AFHU News Fall 2022

PAGE 14
LEAD in Israel
On June 7, 2022, 11 AFHU LEAD participants made
their long-awaited trip to Israel. Despite delays
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, members of
Cohort I became a true team, ready to tackle
the leadership challenges ahead. These future
leaders are enthusiastic supporters of AFHU and
its mission of support for the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem.
Participants began their visit with a dinner
that included Hebrew University of Jerusalem
President Asher Cohen; Hebrew University Vice
President and Director General Yishai Fraenkel;
and Isaiah (Shy) Arkin, CEO and founder of
ViroBlock, professor of biological chemistry at HU,
and former HU Vice President for Research and
Development. The event was typical of evenings
to come, where HU leadership visited LEAD
participants, offered greetings from the university,
and got to know AFHU’s future leaders.
During their trip, LEAD members visited HU
campuses, starting with Mt. Scopus, where
they met a delegation of Student Diversity
Ambassadors, visited international development
students in the GLOCAL International
Development Program, and learned about
assistance offered by Faculty of Law students as
a part of the Clinical Legal Education Center.
At the Hebrew University Edmond J. Safra
campus, the LEAD team met Professor Naomi
Habib of the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for
Brain Sciences and learned about her research
into aging-related pathologies. Participants
later engaged in “startup speed dating,” where
entrepreneurs from ASPER-HUJI Innovate
described their businesses and sought feedback
from the group.
Agriculture included a stop at the Bravdo Winery
as well as an introduction to the research of
bees, farming, and more. The day after their
visit to Rehovot, they enjoyed a special event
with Hebrew University alumni and food tech
startups held at the Peres Center for Peace and
Innovation.
The week featured further meetings with program
leaders, including an introduction to Alon Granot,
commander of the HU/IDF elite training program
Talpiot, an opportunity to visit the university’s
Institute of Archaeology, as well as a meeting
with Professor Yossi Tam at the Multidisciplinary
Center for Cannabinoid Research.
In addition to learning about the first-rate
educational opportunities and world-class
research found at HU, the schedule included
sightseeing, allowing the LEAD team to enjoy
Jerusalem nightlife. The team participated in
a graduation ceremony held during the AFHU
Leadership Dinner, an occasion that capped
their experience as Cohort I of the AFHU LEAD
program.
Over the duration of the program, the members
of Cohort I developed into a cohesive team,
fast friends who have come to realize that their
graduation ceremony was not the end of a
program, but the beginning of a future committed
to AFHU, HU, and Israel.
The LEAD team’s visit to HU’s Smith Faculty of