Modesty, brilliance and hard work

A conversation with Dr. Shulamit Levenberg, the Israeli scientist from the Technion who was chosen as one of the fifty leading scientists of "Scientific American" for 2006

By Deborah Jacobi

When I entered Dr. Shulamit Levenberg's office in the Biomedical Engineering building at the Technion, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. It appears that a group of girls, led by a modest guide from the Bnei Akiva movement, invaded the office and the laboratories from the pine-clad hills of Carmel. I couldn't be further from the truth. The group of young researchers, who are led with a sure hand by Dr. Shulamit Levenberg, includes master's students, doctoral students and post-doctoral students of both sexes. But I was not mistaken in my impression of the atmosphere of cooperation, ease, quiet, modesty and thoroughness that characterizes the group. The first obvious question was, of course, what led the American magazine "Scientific American" to choose Dr. Levenberg as one of the fifty leading scientists in the world in 2006. The answer, modest but free of condescension, was: "I really don't know." Flipping through the pages of important scientific journals, including this issue (run page XX) will show the obvious reasons for the choice.

The use of different types of stem cells, whether they originate from animals or humans, as a key point for the growth of living tissues is currently at the forefront of biomedical research. To allow the growth of the tissues as a three-dimensional body, and not as a thin membrane in a Petri dish, a "scaffold" is built from synthetic polymers. In various and imaginative ways many pores are created within the scaffold. The stem cells find a place for them inside the pores, home in and begin to multiply, differentiate and create living tissue with desired properties. When the XNUMXD structure of a living tissue is created, a structure supported by the polymer scaffold, it is possible to transplant the block of tissue into the body of an animal. With the passage of time, the synthetic scaffold degrades by itself and the tissue integrates completely within the living organ in which it was implanted.

The problems start already at the stage of transplanting the tissue. Even in real tissue, such as that taken from a living body, blood supply problems arise due to difficulty in connecting the blood vessels between the transplanted tissue and the organ in which it was transplanted. It's easy for such problems to arise in the transplantation of engineered tissue, such as was conceived with stem cells grown in a Petri dish. The breakthrough of Shulamit Levenberg and her group focuses on the type of stem cells that grow on the surface of the polymer scaffold. The cells that are "seeded" on the surface of the scaffold are of three types: myoblastic cells that turn into muscle fibers as the tissue develops, fibroblastic cells that turn into smooth muscle tissue and the great innovation of Levenberg and her colleagues: endothelial cells - cells that line the inside of the blood vessels. These latter cells grow, in due course, blood vessels. The engineered tissue can therefore not only grow as a three-dimensional block of muscle, but also produce blood vessels within it that will be able to connect to the blood vessels of the tissue in which it will be transplanted and circulate the blood that is essential for the survival of the transplanted tissue. The role of the endothelial cells is not limited to being a starting point for the formation of blood vessels. They also play an important role in the way the different cells in the tissue communicate with each other and send vital signals that cause the growing tissue to organize itself in the correct structure.

The research field of tissue engineering is littered with dreams of growing artificial organs and repairing damaged organs by transplanting engineered tissues. In order to realize these dreams, the cooperation of scientists from different fields is necessary - biologists, chemists, engineers and, of course, doctors. Shulamit Levenberg started as a biologist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. After her first degree, she was accepted into a direct path to a doctorate at the Weizmann Institute of Science under the guidance of Professor Benny Geiger in the field of molecular biology. She did her postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she stayed for 5 years as a research fellow. Returning to Israel was self-evident to Shulamit Levenberg: "...because this is home. This is the place where we, my husband and I, want to live." When she is asked about difficulties in conducting international research that requires expensive technological and human resources, from a small Israeli corner at the Technion, she says that the only difficulty, compared to her work at a prestigious American institute with large budgets, is the time that must be devoted to writing applications for research grants, which she needs to continue and equip her beautifully maintained laboratory. So far, she says with typical modesty, she has been lucky. "Could you compare your work ability here and there?" According to Dr. Levenberg, in Israel, as in the United States, there are excellent universities and research institutes. The American research students may differ from their Israeli counterparts in some characteristics, but here, as there, there are excellent research forces and possibilities to develop and develop.

I dare to touch on the female-family point: "No, there is no contradiction between conducting international research and family life and raising children. It's a matter of proper organization. If you work efficiently it is possible," she says. The admission that as a woman and if she needs to work harder had to be extracted from the mouth of the scientist, who is 37 years old and a mother of young children, almost by force.

