Israeli Women in Science | Jewish Virtual Library

Women in Israel:
Scientists

by Lisa Snider

With women underrepresented in the fields and technology, Israel has made a concerted effort in recent years to encourage women to enter these fields by promoting their achievements. Israel began working on the issues affecting the advancement of women in scientific fields the country joined the European Research & Development framework program in the mid-1990s.

In 2000, Israel created the Council for the Advancement of Women in Science and Technology, a program that aims to serve as an infrastructure for government actions to help women in these advanced fields. In 2003, the Council published an eye-opening report which showed that at the start of the decade women comprsied only twenty-five percent of all graduates completing degrees in the hard sciences; constituted only twenty-four percent of all senior academic staff in Israel’s higher-education sector; and they represented only twenty-nine percent of all industry workers. Women were only about twenty percent of all people engaged in science and technology in Israel in 2003.

By 2010, the majority of students studying for a university degree in Israel were women, though much remains to be done in order to promote women in science and technology.

The following are some of Israel's exemplary female scientists:

Ada Yonath - Chemistry

2009 Nobel Prize laureate for her work mapping the structure of ribosomes, Yonath has worked in the chemistry department of the Weizmann Institute for over four decades and established the first protein-crystallography laboratory in Israel. Born in Jerusalem, Yonath earned her B.Sc. in chemistry and M.Sc. in biochemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Naama Geva-Zatorsky - Biology

Biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Geva-Zatorsky was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, also known as “Europe’s top young researcher” prize. Her research focuses on probiotics, commonly known as “good bacteria,” which have the potential to treat a range of diseases including life-threatening illnesses.

Eva Jablonka- Genetics

Studies epigenetic inheritance or the study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caused by mechanisms other than changes in the DNA sequence. In 1981 she was awarded the Landau Prize of Israel for exceptional M.Sc. work and in 1988 the Marcus Prize for outstanding Ph.D. work. Born in Poland, Jablonka immigrated to Israel where she is now a professor at the Cohn Institute for the History of Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University.

Dahlia Greidinger - Chemistry

Earned her M.Sc. in chemistry in Switzerland and taught the subject at the Technion, becoming one of Israel's founding figure in the nations chemical industry. A fifth-generation Israeli born in Tel Aviv, Greidinger died of cancer in 1979. The Feinberg Graduate School of the Weizmann Institute of Science awards a fellowship for cancer research from the Dahlia Greidinger Anti-Cancer Fund, established to honor her contributions to the fields of chemistry and fertilization systems.

Michal Biron - Organizational Behavior

Lecturer at the Haifa University Graduate School of Management, Biron received her Ph.D. from the Technion Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management. Biron’s recent research has focused on the value of exercise for breaking the vicious circle of job burnout and depression.

Ruth Arnon - Immunology

Professor of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Arnon studied chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she earned both her B.A. and M.Sc. Her research interests include synthetic vaccines and multiple sclerosis. Her lab work on MS relates to the development of an influenza and anti-cancer vaccine, and the FDA approved the drug Copaxone which Arnon’s lab showed to be clinically beneficial in alleviating multiple sclerosis.

Tali Sharot- Psychology/Neuroscience

B.A. in economics and psychology and a Ph.D. in psychology and neuroscience from New York University. She researches the neuroscience of optimism, emotional memories, and cognitive dissonance. Has had scientific papers published in such top journals such as Nature and Science. In 2011, Sharot published The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain and co-edited The Neuroscience of Preference and Choice.

Miriam Erez - Psychology

Earned her D.Sc. in Behavioral Sciences and Management from the Technion after having studied the field at the Hebrew University. She researches work motivation, cross-cultural organizational psychology, and innovation and creativity. Named the 2005 Israel Prize winner for management science and was also awarded the Distinguished Scientific Contributions to the International Advancement of Applied Psychology in 2002.

