The Minister of Education, Yoav Kish, announced today (Monday) that Prof. Michal Schwartz is the winner of the Israel Prize in the field of life sciences research for the year 2018.
The award committee headed by Prof. Elisha Haas stated in its reasoning that: “The award is given to Prof. Schwartz for her groundbreaking discoveries, which led to a new understanding of the joint function of the immune system and the brain. Her work opened up new research directions in brain research and understanding incurable degenerative brain diseases.”
“Her discoveries include the key role of the cells of the immune system in the healing processes of the central nervous system, the discovery of the importance of the immune system in the functioning of the healthy brain and the discovery of the connection between a decrease in the function of the immune system and dementia,” they added.
The committee also noted that “Prof. Schwartz bravely stood up to the opinion that was accepted in the field, raised an original hypothesis and managed to prove its truth. Her work forms the basis for the development of drugs for diseases of the central nervous system. Prof. Schwartz guided many generations of young Israeli researchers, who absorbed the spirit of thinking from her The pioneer, the belief in the vision, the ability to persevere and above all – the love of science.”
The Israel Award is the most important and prestigious award given in the State of Israel in various and diverse fields of the existence of doing and creating in Israel. The prizes will be awarded at the end of the country’s 75th Independence Day to the 11 brides and grooms of the prize.
These are the bride and groom of the award whose identity has been published so far:
The winner of the Israel Prize in the field of plastic arts: the artist Michal Rovner
Winner of the Israel Prize in the field of legal research Prof. Yoram Dinstein
Winner of the Israel Prize in the field of music and musicology: Prof. Yehoash Hirschberg
Winner of the Israel Prize in the field of researching Israeli thought, philosophy and Kabbalah: Prof. Dov Schwartz
Winner of the Israel Prize in the field of environmental science and sustainability research: Prof. Avital Gazit