Leadership. Research. Resilience.
Dear Friends,
2024 was a year filled with challenges and hope for those of us who are connected to Israel.
Like all people in Israel, we at the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program are hoping for an end to the war and a return to our normal lives, and to continue doing what we do best: supporting basic research and advancing US-Israeli academic relations.
During the past year, several Zuckerman scholars were called to serve in the army, necessary equipment and testing were delayed, and scholars were sometimes forced to close their labs temporarily.
Now, most have resumed their research and are looking ahead to more peaceful times. A few North American postdoctoral scholars who left Israel at the beginning of the war have since returned to continue their research. For the current academic year, we have recruited eight talented postdoctoral scholars from North America, and nine exceptional faculty scholars, filling us with hope for another successful year. We also supported six new Israeli postdocs at their respective US universities.
We are extremely proud of the unprecedented number of grants and awards given to our Zuckerman faculty scholars in 2024. This not only serves as a testament to their resilience, persistence, and leadership, it embodies the approach that science must take the long road. Our scholars believe their work must continue, even in challenging times.
We salute our outstanding partner, Israel’s Council for Higher Education, for their steady cooperation and confidence in our mission.
Finally, we remain optimistic about what 2025 will bring, and we are grateful to you for supporting our mission!
Lina Deshilton, Executive Director
Zuckerman Israel Institute
2024 SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
Zuckerman STEM Scholars fuel progress and hope, redefining the possible.
What happens to the stomach after sleeve gastrectomy bariatric surgery?
Danny Ben-Zvi
Zuckerman Faculty Scholar at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Nano tools enable faster diagnosis
Gili Bisker
Zuckerman Faculty Scholar at Tel Aviv University
Protection against new privacy threats found in AI assistant programs
Yisroel Mirsky
Zuckerman Faculty Scholar at Ben-Gurion University
The science of intermittent fasting: How the liver remembers
Ido Goldstein
Zuckerman Faculty Scholar at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
New photonics approach enhances quantum computation efficiency
Yaron Bromberg
Zuckerman Faculty Scholar at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Opening new routes for kidney therapy
Moran-Dvela Levitt
Zuckerman Faculty Scholar at Bar-Ilan University
The groundbreaking achievements of Zuckerman scientists span a remarkable spectrum of discovery and innovation. From securing prestigious awards and highly competitive research grants to publishing pioneering studies in the most respected journals, Zuckerman scholars consistently demonstrate excellence in their respective STEM fields.
All share a common goal: a deep commitment to technology and scientific advancement, coupled with a bold, creative approach to problem-solving.
With that, our Zuckerman scholars have fostered a legacy of breakthrough discoveries that continue to shape our understanding of the world around us.
We are immensely proud of the impressive contributions made by our community of researchers in the past year. Despite the ongoing war in Israel and continuing challenges in operating their labs, Zuckerman Faculty Scholars continued their research, leading to six groundbreaking discoveries that will have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of so many.
RESULTS-DRIVEN
Markers of excellence
Over the past eight years, we have consistently raised the bar for scientific excellence and leadership development. This aligns with our vision of cultivating the next generation of leaders as they begin their scientific careers, a strategy that has proven to be a success.
Scholars
Labs
Participating
Universities
IN 2024
IN 2024
IN 2024
ERC Grants
Other Research Grants
Women
Zuckerman Faculty Scholar Dr. Yaara Oren (r), pictured with her researchers at her lab at Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Medicine.
ISRAEL’S BRAIN GAIN
Establishing a record number of advanced STEM labs in Israel
Opening one’s own laboratory marks the beginning of a new and exciting phase in a researcher’s career. In 2024, the Zuckerman Faculty Scholars Program welcomed nine new faculty members to eight Israeli research universities and supported the establishment of nine new labs.
The Zuckerman Faculty Scholars Program encourages Israeli researchers who have completed postdoctoral STEM studies in the US and Canada to return to Israel and apply for a faculty position at one of Israel’s eight research universities. Once accepted, the Program will support each scholar with funding to build a customized research lab based on to their needs and specifications.
The journey of building a lab
Alex Brodsky Ben-Gurion University
David Deutsch University of Haifa
Osip Schwatz Weizmann Institute
In 2024, nine new faculty scholars returned to Israel
Watch as Zuckerman Faculty Scholar Dr. Yisroel Mirsky describes his fascinating research at his Offensive AI Research Lab at Ben-Gurion University.
PARTNERSHIP
Our partnership with the Council for Higher Education in Israel (CHE) continues to boost excellence and cutting-edge research.
The State of Israel’s Council for Higher Education (CHE) determines policy for all Israeli universities and supports the Mortimer B. Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program, promoting and encouraging globalization and collaboration.
Since 2018, the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program has benefitted greatly from this strategic partnership. We salute this strong, fruitful, and trusted collaboration, a pinnacle of our success in advancing higher education in Israel.
Zuckerman Faculty Scholar Dr. Moran Yadid heads the Yadid Regenerative Bioengineering Lab at Bar-Ilan University, where she develops advanced in vitro models, including organ-on-chip and organoids, to study human physiology and disease.
GRANTS, AWARDS AND HOPE
Zuckerman scholars hold an impressive record for follow-on funding and awards from the world’s most prestigious organizations
ERC Grants
SCHOLARS HAVE RECEIVED
ERC GRANTS SINCE 2018
2024 ERC Grants
TO ARIELLA GLASNER
TO NADAV COHEN
TO TAL IRAM
TO YANIV ROMANO
TO DANNY BEN-ZVI
Other notable research grants & awards in 2024
Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in Israel
Israel Science Foundation
Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research
Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research
Young Academy of Europe
Progress and Hope
In the wake of unprecedented challenges, Zuckerman Scholars have emerged as critical contributors to Israel’s ongoing reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts following the events of October 7th. We are especially proud of Dr. Ben-Zvi and Dr. Fischer for their significant contributions, as outlined below.