Michal Schwartz - Neuroimmunology

Maurice and Ilse Katz Professorial Chair in Neuroimmunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Schwartz's work focuses on the role of innate and adaptive immunity in central nervous system (CNS) plasticity in health and disease. Schwartz was the world pioneer in showing that blood microphages are needed for spinal cord repair, against the ingrained notion that infiltration of immune cells to the CNS should be diminished. Schwartz also pioneered the concept of “protective autoimmunity” and her work has led to a paradigm shift in the perception of key issues in immunology, neurobiology, and adult neural stem cells. Schwartz's work has been published in the highest-ranking journals such as Science and Nature Medicine; and is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Mental Health Research Association’s Distinguished Investigative Award and an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Michal Neeman - Biology

Dean of the Faculty of Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and professor and Helen and Morris Mauerberger Chair in the Department of Biological Sciences. Neeman earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from the Weizmann Institute, worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory before returning to the Institute in 1991. She has developed multiple unique methods for imaging the process of angiogenesis or blood vessel formation and growth, especially in ovarian cancer, when tumor growth often relies on new blood vessels. Neeman is a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and was chair of its 2003 Education Committee, and was also elected in 2008 as a Council Member of the Society for Molecular Imaging.

Varda Rotter - Biology

Norman and Helen Asher Chair of Cancer Research in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Rotter's lab studies the p53 tumor suppressor gene, which plays a crucial role in protecting cells from developing cancer; four important gene clusters that represent the malignant transformation of cells; and prostate cancer. Her lab’s in vitro systems present promising models that can potentially identify gene networks associated with the malignant transformation of cells in general, and specifically in relation to the p53 suppressor gene. Rotter’s work has been published in notable journals such as Cancer Research and The EMBO Journal.

Hagar Gelbard-Sagiv- Neuroscience

Studied the neuronal correlation of memory formation and recollection processes in humans as her Ph.D. work at the Weizmann Institute of Science under the mentorship of Prof. Rafael Malach. In 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization awarded Gelbard-Sagiv one of two prestigious Fellowships for Young Women in Science to further her research outside of Israel on the neuronal basis of conscious perception. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the laboratory of Prof. Christof Koch at Caltech. Gelbard-Sagiv seeks to understand the biological basis of consciousness.

Shafi Goldwasser - Computer Science

RSA Professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Goldwasser studies computational complexity theory, cryptography, and computational number theory and co-invented zero-knowledge proofs. In 2012 she received the Turing Award for her contribution to the field of cryptography.

Osnat Zomer-Penn- Genetics

Expert in the field of autism. Zomer-Penn studies the genome sequences of autistic children compared to those of their healthy parents' DNA. She was the third Israeli to receive the L'Oreal-United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's "Women in Science" Prize in 2013.

Sources:

Ben Gedalyahu, Tzvi.“Two Israel Women Win International Science Awards,” Israel National News, March 6, 2011.
Ghert-Zand, Renee. “Israeli Scientists Isolate Nearsightedness Gene,” The Forward, September 8, 2011.
Mandell, Meredith. “Israeli female scientist Naama Geva-Zatorsky named Europe’s top young researcher,” JTA, April 9, 2012.
“Michal Schwartz,” Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Neurobiology, accessed June 25, 2012.
Messer-Yaron, Hagit. "Science in Israel." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive “Hagar Gelbard-Sagiv, Ph.D.” University of California Los Angeles.
Historical Encyclopedia. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. June 25, 2012.
“Professor Ruth Arnon,” Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Immunology, July 6, 2011.
“Prof. Michal Neeman | Biology,” Weizmann Institute of Science, 2012.
“Prof. Varda Rotter, Research Activities,” Weizmann Institute for Science, October 22, 2009.
Sharot, Tali. “The Author,” Tali Sharot website, 2011.
Wood, Janice. “Burning Calories Avoids Burnout at Work,” PsychCentral, February 24, 2012.
Wikipedia: Dahlia Greidinger; Ruth Arnon

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Women in Israel: Scientists

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