Academic Staff and Graduates research contributions to understanding the Coronavirus

06/02/2020 | Zachary Harris | Biotechnology (B.Sc.) | Medical Laboratory Sciences (B.Med.Lab.Sc)

We are happy to present Dr. Leah Braz, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, and a researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Alex Robinsky, of the Hadassah Hebrew University School of Medicine.

Dr. Braz has an active taken part in a rearch project investigating the coronavirus. The research has focused on two different paths: the first of which is serological research – creating a test that demonstrates the develoment of antibodies in the human body. This study examines those antiobodies that result from having fought off the virus, and characterizes their effectiveness. The research will expand the wealth of knowledge about the body's immunizing response to the virus, and will help to isolate the most effective antibodies in order to offer them as treatment to people who have become sick with the virus. The second direction of the research, in the laboratory of Dr. Robinsky, involves decoding the mechanism by which the coronavirus gains entry into the human cells. Dr. Braz has actively participated in creating a system which allows for a simplified test of agents that can serve to delay the entrance of the virus into human cells, without working with live dangerous viruses, but with genetically engineered proteins of the virus. Dr. Braz summarizes her laboratory research experience as: “for me it is a great honor to work with a very professional staff in which each researcher contributes the best of their knowledge and skills for a common goal. I am happy to participate in this fascinating research which has a real-life application, and in the process of thinking together about how to cope with this new virus, which did not even exist until just a few months ago.”

We praise our academic staff and graduates for their professional work and their research contributions to understanding the coronavirus.