The Weizmann Institute of Science is among the research organizations worldwide working on a vaccine or cure for coronavirus (COVID-19).

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Updates from Weizmann

• Weizmann Canada volunteer leadership launch first-ever crowdfunding campaign (June 3) With a goal of raising $2 million, Weizmann Canada chapters and committees are setting their own goals as part of the campaign
• PREDICTABILITY: The key for the way out of the pandemic for both business and science (May 31) Published by the Canadian Science Policy Centre, Susan Stern reflects on the relationship between business and science, discussing Weizmann research and offering predictability for both as a way out of this pandemic
• Weizmann Institute starting coronavirus testing (April 13)
• 🎦 Coronavirus testing center opens on campus (March 26) How the Weizmann Institute is prepared for coronavirus testing
• Message from the Weizmann Institute of Science president Prof. Alon Chen (Français)

Our initiatives

• Weizmann alumni take on COVID-19 (November 4) Weizmann alumni in biotech companies in Israel and beyond are hard at work on possible solutions in the form of drugs and vaccines.
  The coronavirus unveiled (October 15) Weizmann’s Dr. Noam-Stern Ginossar’s research is referenced in a New York Times article on global coronavirus initiatives studying how the SARS-CoV-2 protein infects.
• Bacteria could provide us with the next antivirals (September 16) Virus-fighting viperins, part of the human immune system, turn out to have bacterial counterparts that might boost the fight against human diseases like influenza virus and COVID-19.
• Profiling the COVID-19 coronavirus (September 9) A new approach to understanding the virus may lead to better diagnostics and treatment
• Pregnant women’s response to a virus may affect fetal brain cells (August 21) A study from Weizmann’s Prof. Michal Schwartz and Prof. Ido Amit shows the immune response from a virus on the fetus.
• Why COVID-19 kills, or doesn’t (June 8) Weizmann’s Prof. Ido Amit has published research on what differentiates COVID-19 progress in seriously ill patients, to those who are only mildly affected
• How to neutralize the coronavirus: learning from the body (May 12) Making copies of existing antibodies could be a fast track to treatment
• Israeli-American-British Labs and biotech partner to speed coronavirus drug development (May 11) The initiative aims to identify compounds that target a key enzyme in the virus’s life cycle
• The Israel Institute for Biological Research and the Weizmann Institute of Science collaborate to fight coronavirus (May 11) A milestone in relations between the two institutes could advance a cure
• Navigating the new normal (May 6) Leveraging math, Prof. Uri Alon and Prof. Ron Milo present a potential exit strategy that aims to maintain health, while safely rebooting the economy
• Mapping corona in stealth mode (May 6) The survey, Predict Corona, fuses data on symptoms and geography to predict outbreaks in the making
• A sniff test for coronavirus? (May 4) Weizmann’s online platform for monitoring for COVID-19, SmellTracker, has seen significant use world-wide, with an average rate of 200 new users every hour
• Slipping through the coronavirus’s defense (April 20) Prof. Sarel Fleishman and Weizmann colleagues are using a unique research platform to find a vaccine for COVID-19
• Coronavirus and BioNumbers (April 14) A measured approach to understanding—and defeating—the COVID-19 pandemic
• Recovered COVID-19 patients to the rescue (April 13) Antibodies left behind in their blood may help protect others
• In COVID-19, why does vulnerability rise with age? (April 13) Prof. Valery Krizhanovsky investigates why the lungs become more susceptible to infection as a person ages
• Self-monitoring sense of smell may help detect coronavirus (April 2) Weizmann has partnered to develop an online platform to test sense of smell and track COVID-19
• Coronavirus by the numbers (March 31) Organizing all the research and information coming in, Weizmann scientists are revealing hidden information on COVID-19
• How to restart the economy after the crisis? Intermittent lockdown (March 31) Weizmann scientists present a mathematical model for an exit strategy
• 🎦 It’s a revolution: ramp-up in safer coronavirus testing (March 26) Weizmann scientists have the ability to conduct 20,000 coronavirus tests a day
• Two steps ahead of the coronavirus (March 22) A method of predicting the coronavirus spread may enable to focus efforts on areas where an outbreak is anticipated
• How do healthy cells defend themselves against a virus? (March 16) New study with Italian colleagues reveals a pivotal moment in anti-viral defense
• Designing a solution (March 16) Computational approach may lead to a future treatment for coronavirus
• Learning from lethal viruses (March 15) Insights on Ebola, arenaviruses pave way for Dr. Ron Diskin next target—coronavirus
• How do viruses infect? (March 12) Deciphering the dynamic that hijacks our health
• New weapon in the war on animal-borne viruses (February 2) Engineered molecule could lead to treatments for viruses that cross over from animals to humans

Our experts

• 🎦 Prof. Yonina Eldar uses AI tools to diagnose COVID-19 (August 25) Through ultrasound imaging, AI is being used to analyze images of COVID-19 patients to extract features of the virus that can be identified in others
  
