploring how lifestyle factors, including abundant, affordable food and sedentary daily routines, interact with physiological factors, such as body composition and brain function. They’re also looking at the effects of environmental factors on obesity and its related disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Support an Israeli nutrition database, purchase equipment and provide research fellowships for graduates and postgraduates.
At BGU’s Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research Center, scientists are taking skin cells from patients with heart disease and reprogramming them to become heart cells to study the disease. Ultimately, this may lead to correcting the defective heart cells that can then be transplanted. They’re also studying stem cells that reside in bone marrow, which could make life-altering treatments for individuals with leukemia and other cancers possible. Other scientists are developing cartilage-regenerating strategies for osteoarthritis and injuries.
Support groundbreaking research, state-of-the-art equipment, and research fellowships for doctoral and postdoctoral students.
