Bar-Ilan’s dual campuses -in the center of Israel in Ramat Gan and in the peripheral North in Tzfat -allow researchers across both campuses to collaborate and strengthen one another’s work. These research advantages are further enhanced by our close relationships with clinics and hospitals in the North, which allow us direct access to patients. During the current pandemic, faculty and students from Bar-Ilan’s Medical Faculty have been instrumental in developing and using diagnostic centers, both offering crucial help, and gathering important information.
Bar-Ilan has top expertise in three areas critical to the present fight against Corona, as well as in preparation for future pandemics. Click below to read some examples of the top research being done in these areas.
Public Health
Public Health is the research area focusing on all the non-medical factors that are relevant in health. In order to understand how to most effectively treat individual health, one needs to consider multiple variables: genetics of a population group, socioeconomic status, and broader policy decisions that affect larger communities. Without incorporating these variables into health decisions, not only will prevention and treatment not be helpful, certain choices can actually cause additional harm.
Project 1:
Optimal vaccine distribution under constrained conditions:
Mathematician Prof. Baruch Barzel, and Virologist Prof. Michael Edelstein are developing the safest, fairest and most effective model for vaccine distribution.
The integration of high level computer simulation and virologic knowledge is being applied to proactively determine how to address the distribution of a future vaccine. There will be insufficient vaccines for a country’s entire population- at least initially- and any side effects may cause moreREAD MORE
Project 2:
Care for the chronically ill during a time of pandemic:
Bar-Ilan Medical students are visiting quarantined chronically ill patients to help treat their medical and mental health needs.
Because of the low socio-economics and poor health care in the Galil, there is a large population of people with pre-existing conditions and/or chronic illness. This population is at greater risk for complications if they become infected with the Corona virus, thus they have been ordered to self- READ MORE
Project 3:
Education and prevention of Corona spread among vulnerable Arab populations:
Bar-Ilan has created a unique program to help stop the spread of Corona in Arab villages in the North.
Through conversations and assessments, Bar-Ilan researchers have determined that the level of understanding and knowledge of the Corona virus-basic facts and prevention- in Arab villages in the Galil is dangerously low, as is their trust in the government and official READ MORE
Psycho-social Impact in the Time of Pandemics
While many researchers are appropriately focused on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the biological aspects of the Corona virus, it is also imperative that we better understand and develop treatments to address the human and psycho-social implications of this virus. It is not only the patients of Corona who are suffering from this pandemic; the “healthy” population is also affected in large numbers. We have learned from previous crises, there are tools and strategies that can address these invisible consequences; we need to better explore, develop and implement both known and newly developing treatments.
Project 1:
Corona, anxiety and pregnancy:
How to minimize anxiety among pregnant women during the pandemic and other high-stress situations.
Professor Orit Taubman-Ben-Ari, a psychologist at the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work with expertise in life span development, is studying the impact of the Corona pandemic on the levels of anxiety in pregnant women. She is focusing on two important subpopulations that READ MORE
Project 2:
Recruiting and sustaining volunteers in times of national emergency:
How to target and retain the volunteers that are so crucial during the Corona pandemic and other emergencies.
Bar-Ilan sociologist, Professor Liat Kulik of the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, is working with Israel’s National Volunteer Council and Home Front Command to determine the variables relevant in recruiting and sustaining volunteers during a time of emergency. She is developing a READ MORE
Project 3:
Corona and ageism:
How to reduce negative attitudes towards the elderly.
Unfortunately, the Corona pandemic has increased negative attitudes towards the elderly (ageism). Professor Liat Ayalon from the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, an expert in ageism, is exploring which variables are more likely to exacerbate ageism, as well as determine whether READ MORE
Nano-technological Prevention, Treatment and Engineered Diagnosis
One of the tremendous advantages Bar-Ilan has is the strength of its award-winning Institute of Nanotechnology. Over 100 researchers working in 64 advanced laboratories manipulate material in atomic or molecular form. Physicists, chemists and engineers collaborate with professors from our Faculties of Life Sciences and Medicine to advance cutting edge precision treatments for Corona.
Project 1:
Immediate and non-invasive detection of Corona-Associated Symptoms:
Engineering Dean Zeev Zalevsky has developed a camera that uses laser to scan for corona symptoms.
In order to limit the spread of Corona, we need to quickly distinguish the infected from the uninfected in airports, train stations, shopping centers, large offices, and other public areas. Professor Zeev Zalevsky, Dean of the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering, is developing a low-cost READ MORE
Project 2:
A clinical trial for a safer treatment for Corona-affected lungs:
Azrieli Medical Faculty Dean Karl Skorecki is testing a new, less dangerous, and more effective treatment to improve Corona patients’ lungs.
A not insignificant subset of Covid-19 patients progresses to severe lung injury, requiring connection to artificial respiration and ventilation; however, there is a growing body of anecdotal evidence that artificial respiration and ventilation may themselves create greater difficulties for patient recovery. READ MORE
Project 3:
A quicker accurate test for Corona:
Engineering Prof. Amos Danielli has reduced the time needed to test for Corona from 2 hours to 15 minutes.
One of the most critical elements necessary to begin a comprehensive exit strategy from quarantine that includes long-term maintenance, is the ability to quickly test for the Corona virus. Prof. Amos Danielli from the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering is working towards READ MORE
Project 4:
Ultimate protection against Corona:
Prizewinning Chemist Prof. Doron Aurbach has developed a disinfectant that safely and completely kills the corona virus on surfaces.
Covid-19 has proven to be extremely contagious, thus the development of protection against its transmittal is imperative. One of the greatest concerns is that the virus appears to be able to survive on surfaces for a long period of time. Professor Doron Aurbach, international prizewinning electro-chemist, has developed an innovative and inexpensive disinfectant solution that completely kills viruses-including Corona, while remaining safe for humans. The material has been clinically tested by virologists and in hospitals.
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