• 🎦 Where will COVID-19 strike next? – Prof. Eran Segal (June 11) Through the use of artificial intelligence with an online COVID-19 survey, Prof. Segal’s team can track where the virus is likely to spread
• 🎦 Sniffing out COVID-19 (May 28) Prof. Noam Sobel’s lab is using an ‘electronic nose’ to develop a rapid diagnostic test that checks for the odor of COVID-19
• 🎦 A science-based exit strategy for COVID-19 (May 11) Prof. Uri Alon and Prof. Ron Milo on how the economy could safely be reopened
• 🎦 Dr Ori Avinoam – Blocking the virus’s first steps (April 30) How coronavirus infects and might be blocked
• The ultimate decoy and antibodies in the fight against coronavirus (April 28) Dr. Ron Diskin is concentrating his efforts on a two-pronged research project against the current coronavirus.
• 🎦 Prof. Uri Alon and Prof. Ron Milo on mathematical modelling for COVID-19 (April 24) Prof. Alon presents a solution that could safely re-open economies and Prof. Milo shares how he is tracking data on the virus
• 🎦 Dr. Ziv Shulman: Recovered patients to the rescue (April 22) How studying fully recovered COVID-19 patients may lead to a treatment
• 🎦 History of coronaviruses (April 6) Dr. Ron Diskin provides an overview of the history of different coronaviruses
• Towards a drug against COVID-19 (March 30) Co-led by Dr. Nir London, global consortium aims to accelerate drug development
• 🎦 What is a vaccine? (March 26) Weizmann scientists provide an overview of the history and study of vaccines
• 🎦 The race for a cure with Dr. Nir London (March 24) Video discussing his work towards an anti-viral drug specific to COVID-19
• 🎦 Prof. Sarel Fleishman on designing a coronavirus vaccine (March 19)
• 🎦 Dr. Noam Ginossar: Coronavirus overview (March 19)
• What the quest for a universal influenza vaccine can teach us about a possible coronavirus vaccine (March 15) Lessons from influenza from Prof. Ruth Arnon (Français)
• Top public health expert discusses COVID-19 contagion, containment efforts (March 15) Q&A with Prof. Gabi Barbash (Français)

Video conferences

• NEW 🎦 Confronting Coronavirus – International Board Meeting 2020 (January 13)Weizmann scientists working on coronavirus research discuss some of their findings at the 2020 International Board Meeting
  
• 🎦 Stopping future viral threats and COVID-19 with Dr. Noam Stern-Ginossar (July 16) Dr. Stern-Ginossar shares her research on how viruses take over the cell’s systems to survive and reproduce
• 🎦 Prof. Ron Milo shares his mathematical model to safely re-open society following COVID-19 (June 3)
• 🎦 Dr. Liat Ben-David on how the Davidson Institute of Science Education has adapted during the pandemic (June 2) The head of Weizmann’s Davidson Institute shares how they moved quickly to create the Stuck at Home? initiative and their continued efforts for science education
• 🎦 Prof. Ruth Arnon on developing a universal flu vaccine and insights on the coronavirus (May 19) Prof. Arnon discusses her research on the universal influenza vaccine and touches on what we can learn from the flu in studying the coronavirus
• 🎦 Dr. Nir London on accelerating drug discovery against the main CoV2-protease (May 19) Dr. London provides updates on a treatment and what the next steps are towards a vaccine
• 🎦 Insights on the pandemic and exit strategies from an Israeli perspective (May 1) Prof. Gabi Barbash shares his perspective from the forefront of Israel’s public health effort
• 🎦 Prof. Sarel Fleishman on a computational design of antibodies that will target COVID-19 (April 24) Prof. Fleishman provides a progress report on designing a new antibody for the virus
• 🎦 How the Weizmann Institute is at the forefront of COVID-19 research, with Prof. Alon Chen (April 17) Prof. Chen joins Weizmann Canada to share his research on stress and what they are doing for COVID-19 on campus
• 🎦 Prof. Alon Chen on stress during coronavirus (April 7) Weizmann’s President discusses his own research and other COVID-19 work on campus
• 🎦 Prof. Avi Levy discusses some of the COVID-19 research being done on campus (Français) (April 7)
• 🎦 Prof. Benny Geiger discusses immunology and other coronavirus efforts (April 6) Weizmann’s Prof. Benny Geiger, Head of the Department of Immunology, joins the American Committee to discuss recent efforts
• 🎦 Dr. Ron Diskin on COVID-19 (April 6) Weizmann Australia hosts Dr. Ron Diskin to share how his team is addressing the virus
• 🎦 Dr. Nir London: looking for a cure (March 31) Weizmann UK hosts Dr. London for updates on solutions to the coronavirus
• 🎦 Prof. Sarel Fleishman on using new antibodies to address coronavirus (March 26) Webinar hosted by Weizmann Canada followed by a Q & A with Prof. Fleishman
• 🎦 Dr. Ron Diskin speaking at a Weizmann Latin America event on animal-borne viruses (March 19)

Our educational initiatives 

• Homeschooling in the time of corona With schools shuttered worldwide, Davidson Institute offers distance-learning solutions
  • Stuck at Home? (March 24) The Davidson Institute offers trivia games, puzzles, videos, experiments and more activities to keep you entertained and curious
  • Free online science courses from the Davidson Institute of Science
  • NOTE: Not all resources are presently available in English, but we are translating more content on an ongoing basis.

Additional Canadian and international resources

• Current Canadian information on coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update (Government of Canada)
• Canadian travel health notices (Government of Canada)
• World Health Organization daily updates on COVID-19
• Rolling updates on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) (World Health Organization)
• How to protect yourself (World Health Organization)
• Worldwide dashboard of COVID-19 cases (World Health Organization)

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You can also sign up for the Weizmann Canada coronavirus email update here.