American Friends of the Hebrew University

New Avenue of Cooperation Between Industry and Academia

Hebrew University and YIssum Establish Research
Partnership With Johnson & Johnson

Jerusalem, February 7, 2006
A fund for innovative science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been established by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Authority for Research and Development; Yissum, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University; and the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Office of Science and Technology. The contribution from Johnson & Johnson will be matched by the university and Yissum.

The purpose of the fund is to identify and encourage innovative research ideas at the Hebrew University. The focus will be on propositions which have the greatest potential for becoming major scientific breakthroughs, or to be of great commercial possibility. The research projects will be decided upon jointly by a board of overseers chosen by the sponsoring parties. The fund will be officially launched at a gathering to be held on Thursday, Feb. 9, at the offices of the Authority for Research and Development.

Participants at the event will include top officials from Johnson & Johnson, Yissum and the Hebrew University, including the deans of the faculties of agriculture, medicine and science.

Among those who will be speaking at the meeting are Prof. Herve Bercovier, vice president for research and development at the Hebrew University, who will present an overview of ongoing research at the Hebrew University, including the new center for converging sciences, as well as an overview of research proposals submitted to the new fund. Prof. Hermona Soreq, Prof. Howard Cedar and other senior Hebrew University researchers will also present summaries of their work on scientific breakthroughs in the fields of cancer research, neurodegenerative diseases and bionanotechnology.

For further information:
Jerry Barach, Dept. of Media Relations, the Hebrew University, Tel: 02-588-2904, or Orit Sulitzeanu, Hebrew University spokesperson, Tel: 02-5882910 or 052-260-8016. Internet site: http://media.huji.ac.il.