Yaakov Nahmias, Ph.D.

A minuscule model of a human heart, the size of a grain of rice, has been created in Israel. With the potential to put an end to the often criticized animal testing by pharmaceutical companies.

In a major breakthrough, a collaborative team of Israeli researchers has unveiled a miniature human heart model that could potentially transform drug testing and cardiovascular research, providing alternatives to animal testing. The self-paced multi-chambered human heart model – no larger than a grain of rice – promises to revolutionize the way the heart and its functions are studied.

The team was led by Yaakov Nahmias, a bioengineering professor from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and included scientists from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and Rehovot-based Tissue Dynamics Ltd., which is devoted to animal-free drug development… Continue reading.

There are 1.5 million cases of drug-induced kidney toxicity each year in the U.S. Among the usual suspects are cyclosporin and cisplatin, a pair of widely used chemotherapy drugs. Because both are considered lifesaving therapies, research into mitigating the kidney damage they cause is vital to improving treatment for cancer patients. Using a kidney-specific tissue-on-a-chip technology, researchers from Grass Center for Bioengineering at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the biotech company Tissue Dynamics have uncovered the mechanism that causes kidney damage from these drugs, as well as a treatment to prevent or reverse nephrotoxicity. The findings are published in Science Translational Medicine.

Using human tissue cells in a microfluidic environment that mimics the function of the kidney proximal tubule—a structure that is particularly sensitive to drug toxicity and often the site of the kidney’s first and most severe damage from nephrotoxic therapies—the team embedded biosensors to track the tissue’s response to drugs in real time. Professor Yaakov Nahmias, Director of the Grass Center for Bioengineering and corresponding author of the study, offers a simple analogy… Continue reading.

Future Meat Technologies, an Israel-based company developing innovative technology to produce cultured meat, beat market expectations by reducing the production cost of a cultured chicken breast to $7.50. The company has also raised an additional $26.75 million in funding through its strategic partners, enabling it to scale up its production and accelerate research and development.

Future Meat Technologies’ cultured chicken has a single-digit production cost for a quarter pound serving, providing the same texture and distinct aroma of farm-raised chicken meat through a unique blend of cultured chicken and plant proteins. The company plans to market its products to consumers and restaurants within 18 months… Continue reading.

In what has the potential to significantly change how Corona patients are being treated and the severity of the disease, research spearheaded at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University gathered early clinical evidence demonstrating the efficacy of an existing drug in treating COVID-19.

The study was presented at the recent SPARK Conference on Generic Drug Repurposing for COVID-19 by Professor Yaakov Nahmias, Director of the Center for Bioengineering at Hebrew University. Nahmias applied a well-established existing drug to address the buildup of fats in human lung cells caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Initial lab-based results and new data from 1,500 Israel-based Corona patients have been extremely promising and clinical studies are scheduled to begin this week at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, Israel, joining other clinical centers across the United States, South America and Europe… Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Yaakov Nahmias, Ph.D., Professor of Bioengineering; Director, Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, to its College of Fellows. Dr. Nahmias was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for outstanding contributions to the field of liver tissue engineering and drug development.