BOG 2022: Prajs-Drimmer Fellowships Presented to Students Researching Drug Development

TAU’s Prajs-Drimmer Institute for the Development of Anti-Degenerative Drugs awarded 20 graduate fellowships to students on May 15, during TAU’s Board of Governors meeting. The fellowships were established to bolster the quality of research in the field of anti-degenerative drugs and attract top talent to the University.

The Prajs-Drimmer Institute was founded in 2008 by the families of Sruel Prajs and Norma Drimmer from Berlin, longtime TAU supporters, to promote research for the development of drugs which treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, ALS, and Alzheimer’s as well as cancer.

“The fellowships we award today will nurture a new generation of scientists to lead and shape the field in the coming years,” said Prof. Ariel Porat, TAU President. “Degenerative diseases are a terrible plague that affect much of humanity, and we hope this research will soon lead to real-life results.”

TAU Honorary Doctor Sruel Prajs and his sister, TAU Governor Norma Drimmer, boosted their support for the Institute in 2018 and now, in 2022.

“We’re very happy to contribute to this important topic at TAU. My parents have instilled in my brother and I the values of giving back to society—tzedaka. I’m glad that my children are following in that tradition,” said Norma Drimmer before awarding the fellowships.

Drimmer’s daughter Deborah Fischler and her husband Neil also contributed a doctoral fellowship to the Faculty of Life Sciences.

“The support is the oxygen for the research at our Institute. The recent extension of the support expanded our possibilities to providing fellowships, helping us attract the best and brightest minds,” said Prof. Ronit Pinkas-Kramarski, Director of the Institute.

Norma Drimmer and Prof. Ronit Pinkas-Kramarski with fellowship recipients

The gifts enabled the Institute to accelerate the pace of research and discovery, enhance its scientific standing and promote interdisciplinary collaboration between life sciences and medicine.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Prof. Abdussalam Azem, Dean of the Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Prof. Karen Avraham, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, the Institute’s academic committee members, Governors and friends from TAU’s German and Canadian Friends Associations, researchers, fellowship recipients and TAU students.