Sheba Medical Center Partners with National Institutes of Health (NIH) to Establish New Pandemic Research Institute

RAMAT GAN, Israel – December 22, 2022 – Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest medical center and a Newsweek top-10 ranked world’s best hospital for the last four years, announced today a first-of-its-kind partnership with the U.S. government National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish the new Sheba Pandemic Research Institute (SPRI). 

The institute will focus on multidisciplinary, multifaceted, and collaborative research, as well as translating global infectious diseases research into clinical products for rapid deployment in the event of future epidemics and pandemics. 

“The establishment of the Sheba Pandemic Research Institute represents a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to prevent and combat future epidemics and pandemics,” said Prof. Gili Regev-Yochay, Director of the Sheba Pandemic Research Institute & Infectious Diseases Unit at Sheba Medical Center. “Together with the NIH, we hope that the discovery of pathogens and infectious diseases can be translated into health outcomes that not only improve but protect the lives of patients worldwide.” 

The establishment of the institute follows recent Sheba-led research published in New England Journal of Medicine demonstrating the necessity for mRNA Covid vaccine booster doses, and pinpointing the ideal timing for administering them. That research was based on a cohort of some 10,000 staff members at Sheba who have been part of an ongoing study measuring the efficacy of currently available Covid vaccines.

Working directly with the NIH Vaccine Research Center in Maryland, SPRI researchers will prioritize innovation in diagnosis of emerging pathogens and epidemiologic aimed at contributing to predictions of future viral and bacterial threats.

“The core of the National Institutes of Health and Vaccine Research Center mission is the application of scientific and technological knowledge to design and develop vaccines and biologics against infectious diseases” said Prof. Daniel Douek, Chief of the Human Immunology Section, Vaccine Research Center, NIH and newly appointed Senior Scientific Advisor of the Sheba Pandemic Research Institute. “Together with Sheba, we can turn discovery into real health advances.”

Alongside Prof. Douek, Dr. Abraham Mittelman, who was the Director of Management and Operation at the NIH Vaccine Research Center, will be appointed as an advisor for operations and management of the new institute.