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PAGE 18<br />
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY<br />
<strong>AFHU</strong> NEWS VOL. 30 PAGE 19<br />
Award-Winning HU Professor Shares<br />
<strong>News</strong> on Autism and Alzheimer’s<br />
Research<br />
Golda Meir Lectureship Award, and the Brettle<br />
Center for Research Award, as well as funding<br />
grants from the U.S. Department of Defense and<br />
the Israel Science Foundation.<br />
His research team has made significant progress<br />
in identifying genetically based autism—estimated<br />
to be 20% of all cases—but the causes of most<br />
autism cases remain a mystery. Prof. Amal’s lab<br />
is conducting research into possible pre-natal<br />
and environmental factors and working on new<br />
diagnostic tools to provide earlier identification<br />
and diagnosis of the illness. With the number of<br />
autism cases now standing at one in 30 births in<br />
the U.S. and one in 50 in Israel, hope for further<br />
progress is strong. Prof. Amal also spoke of his<br />
team’s success with Alzheimer’s disease. Recently,<br />
the Amal Lab found novel shared mechanisms<br />
between autism and Alzheimer’s, and Prof.<br />
Amal believes these findings may lead to new<br />
treatments for autism and Alzheimer’s patients.<br />
Einstein: The<br />
Man and His Mind<br />
An unprecedented visual biography of the<br />
iconic pioneer of modern physics, with signed<br />
photographs, letters, manuscripts, and more.<br />
The contributors to the book include Gary<br />
Berger, who assembled the collection over<br />
the past three decades; Michael DiRuggiero,<br />
owner of the Manhattan Rare Book Company,<br />
who specializes in the history of science with<br />
an emphasis on Einstein materials; and Hanoch<br />
Gutfreund, professor emeritus of theoretical<br />
physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,<br />
where he is also the academic director of the<br />
Albert Einstein Archives.<br />
Prof. Haitham Amal is the recent recipient of a<br />
$400,000 research grant from the Philadelphia<br />
Eagles Autism Foundation. The grant was<br />
awarded to Prof. Amal for his groundbreaking<br />
research on the role of nitric oxide (NO) in<br />
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) pathology.<br />
NO is a multifunctional signaling molecule and a<br />
neurotransmitter that plays an important role in<br />
physiological and pathophysiological processes,<br />
and Prof. Amal published the first research paper<br />
linking nitric oxide to ASD, a key step towards<br />
identifying a drug target for the disorder. Prof.<br />
Amal is the first researcher outside the U.S. to<br />
be awarded the prestigious grant and one of only<br />
nine grant recipients selected by a distinguished<br />
panel of nationally recognized U.S. researchers.<br />
In addition to the Philadelphia Eagles research<br />
grant, Prof. Amal is the recipient of the Wolf<br />
Foundation’s prestigious Krill Prize, the Prusiner-<br />
Abramsky Research Award in Clinical and Basic<br />
Neuroscience, the Kaye Innovation Award, the<br />
On Tuesday, January 31 Prof. Amal gave an update<br />
on his research during a dinner event hosted by<br />
American Friends of the Hebrew University and<br />
Cyma and Ed Satell at the Satell’s home in Jupiter,<br />
FL. In his presentation, the professor pointed out<br />
that little is understood about autism’s origins,<br />
triggers, or its location in the brain.<br />
Prof. Haitham Amal and Ed Satell<br />
Ph.D. students Shashank Kumar Ojha and Maryam Kartawy<br />
With his recognition from the Philadelphia Eagles<br />
Autism Foundation and his team’s impressive<br />
record of research breakthroughs, Prof. Amal<br />
remains optimistic, believing that further<br />
advances may be within our grasp.<br />
“Imagination is more<br />
important than knowledge.<br />
Knowledge is limited.<br />
Imagination encircles the<br />
world.” -Albert Einstein