Ruth Arnon, biochemist

As we give thanks for the harvest and the bounty of nature, please consider joining your sisters and friends in celebration of Sukkot on Thursday, September 27. If you haven't already done so please RSVP to [email protected] today! Check out the Sukkot flyer.

This week our featured Jewish woman scientist is Ruth Arnon, an Israeli biochemist, immunologist and co-developer of the drug Copaxone®, a medication used to treat multiple sclerosis. Ruth was born in Tel Aviv in 1933. She studied chemistry at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, receiving her Master of Science from there in 1955. Ruth then served two  years in the military as an officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. She continued her education at the Weizmann Institute where she studied for her doctorate under Michael Sela. The working relationship that formed between Arnon and Sela led to the two inventing the first synthetic antigen. Together with Devorah Teitelbaum, Arnon and Sela discovered that this synthetic antigen could suppress a disease, similar to multiple sclerosis, in animals. After 30 years of research and experimentation the antigen was approved for medical use as Copaxone. It is considered to be Ruth's largest contribution to science so far, and her contributions are still being made. Ruth Arnon is currently a Professor of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute. She continues to work on the development of anti-influenza and anti-cancer vaccines.

I look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

---