THE CHALLENGES WE’RE WORKING ON

The standardized “one-size-fits-all” approach to medical treatment has proven to be “one-size-fits-few” in practice. Effective treatment requires integrating a patient’s genetic and molecular profiles with data from thousands of other patients, then applying algorithms to the data to assist doctors in tailoring effective, personalized treatments. The techniques needed to efficiently obtain ample amounts of detailed molecular and clinical patient data have been developed, yet we continue to struggle with cancer, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, metabolic, and infectious diseases.

HOW WE’RE SOLVING THEM

The new Institute for Computational Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) will bridge the gap between big data and patient care, replacing the one-size-fits-all models of medical treatment with life-enhancing, customized healthcare, accomplished through: 

A Purpose-Built Facility: The new Institute for Computational Medicine will be a 10-story, 11,000-square-meter building on the Hebrew University’s Ein Kerem medical campus, specifically designed to accommodate the computational medicine workflow. The building will house data and sample storage, modeling facilities, cutting-edge equipment and laboratories, analysis facilities, and “smart” spaces for advanced teaching programs in computational medicine. The institute will be built to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and train a new generation of doctors. 

Unique Access to Data: HU has unparalleled access to immense medical databases through its affiliation with the two large Jerusalem hospitals (Hadassah and Shaarei Zedek), two main HMOs (Clalit and Meuchedet), and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Connection to such databases and to unique, genetically well-defined populations in the Jerusalem area offer an uncommon opportunity for data-driven medical studies, which is rare worldwide.

The combined forces of the university’s biomedical scientists, clinicians, and computer scientists, together with world-class students, and supported by additional university faculty members in mathematics, law, economics, philosophy, and other relevant fields, offers a uniquely powerful and cost-effective opportunity to break new ground in the field of computational medicine.

THE IMPACT OF OUR WORK

No computational medicine center or training program exists elsewhere in Israel and awareness of this approach is only in its infancy worldwide. The Institute for Computational Medicine will integrate the university’s high-tech resources and history of medical innovation with the unique patient data available in Jerusalem, creating an unparalleled, data-driven medical studies center that will offer a transformative approach to combating disease.

The Institute for Computational Medicine promises to revolutionize the ways in which medical research and treatment are conducted, engaging—in an integrative and technologically advanced manner—the power of data to prevent illness, cure disease, and save lives.