The President of the State awarded scholarships totaling NIS 2 million to the ten outstanding researchers in the field of brain research

The researchers received the scholarships for their research that will lead to scientific breakthroughs in the fields of: activating limbs in disabled and paralyzed people with innovative technologies; Development of revolutionary treatment methods for Alzheimer's and memory problems; treatment of attention disorders and autism of children and adults; treatment of severe vision problems with advanced computerized tools; deciphering the brain's desires to treat diseases such as schizophrenia; New methods for treating pain and improving anti-depressant drugs

President Shimon Peres today (Monday) awarded ten young scientists, brain researchers, some of the most outstanding in their field, with research scholarships of NIS 200 each, to promote groundbreaking brain research in Israel, in a festive ceremony held today at the President's residence in Jerusalem. The president of the country, who leads the encouragement and promotion of Israel to a world power in brain research, spoke at the event and said: "Israel can become a world power in brain research. The creativity, the thinking outside the box and the daring, create fertile ground for a scientific breakthrough". The president addressed the outstanding doctoral students and said: "In the name of the people of Israel, I am happy and proud of you for investing your lives and talents to create a better world. I am convinced that you will succeed in this noble task. Thank you".

The Chairman of the Judging Committee, Professor Yadin Dodai, thanked the President for his work to promote brain research and emphasized that the President's scholarships for outstanding doctoral students in the field of brain research, which were awarded today, are an important milestone in encouraging groundbreaking Israeli research and science in the field of brain research. Professor Dudai also commented and said that: "A large part of the research that these guys carry out, can lead to a breakthrough in life-saving issues. If we know how the brain works we can develop new technologies that will improve quality of life and save lives. Israel must be the global spearhead of the brain - we are in a window of time where science is maturing, the biological tools make it possible, and therefore it is time for breakthroughs in the field of the brain."

The President's Scholarships for Scientific Excellence and Innovation are being awarded for the first year to outstanding Israeli doctoral students in the field of brain research, in order to encourage high-quality academic research, stimulate groundbreaking scientific work and bring about the advancement of scientific excellence and innovation in Israel.

President Shimon Peres has made it his goal for several years to make Israel an international center of advanced research in the field of the brain and brain technologies. Starting in 2010, the president explains his vision in the field of neuroscience at conferences in Israel and around the world, before the world of academia, research and medicine, and works to promote brain research in Israel in a variety of ways. At the request of the President of the country and with the assistance of the McKinsey global consulting company, a comprehensive plan was deployed by the best experts on how to turn Israel into a world center for brain research. In March 2011, the joint brain research group was launched and a research cooperation agreement was signed with the Polytechnic Institute of Switzerland in Lausanne and the Brain Research Institute of the Hebrew University in the capacity of the country's president. In the past year (2013), the path was also broken with the European Union's announcement of the crowning of the "Human Brain Project" as the scientific flagship of the Union and the announcement that they will invest in a huge project for brain research in the amount of 1.2 billion dollars for the next decade. The same project, by the way, was born in Israel.

The winning doctoral students are engaged in innovative and fascinating fields of neuroscience and represent an impressive young community of scientific research in Israel. To this end, a special judging committee examined hundreds of young researchers in Israel and selected the ten leading researchers, in fields that could lead to a scientific breakthrough that would contribute to humanity. Along with scholastic excellence defined as a threshold condition for receiving the scholarship, the expert committee members ranked the candidates according to criteria that included: level, excellence and academic achievements, innovation and originality of the research program, and recommendations from leading supervisors and researchers in the field.
It should be noted that the allocation of scholarship funds to the President's House is given by the Estates Committee at the Ministry of Justice. The scholarships amount to NIS 200,000 per scholarship recipient, and will be distributed to the winners through the educational institutions, over 3 years. The judging committee consists of nine members, including: a representative of the Estates Committee, a representative of the President's House and 7 renowned experts in neuroscience headed by Professor Yadin Dodai.

The seven winning young scientists are:

30-year-old Shiri Ron, who completed her bachelor's degree in medical laboratory science with high honors at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and her master's degree in neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, researching an innovative method of receiving and activating the activity of nerve cells with the help of light, the control of brain areas responsible for our ability to think , imagine and make decisions in order to help decipher and cure diseases such as autism and schizophrenia.

Uri Osami, 30 years old, is doing his doctoral thesis at Tel Aviv University, his research focuses on the mechanisms of the human brain that control the movement of the limbs, with the aim of developing more effective treatment for the paralyzed and injured with innovative technologies.

Avital Hachmi, 30 years old, graduated with honors with a bachelor's degree in biology and psychology and a master's degree in neurobiology, researches changes in the transfer of information between neural networks in the human brain, and uses brain imaging in healthy people and data obtained from patients in order to understand perception and decision-making processes for effective diagnosis and treatment of various disorders, especially autism.

28-year-old Boaz Mohar, who graduated with honors from his bachelor's degree in neuroscience and computing at Bar-Ilan University, and then a master's degree in biology at the neurobiology department of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Researches the processing processes in the brain of information coming from the sense of touch and touch and develops innovative methods of electrical recording in the brain with the aim of creating innovative and advanced treatments for pain relief.
31-year-old Tohar Shion Jordan is a doctoral research student in the Neural Computational Program at the Hebrew University who studies the mechanisms that allow the auditory system in the brain to distinguish between rare and common sounds in order to understand learning processes and help those suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Mor Bentov - researches the visual system, in order to help treat vision problems using advanced computer tools. Graduated with a bachelor's degree with honors and a master's degree in biomedical engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, doing her doctoral thesis under the supervision of Prof. Ronan Segev at Ben-Gurion University.

32-year-old Niv Regev, who studies the memory mechanisms in the brain with the aim of leading in the future to alleviating memory disorders in Alzheimer's patients and improving the learning of students. Graduated with a bachelor's and master's degree in cognitive sciences at the Hebrew University, where he is doing his doctoral thesis.

Rita Peretz graduated with a bachelor's and master's degree with honors in electrical and electronics engineering from Tel Aviv University. Led the development of an innovative communication intelligence system in the aerospace industry. She is doing her doctorate under the guidance of Dr. Roni Paz in the Department of Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Researches the effect of anti-depressant drugs on a daily basis on the minds of tens of millions of people around the world who take them, with the aim of contributing to the development of more effective drugs in the future.

26-year-old Hiba Zidan, who studies how a mother's extreme stress and tension before pregnancy is harmful to fetuses, and what are the mechanisms in the brain responsible for this harmful intergenerational transmission. The purpose of her research is to prevent, among other things, the transmission of traumatic phenomena to fetuses in their mother's womb. She is doing her doctoral thesis in the Department of Psychology at the University of Haifa.

Daniel Reznik - Bachelor's degree with honors in psychology, sociology and anthropology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His research focuses on deciphering the actions of the brain based on human free will, with the aim of promoting treatment of diseases such as schizophrenia. Carrying out the doctoral thesis under the guidance of Dr. Roi Mochmal at Tel Aviv University.