The stem cells that Dr. Levenberg works with are taken from animal embryos, but also from human embryos. The origin of the human embryos in fertility treatments: eggs that were fertilized and taken for research after some of them were implanted in the uterus of women with fertility difficulties. According to the belief of Christian currents, the fetus is a human being with a soul from the moment of fertilization. The believers of these currents therefore have a religious and ethical difficulty in using the fertilized eggs, which in fact at this stage are a mass of several hundred cells that have not yet differentiated into their final roles in the body, cells called stem cells. In the United States, there is a public uproar regarding the use of stem cells of human origin. "How does your research on stem cells derived from human embryos fit with the Jewish religion in particular and with ethics in general?" The observant scientist enlightens my eyes. According to the Jewish religion, a group of cells in a test tube is not a human being. She also mentions that according to Judaism, if a medical dilemma arises that requires a choice between the life of the mother and the life of the fetus, a fetus that has already completed its full development, the life of the mother must be preferred over the life of the fetus. Therefore, working with embryonic stem cells, cells that do not have an independent existence and are very far from being a complete embryo, is acceptable and not prohibited. What's more, stem cell research leads to finding new ways of healing, so not only is it allowed - it's desirable.

"Where will you be in 10 years?" The 37-year-old scientist says she doesn't know where she will be, but she knows where she wants to be. She hopes that she will continue to engage in research that will promote the possibility of helping people and that she can be a helping hand in the establishment and education of a new generation of researchers.

When I walked down the pine-covered road of the Technion I knew that I had experienced an encounter with a person who brings together qualities that seem to be opposite to each other, but which come together to make a whole that exceeds its parts - modesty with brilliance, pleasant and soft with a sharp mind and hard work, a scientist and a woman.

The author is a member of the Scientific American Israel team and the chemistry coordinator at Hamada, the center for scientific education in Tel Aviv.

The tissue embroidery made by the institute
From the institute magazine

Dr. Shulamit Levenberg. everything is open
The guest of the section: Dr. Shulamit Levenberg, who was chosen as one of the list of the 50 leading scientists in the world by Scientific American
"My two guides are always standing before my eyes. When I come across questions related to working with students, I try to think how they would behave"

Dr. Shulamit Levenberg, as defined in 2006 by Scientific American magazine, is a global scientific leader in the field of tissue engineering. As such, she was included in the list of the top 50 scientists in the world compiled by the prestigious journal. Dr. Levenberg, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion, is a graduate of the Feinberg Seminary at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and attributes her education and scientific training to the years she studied at the seminary, a period that shaped her approach to research and problem solving, and largely determined her future path.
Levenberg's interest in scientific research arose during her undergraduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, when she worked in the laboratory of Prof. Yanon Ben Naria, at the Faculty of Medicine in Ein Kerem. The decision to continue working and developing in this field led her to graduate studies at the Feinberg Midrash of the Weizmann Institute of Science. "There is a special atmosphere of research at the institute," she says. "You can also feel it in the lawns and paths. People come here who have chosen the field and love it." Levenberg recalls the round of rotations for the master's degree: the unique approach of the Feinberg seminary, which allows the master's degree students to experience a variety of fields and research methods before choosing the subject on which they will focus. "This method," says Dr. Levenberg, "was one of the reasons I chose the Feinberg seminary of the Weizmann Institute. Here you can be admitted to graduate studies - and everything is still open. You can still experiment in a number of interesting fields, and be exposed to different approaches."
One of the experiences etched in Dr. Levenberg's memory at that time is related to a short experience she had in Prof. Ofer Lider's laboratory. There she learned that it is possible to conduct scientific research, and to achieve achievements also in a calm and quiet way (for Prof. Ofer Lider, and for the creation award given in his memory, see page 36 of this issue). In the laboratory of Prof. Yossi Shaul, she had a different kind of experience, when she worked under the guidance of a brilliant research student, who loved and lived science, and radiated his love and enthusiasm to the young students. "I was lucky," she says, "the heads of the laboratories and the students
They taught me a lot, and beyond the technical methods they gave me essential tools: how to think, how to solve problems, how to plan an experiment."
The third round that Dr. Levenberg did, in the laboratory of Prof. Benny Giger, led her to a direct path to a doctorate. She describes this period of time as a period of scientific initiation. She felt the need and duty to pass on the scientific education she received, and during her doctoral studies she tutored in the youth activity unit of the institute.
She nostalgically remembers social events of the research group, meetings in the corridors, and walks in the orchards near the institute. It was a particularly intense period, since at the same time as her scientific work she married and raised a family. Prof. Benny Giger gives great independence to the research students working in his laboratory, and trusts in their motivation, which allows them to plan their time and place the family high in the order of priorities. Dr. Levenberg's doctoral thesis
Focused on communication between cells. Through Prof. Giger's collaborations with scientists from the field of materials science, microscopy and computing, she learned to integrate information coming from other research directions. "Prof Giger's ability to recognize the potential of different and distant fields, to talk to people from different fields, and to bring them together, in order to produce a result that exceeds the sum of its components, gave me inspiration and courage," she says. When she finished her doctoral thesis at the institute, Dr. Levenberg decided to continue a research path, and joined as a post-doctoral researcher in the multidisciplinary laboratory of Prof. Robert Langer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, which deals with tissue engineering. There she worked alongside engineers, computer specialists, chemists and biologists. The research she carried out in this framework, which earned her recognition from Scientific American magazine, is an important milestone in the attempts to produce artificial tissue, which could be used, in the future, to replace damaged human tissues. together with the team
The multidisciplinary Dr. Levenberg was able to produce muscle tissue, including a network of blood vessels,
which was successfully implanted in mice. The tissue was absorbed, and even attracted new blood vessels, which are essential for feeding the transplanted cells. In this way, the scientists managed to overcome one of the main problems that prevented the successful absorption of transplanted tissues. Upon completion of the post-doctoral research
Dr. Levenberg returned to Israel, and was accepted as a researcher at the Technion. Today she heads a laboratory in the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, and continues her research in the field of tissue engineering. In addition to the daily challenges of scientific research, Dr. Levenberg faces new challenges, such as ongoing management of a laboratory, teaching and student guidance. In front of her eyes are always her two supervisors and educators, Prof. Benny Giger from the Weizmann Institute of Science,
and Prof. Robert Langer of MIT. When she comes across questions related to working with students - she adds that she uses them: "I try to think about how they would behave, and learn from the knowledge
and from their experience."

