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Hebrew U. to Create New Medical Nanotechnology Center with World-Renowned Cleveland Clinic

The Cleveland Clinic and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced the formation of a new online Center for Transformative Nanomedicine, David Shamah, the technology reporter for The Times of Israel reported on Monday.

In this new “virtual global center,” much of the work by both institutions will be done online — a novelty in medical research, in which doctors and scientists usually interface in person in order to develop new technologies.

A potentially transformative new dimension of medical research, nanomedicine is a “remarkably precise technology [that] allows delivery of large doses of drugs to be released at a specific site and only to that site, causing fewer side effects than many traditional treatments,” Hebrew University said. “Nanotechnology enables doctors to deliver medications to select sites, preventing drugs from degrading in the body before reaching targeted sites because the minuscule particles are protected.”

In addition, the school said, nanotechnology can be used to create inexpensive devices that facilitate therapy and new ways of diagnosing disease. This technology also promises to save money and time. Often, doctors can run tests in their office rather than send samples to a laboratory.

Menachem Ben-Sasson, president of The Hebrew University, said, “Our two institutions will leverage resources and begin to combine our scientific knowledge. These powerful interactions will expedite better medical treatments, more rapid, cost-effective diagnostics, and improved healthcare delivery for people the world over.”

The Hebrew University, which is affiliated with five hospitals and known for its expertise in nanotechnology and molecular modeling, has a strong record of commercializing many of its medical innovations. The Cleveland Clinic is regularly ranked among the top American hospitals and has been the home of numerous medical innovations, including coronary artery bypass surgery and face transplants.

The Cleveland Clinic produced an informational video to describe the collaboration between the two institutions.

[Photo: Cleveland Clinic / YouTube ]