Beilinson Friends Forum hosts event for Israeli cancer innovation

The Samueli Integrative Cancer Pioneering Institute, named in honor of American donors Susan and Henry Samueli, will be dedicated to innovation in cancer medicine. The progressive center, to be built at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, was enabled by a $25 million donation by the couple.

The Beilinson Friends Forum hosted the event, together with the Friends of Rabin Medical Center and Beilinson and Hasharon Hospitals, at Tel Aviv’s Hilton Hotel in the presence of the donating couple, hundreds of guests and medical staff, as well as innovators in cancer medicine. They celebrated the inauguration of the Samueli Integrative Cancer Pioneering Institute as a potential turning point in cancer treatment.

The event also held a panel discussion, entitled “Invention: Ingenuity or Opportunity?” The panel was led by Prof. Gal Markel, of Tel Aviv University, an oncology specialist, and the chief scientist of S Sheba Hospital’s Ella Lemelbaum Institute for Immuno-Oncology.

Other panelists included the co-founder and CEO of Beyond Biologics, Dr. Tehila Ben Moshe, Reichman University provost Prof. Varda Liberman, and Prof. Elyakim Rubinstein, former vice president of the Supreme Court. Henry Samueli also participated in the panel discussion.

Pini Cohen, chairman of the Friends of Rabin Medical Center, said “I feel great pride in being part of the special family of Rabin Medical Center and its friends – a family that turns a vision into saving lives; a family that pulsates with the Israeli and humane spirit of caring and generosity; a family that to be a part of, is to see Israel at its best.”

He further emphasized the massive benefits provided by the Samuelis’ donation.

“This is a rare contribution in its scope, and in combination with the support of Clalit [health fund], we will be capable of producing meteoric progress in the field of cancer,” said Dr. Eytan Wirtheim, CEO of Rabin Medical Center.