Editors' note - Scientific American - published in the February-March 2007 issue
Pride in view of the achievements of science in Israel and concern for the future on her side

In this issue of Scientific American Israel we present the list of the top 50 in science and technology for 2006 selected by the Scientific American system. This year, too, we were happy to find an Israeli representative, Dr. Shulamit Levenberg from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion, who was chosen as a "scientific leader" in the field of tissue engineering. A member of the editorial team of the magazine in Israel, Dr. Deborah Jacobi, visited her laboratory and reviewed the visit in the "Spotlight" section on page 20.

Dr. Levenberg is a researcher at the Russell Berry Institute for Nanotechnology and a member of the Technion's Stem Cell Center. In 2005, she published a joint study with Professor Robert Langer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, recipient of the Technion's "Harvey" award. The study was a breakthrough in the creation of human tissue parts. They succeeded in producing tissues artificially in a method that brings the research closer to its goal The final - tissues for various medical uses, and among them - replacements for damaged organs. The achievements of Dr. Levenberg and her colleagues bring us closer to the day when the saying that "the body has no spare parts" will no longer be valid.

Indeed, the achievements of Israeli scientists such as Shulamit Levenberg, culminating in the winning of the Nobel Prize by Professors Hershko, Chechenover and Uman, make us proud of the achievements of science in Israel. If so, why the concern on her side? The creative house of our scientific and technological power is the universities and research institutes. As we know, the economic success of the high technology and its contribution to the growth of the economy is fueled first of all by the excellent scientific and technological manpower, which receives its training in our academic studios.

Apparently, the picture also looks rosy according to the data of the statistical yearbook for Israel for 2006. R&D spending in Israel is about 4.5% of GDP, more than any other developed country. In terms of expenditure per capita, only Sweden is ahead of us. However, the optimistic picture loses a lot of value, when you look at the distribution of financing factors in the same yearbook, it becomes clear that the share of the business sector, both in Israel and abroad, is the dominant one. The government's share (according to the 2002 data) is only 5.4%, and this share is also shrinking, especially in recent years. It is not difficult to assume that the private sector focuses mainly on high technology and start-up companies, and much less on universities and research institutes. Moreover, due to the lack of government funding, areas of research on infrastructure issues such as the energy economy, the water economy, land transport, environmental quality and medicine are neglected. In his appearance before the Knesset's Science and Technology Committee, the chairman of the National Council for Civil R&D, Professor Dan Zaslavsky from the Technion, stated that "the economic picture of macroeconomics is that the return on investment in R&D is between 20 times 50, not 20% or 50 %". He gives examples from several fields, such as medicine and energy: "To this day, there is an income from the past fruits of about 3.5 billion dollars a year from Israeli R&D that was done several decades ago." The business sector does not have time to wait decades, naturally it is looking for "returns now" and quickly, and unfortunately is not enthusiastic about directly supporting the funding of basic research.

Against this background, the government's failure to cut funding for universities is especially noticeable. This is what Hebrew University President Prof. Menachem Magidor said at the Knesset Science and Technology Committee meeting on November 28, 2006, which discussed the consequences of the decrease in R&D budgets in the 2007 budget: "Cuts in research will have consequences concerning the future of Israel. In the last six years, there has been a constant erosion of budgets. The damage is to the reception of faculty members, laboratories, libraries, basic equipment and routine maintenance. More and more Israeli scientists are not returning to Israel and the heart just aches for the excellent minds we are losing. The problem is not necessarily the salary, but mainly the level of research we can provide them. All over the world the trend is the opposite and they are investing more and more in R&D. We will feel the brunt of the damage in five to ten years."

We have the duty to convince and influence the policy makers and decision makers in the government ministries concerned, to increase the investment in the R&D budgets, in order to establish the economic resilience of the State of Israel
From right to left, standing behind: Ilana Savnai, Eli Zamir. Seated: Einat Sdot, Shulamit Levenberg, Tova Walberg, Benny Giger, Ina Goychberg, Debi Flossberg, Anat Yordan, Anna Lubimova, Alexander Bershadsky. Front: Zvi Kam, Uri Alon