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Cooperative Research Projects

The sponsorship of individual research projects which are carried out with the co-operation of scientists at the Max-Planck Society (MPG), the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) and/or the Heineman Medical Research Center (HMR) form the main area of the foundation's activities. This support for scientific co-operation among institutions in Israel, the US, and Germany was the result of the reorganization of the foundation by James H. Heineman who wished to carry out the objectives of the founder who recognized that international collaboration can provide the impetus to achieve a common good through research in biochemistry and medicine. It is precisely in these areas that international research and the exchange of experiences underlie scientific success in the modern age. James H. Heineman emphasized this latter point when he officially opened a laboratory at the Weizmann Institute, which had been named after his father, Dannie.

“Were he standing in my place, … [my father] would say that people can no longer escape people; and that borders erected in the name of sanctity of nationhood only perpetuate human folly by hindering international co-operation and the peaceful pursuits of man.” Project sponsorship is submitted and implemented on the basis of a particular co-ordination procedure, which is run by the Minerva-Stiftung, Gesellschaft für die Forschung mbH, which was founded as an auxiliary facility of the Max-Planck Society.

1988 - 1990
“Crystallographic analysis of functionally active ribosomes and their complexes with components of protein biosynthesis”
Ada Yonath, Dept. of Structural Chemistry, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Knud Hermann Nierhaus, MPI for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany
“Molecular biological studies of olfactory reception”
Doron Lancet, Dept. of Molecular Genetics, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Karl-Ernst Kaissling, MPI for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
“Mapping of mast cell membranes: fluorescent monoclonal antibodies and functional and structural probes”
Israel Pecht, Dept. of Immunology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Thomas Jovin, MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
“Laser Arrhythmic Ablation and Vascular Recanalization”
Robert Svenson and Francis Robicsek, Heineman Medical Research Center, Charlotte NC, USA
Christoph Hehrlein, Heart Center, University of Freiburg, Germany
1992 - 1994
“Structure and function of proteasomes in eukaryotic cells during growth and differentiation”
Abraham Amsterdam, Dept. of Hormone Research, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Wolfgang Baumeister (MPI for Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany)
“Identification of potential pharmacological targets for anti-tumor therapy”
Yosef Yarden, Dept. of Biological Regulation, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Axel Ullrich, MPI for Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
“Advantages and perils of hypothermia upon myocardial preservation”
Thomas Masters and Francis Robicsek, Heineman Medical Research Center, Charlotte NC, USA
Jutta Schaper, MPI for Physiological and Clinical Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany
1994 - 1996
“Molecular Analysis of Cadherin-Mediated Cell Adhesion”
Benjamin Geiger, Dept. of Chemical Immunology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Rolf Kemmler, MPI for Immunology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany
“Role of Neural Synchrony in Perception”
Ehud Ahissar, Dept. of Chemical Neurobiology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Andreas Engel, MPI for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany
“Reperfusion Injury – Myth or Fact”
Thomas Masters and Francis Robicsek, Heineman Medical Research Center, Charlotte NC, USA
Jutta Schaper, MPI for Physiological and Clinical Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany
1997 - 1999
“Delineation of Ischemic Injury associated with Myocardial Reperfusion”
Thomas Masters and Francis Robicsek, Heineman Medical Research Center, Charlotte NC, USA
Jutta Schaper, MPI for Physiological and Clinical Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany
“Functional Properties of Unconventional Microtuble Binding Proteins”
Joachim Kirsch, MPI for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany
Orly Reiner, Dept. of Molecular Genetics, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
“Constitutive and Regulated Secretion in Neuroendocrine Cells”
Anthony Futerman, Dept. of Biomolecular Sciences, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Wolf Almers, MPI for Medical Research, Heidelberg, Germany
2000 - 2002
“Enhanced Myocardial Revascularization using Angiogenic Growth Factors”
Thomas Masters and Francis Robicsek, Heineman Medical Research Center, Charlotte NC, USA
Jutta Schaper, MPI for Physiological and Clinical Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany
“Physiological role of Nir proteins: Molecular and cellular characterization”
Sima Lev, Dept. of Molecular Cell Biology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Axel Ullrich, MPI of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
“Regulation of Lysin, Threonine and Proline Biosynthesis by Glucose and Stress Signaling in Plants”
Gad Galili, Dept. of Plant Sciences, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Casba Koncz, MPI for Plant Breeding Research, Köln, Germany
“Analyzing T-Cell Receptors – Ligand Interactions”
Israel Pecht, Dept. of Immunology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Hans-Ulrich Weltzien, MPI of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany
2003 - 2005
“The effect of regulatory T-cells on autoimmune effector T-cells in EAE”
Irun Cohen, Dept. of Immunology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Hartmut Wekerle, MPI of Neurobiology, Martinsried, Germany
“Controlling the flow: Regulation of SNARE essential for ER of Golgi transport and its role in organelle biogenesis”
Jeffrey Gerst, Dept. of Molecular Genetics, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Anne Spang, Friedrich-Miescher-Laboratory, Tübingen, Germany
“Imaging Cortical Dynamics, From Synapses and Cortical Maps to Behavioral Modification”
Bert Sakmann, MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen
Amiram Grinvald, Dept. of Neurobiology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
2006 - 2008
“Quantitative analysis and modelling of the mitotic spindle checkpoint”
Olaf Stemmann, MPI of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
Naama Barkai, Depts. of Molecular Genetics and Physics of Complex Systems, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
“Real-time analysis of genetic programs orchestrating hypothalamic neural development”
Gil Levkowitz, Dept. of Molecular Cell Biology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Carl-Philipp Heisenberg, MPI of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
2009 - 2011
“Dynamics of protein localization in yeast and their impact on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) functions”
Maya Schuldiner, Dept. of Molecular Genetics, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Tobias Walther, MPI of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
“Systematic analysis of chromatin marks in defining hetero-chromatin”
Wolfgang Fischle, MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
Eran Segal, Dpt. of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
2012 - 2015
“Optogenetic dissections of prefrontal circuits for impulse control”
O. Yizhar, Dept. of Neurobiology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
I. Diester, Ernst Strüngmann Institute für Neuroscience, Frankfurt, Germany
“FUS, a causative gene in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, controls the bioprocessing in microRNAs”
E. Hornstein, Dept. of Molecular Genetics, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
E. Storkebaum, MPI für Molecular Biomedicine, Münster, Germany
2016 - 2018
“How are cooperation and collective behaviour maintained as conflict increases? A study of the price of anarchy and conflict across social systems”
Ofer Feinerman, Dept of Physics and Complex Systems, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
Lyndon Alex Jordan, MPI for Ornithology, Konstanz, Germany
“Plasticity mechanisms of genetically-defined neocortical layer 1 interneurons during associative learning”
Johannes Letzkus, MPI for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany
Ivo Spiegel, Dept. of Neurobiology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
2019 - 2022
“Interaction mechanisms of Vibrio cholerae biofilms and macrophages”
Knut Drescher, MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
Roi Avraham, Dept. of Biological Regulation, WIS, Rehovot, Israel
“A comprehensive, time-resolved, single-cell analysis of the cellular starvation/stress response upstream of the TSC/mTORC1 signalling axis”
Constantinos Demetriades, MPI for Biology of Aging, Köln, Germany
Ravid Straussman, Dept. of Molecular Cell Biology, WIS, Rehovot, Israel