They truly embody the transformative power of scientific research and human compassion.
Spreading Knowledge
Danny Ben-Zvi Faculty Scholar, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
School of Health Professions in the Western Negev: A Blueprint for Regional Health and Recovery
A School of Health Professions at Sapir College, in partnership with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), is planned to open on the Sapir campus in the Western Negev, just 2 miles from the Gaza border. The new initiative hopes to ease the critical shortage of healthcare professionals in the Western Negev, contributing to the region’s recovery and revitalization with an influx of excellent faculty, staff, and health professionals who will offer prestigious research opportunities to top students from the region and beyond.
Rehabilitation Forward
Arielle Fischer Faculty Scholar, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Recipient of the 2025 Peres Center for Peace and Innovation’s Medal of Distinction
Dr. Fischer was recognized as one of Israel’s inspiring women providing innovative solutions to the rehabilitative challenges of October 7th and its aftermath by the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation.
Congratulations on being recognized as one of Israel’s groundbreaking researchers!
POSTDOCS
During an incredibly challenging time in Israel, many postdocs scholars remained in their labs and continued advancing their research.
Zuckerman scholars are empowering others to follow their example and conduct research in Israel. We are happy to share some of their stories
“Why Israel?”
Shoshana Ginsburg Postdoc at Technion
Towards the end of my PhD work, I decided I wanted to continue doing research in an academic lab setting. I have always loved visiting Israel, and I wanted the opportunity to come for an extended time to truly experience the country and the culture.
Patrick Gray Postdoc (Alum) at University of Haifa
I’ve had a fantastic time and was able to explore several high-risk high-reward projects. I plan to continue working closely with both Yoav Lehahn and Emmanuel Boss, and hope to come back to Israel soon.
Jeremy Gabriel Postdoc (Alum) at University of Haifa
My time as a Zuckerman Postdoctoral Scholar was a very rewarding experience, giving me the chance to be part of a great initiative to promote international collaboration in STEM research. It was particularly meaningful to return to Israel to work with Dr. Beverly Goodman, whom I first worked with on a field season at Caesarea as an undergraduate student at McMaster University.
We welcomed eight new postdoc scholars to the program in 2024
The Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program provides scholarships to young North American scientists to pursue their research at Israeli universities. Upon their return to the US or Canada, many postdocs secure university faculty positions, propagating a cycle of excellence and academic exchange.
ISRAELI POSTDOCS
The Zuckerman Cycle of Excellence
Kfir Sulimany MIT (from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Kfir Sulimany completed a PhD in the lab of Zuckerman Faculty Scholar Prof. Yaron Bromberg at Hebrew University’s Racah Institute of Physics.t He worked on quantum networks, discovering sources of entangled photons in a high-dimensional space, techniques for controlling high-dimensional states, and quantum key distribution protocols that benefit from the unique quantum properties of such states.Dr. Sulimay is currently doing his postdoctoral research at MIT’s he Research Laboratory for Electronics. He is the lead author of a recently published paper in Nature, entitled “High-dimensional coherent one-way quantum key distribution.”
Noam Razin Princeton University (from Tel Aviv University)
Noam Razin is a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton Language + Intelligence, where he focuses on the foundations of modern machine learning. Through a combination of mathematical and empirical analyses, he aims to develop theories that shed light on how neural networks operate and to develop principled methods for improving their efficiency, reliability, and performance.
His paper, “The Implicit Bias of Structured State Space Models Can Be Poisoned With Clean Labels” was published in a journal on machine learning.
Dr. Razin completed his PhD in Computer Science at Tel Aviv University, in the lab of Prof. Nadav Cohen, a 2019 Zuckerman postdoctoral scholar. He also received fellowships from Apple Scholars in AI/ML and the Tel Aviv University Center for AI & Data Science, interned at Apple Machine Learning Research and the Microsoft Recommendations Team.
Rana Shahout Harvard University (from from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology)
Rana Shahout is doing her postdoc at Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. She is the recipient of the prestigious Eric and Wendy Schmidt Postdoctoral Award for Women in Mathematical and Computing Sciences. Dr. Shahout’s research bridges the theoretical and practical worlds, focusing on the development of novel data structures and probabilistic algorithms for optimizing large-scale machine learning and networking systems
Her new paper (under review), is based on a previous conference paper she presented at the 2025 International Conference on Learning Representations, entitled “Don’t Stop Me Now: Embedding Based Scheduling for LLMs.” In it, she explains that efficient scheduling is important for applications using large language models (LLMs) to ensure quick responses and keep users engaged. It introduces TRAIL, a new approach that results in significantly faster response times compared to existing systems.
Aviv Karnieli Stanford University (from Tel Aviv University)
Aviv Karnieli is conducting his postdoctoral research in the Department of Applied Physics at Stanford University, where he hopes to promote advancements in quantum computers.
Dr. Karnieli presented his latest research on “Coherent Generation of Decoherence-Free States in Nonlinear Waveguide Quantum Electrodynamics” at the Optical Society’s annual meeting in Denver last September.
For his PhD in Physics at Tel Aviv University, Dr. Karnieli researched classical and quantum nonlinear optical interactions as well as interactions of free electrons with light and matter. He was supported by the prestigious Adams fellowship of the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities, awarded nationwide to eight PhD students from all academic fields.
In 2024, the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program provided stipends to six Israeli scholars, enabling them to pursue postdoctoral research at American universities.
