Europe: Weizmann Young European Network’s Speaker Series

The large and growing network of young European friends isn’t letting the distance and travel restrictions get in the way of continuing to learn about Weizmann science. Weizmann Young European Network’s (WYEN) speaker series hosted Prof. Emeritus David Mirelman via Zoom on August 10, to talk about the technology transfer process and how the Weizmann Institute is a world model in translating discoveries from the lab into the business arena.

Prof. Mirelman’s recent book, Not for Profit: The Business of Academic Scientific Research, is about the machinery of turning scientific discoveries into real-world applications. The Weizmann Institute’s tech transfer company, Yeda R&D, has been a fundamental driver of Israel’s prowess in science and technology, and he formerly served as its Chairman as well as the Institute’s Vice President for Technology Transfer.

On September 7, WYEN hosted an online panel of three alumni. Dr. Lior Zelbuch is Senior Director at BiomX, a company that emerged from the research of Weizmann scientists Profs. Rotem Sorek, Eran Elinav, and Eran Segal. BiomX develops therapies to target harmful bacteria in inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer.

Drs. Adi Goldenzweig and Ravit Netzer, who did their PhDs in the lab of Prof. Sarel Fleishman, described their research on computational protein design. Both are advancing protein-design methods that have relevance for pharmaceutical companies in drug design efforts.