Tel Aviv University (TAU)
Scientists in Charge: Ronit Satchi-Fainaro & Roey Amir
TAU is the largest comprehensive research university in Israel. In 2013 Tel Aviv University was ranked 18th in the world in the criteria citations per faculty member. Recently TAU has been ranked 9th in the world, by Venture Capital monthly, in the top universities for vc-backed entrepreneurs. The commercial arm of TAU, Ramot at TAU Ltd., has many years of experience in translating basic research achievements to products that benefit society. On top of the wide range of programs that TAU offers its 29,000 students, TAU has introduced an ever-increasing number of interdisciplinary programs in vital fields, such as nanotechnology and biotechnology. With its 17 affiliated hospitals and 600 cancer researchers, TAU is an internationally-renowned centre of excellence in the cancer field. More than any other institution in Israel, TAU has placed an emphasis on and committed extensive resources promoting multidisciplinary projects among its faculties of medicine, life sciences, exact sciences, engineering and social sciences. Dozens of collaborative projects have led to significant breakthroughs, over 100 patents and revolutionary biomedical technologies in the cancer field.
Two different TAU research groups participate in the THERACAT project:
The Prof. Satchi-Fainaro’s laboratory, which is focused on the development of new anti-angiogenic agents by advancing the field of vascular biology and developing vascular targeting nanomedicines.
The Dr. Amir Research group, which is focused on the design, synthesis and characterization of functional polymers and dendrimers for applications ranging from biomedicine to materials science. They are specifically interested in the design and synthesis of complex macromolecular building blocks that can self-assemble into functional nano-scale particles and arrays with controllable shapes, sizes and internal architectures.