Brazilian Friends Network for TAU

The Brazilian Friends of Tel Aviv University hosted networking events in São Paulo aimed at creating long-term cooperation between TAU and Brazil. TAU President Joseph Klafter held a fireside chat at the Brazilian think tank, the Center for Debates on Public Health (CDPP), moderated by Marcos Lederman, co-founder of the Center. They discussed the dichotomy between the country’s wealth of natural resources and immense economic potential, on the one hand, and its poor educational rankings, on the other hand. “Israel, a developing economy like Brazil, tackles modern societal challenges like these through its educational initiatives,” said Prof. Klafter. He highlighted TAU’s competitive advantage over other Israeli institutions, emphasizing TAU’s high global standing in three key areas – the AI revolution, national security and medicine.

TAU is the largest biomedical research, teaching and clinical complex in Israel, with 17 affiliated hospitals. This has led to many breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s, ALS, and advanced cancer treatments that have developed into successful startups,” Prof. Klafter said. “Moreover, at any given time, the University has 300 projects underway for Israel’s Ministry of Defense and other agencies. These projects have led to AI computer vision for identifying terrorists and tunnels, 3D printing for the Israel Air Force; Shin Bet partnerships with the TAU student venture fund for security startups, and more.  To continue to come up with the next big ideas, we need to continue to attract top international talent in a competitive global market.”

In a separate event, Victor Elias Nigri and Alessandra Nigri, prominent Brazilians, hosted a cocktail reception and dinner at their São Paulo home aimed at attracting the next generation of supporters. David Safra and Tamy Safra co-hosted the evening with Raymond Shayo, a TAU alumnus and supporter. Eduardo Wurzmann, President of Brazilian Friends, spoke about the Friends Association. Prof. Klafter gave a brief presentation on the University followed by a talk by keynote speaker Prof. Dan Peer, Director of the Laboratory of Precision Medicine at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, on “Translational Medicine.”