About Us

ICRF Timeline:  33 Years of Achievement..... and Still Counting

1. ICRF is founded in 1975.

2. The first five ICRF cancer research grants, valued at $25,000, are awarded to Israeli scientists in 1977 at Tel Aviv University, Beilinson Hospital, Hadassah Medical School, the Weizmann Institute and the Israel Institute for Biological Research.

3. The ICRF Scientific Advisory Board and the ICRF Scientific Review Panels are formally organized to set procedures to assure the selection of the highest quality cancer research for ICRF sponsorship.

4. ICRF passes the $1 million mark in funding cancer research in Israel in 1982.

5. An ICRF program to support clinical trials in Israel is announced in 1982 at the ASCO meeting in St. Louis.

6. The first cancer research laboratory in the Negev is established with ICRF support.

7. ICRF hosts a mission to Israel in 1983. Donors meet the scientists they sponsor and tour their labs to see "first-hand" the critically important work they make possible.

8. In research work funded by ICRF from 1987 through 1992, Dr. Moshe Oren's research at the Weizmann Institute discovers the location and chemical nature of the common protein, p53, a tumor suppressor gene which prevents tumor growth.

9. In 1987, ICRF awards its first research Professorship to Dr. Howard Cedar at Hebrew University / Hadassah Medical School to study the regulation of gene expression.

10. At the Weizmann Institute, Dr. Yair Reisner's work is funded by the ICRF in the mid eighties. Credited with greatly expanding the horizons of bone marrow transplantation, he later accompanies Dr. Robert Gale to Chernobyl after the nuclear disaster.

11. ICRF passes the $5 million mark in funding cancer research in Israel in 1988.

12. In 1988, 200 scientists attend the first ICRF international cancer research conference, "Advanced Concepts in Cancer Research," in Tiberias, Israel.

13. In 1989,the ICRF International Scientific Council is formally organized to oversee and periodically review ICRF policy, direction and grant structure; its role is to augment the ICRF advisory board and review panels, guiding ICRF into the nineties.

14. ICRF scientists are in the news in 1989: the development of a powerful new Hepatitis B vaccine by Dr. Yosef Shaul as an "offshoot" of his work in liver cancer at the Weizmann Institute; the pioneering work of Dr. Shimon Slavin in the growth and expansion of Israel's bone marrow transplantation clinic, the largest such clinic in the Middle East; an innovative psychological study of men and women with colon cancer and their spouses, conducted by Dr. Lea Baider at Hadassah University Hospital.

15. From 1990 - 1995, Dr. Varda Rotter of the Weizmann Institute is sponsored by ICRF to further explore the genetic machinery of the cancer cell and the role of the p53 gene in malignancy. By now, p53 is seen by many as the possible "key to the cure."

16. ICRF passes the $10 million mark in funding in 1991.

17. The second ICRF scientific conference is held in 1991 at Kibbutz Ma'aleh Hahamisha outside Jerusalem.

18. In 1991, ICRF awards seven fellowship/ project grants to Soviet scientists resettling in Israel, meeting its mandate, while assisting in the assimilation of the sudden influx of millions of Jewish emigres; the Soviet scientists are sponsored at Ben-Gurion University, Tel-Aviv University, Kaplan Hospital and the Weizmann Institute.

19. In 1992, supported by ICRF, Dr. Eli Canaani and his team at the Weizmann Institute of Science identify the molecular structure of the so-called "Philadelphia Chromosome," the first abnormal chromosome found in leukemia.

20. In 1995, sponsored by the ICRF, Dr. Alberto Gabizon and his team develop Liposomal Adriamycin, now marketed as Doxil, a highly effective new drug for Kaposi Sarcoma, a form of cancer in AIDS patients, now used to treat breast and ovarian cancers; Dr. Gabizon conducted his research at Hadassah University Hospital.

21. In 1997, ICRF reached its $20 million milestone in funding superior cancer research, ICRF marks the 20th anniversary of its first cancer research grants.

22. In 1997, Dr. Ephrat Levy-Lahad of Shaare Zedek Medical Center undertakes a national study to determine what proportion of breast and ovarian cancer in Israel is caused by BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, the actual cancer risk for women who are mutation carriers, and whether or not the cancer risk of those carriers is influenced by reproductive or environmental factors.

23. In 1999, Dr. Yair Reisner of the Weizmann Institute and his team develop a novel bone marrow transplant technique for leukemia patients utilizing a marrow donor with only three immune markers in common with the patient instead of the normally required six, thus expanding the available donor pool for treatment.

24. In 1999, Dr. Tsvee Lapidot (a former student of Dr. Reisner) and his research team at the Weizmann Institute uncover key elements of the mechanism responsible for stem cell migration from circulating blood to the bone marrow that may further improve the success rate of bone marrow transplantation.

25. Dr. Howard Cedar is recognized by the State of Israel with its prestigious national award, The Israel Prize in Biology, in 1999. He is acknowledged as a pioneer for his extraordinary achievements in understanding the processes of gene regulation, expression, and DNA replication.

26. In 2000, ICRF notes twenty-five years of dedication to eliminating cancer for the benefit of mankind by sponsoring Israel's most promising cancer researchers.

27. Drs. Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko of Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and a colleague are named recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2000 for the groundbreaking discovery of the ubiquitin system that regulates protein degradation and critically influences vital cellular events, cell cycles, and malignant transformation. The ubiquitin system has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many human diseases, including Alzheimer's. More than 60 Lasker laureates have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize.

28. Dr. Eli Canaani's earlier research leads to the development in 2001 of Gleevec, a drug now used in the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and a rare form of stomach cancer.

29. Leading her team at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in 2001, Dr. Ephrat Levy-Lahad discovers a genetic abnormality in the RAD51 gene which significantly increases the likelihood of developing breast cancer among women with the BRCA2 gene mutation. Further testing for the RAD51 gene mutation may become an important prognostic tool.

30. A year of "firsts" in 2002, as ICRF Awardees include Lasker Laureates, two ICRF Professorships, two Clinical Research Career Development Awards and "father and son" Awardees.

31. And yet another year of "firsts" as ICRF awards three Professorships for the first time in its history.

32. Based on the research of Drs. Ciechanover and Hershko, Velcade, the first drug specifically targeted against the ubiquitin system, was developed. Approved by the FDA in 2003, Velcade is used for the treatment of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow.

33. In 2004, Drs. Ciechanover and Hershko become the first Israelis ever to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for their discovery of the ubiquitin system.

34. In 2005, the Israel Cancer Research Fund celebrated thirty years of hope and achievement.

35. Also in 2005, the first Barbara S. Goodman Endowed Research Career Development Award in Pancreatic Cancer is awarded to Dr. Yuval Dor of Hebrew University/Hadassah Medical School.

36. The ICRF Donor Recognition Park debuts at the 2006 Tower of Hope Ball.

37. Six professorships – the most ever – are awarded by the Israel Cancer Research Fund in its 2007/2008 granting season – including the first to a woman scientist.

 

 

As we move forward in this twenty-first century, the Israel Cancer Research Fund anticipates continued success along the road to the cures for cancer.

With your valuable assistance, ICRF scientists and our international family of friends feel confident that those cures will come from Israel.