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How Israeli science is leading the world

We speak to Dr Arabella Duffield, the new Chair of Weizmann UK

September 20, 2018 13:54
Dr Arabella Duffield

ByDaniel Sugarman, Daniel Sugarman

3 min read

Nestled in the heart of Rehovot, the Weizmann Institute is at the centre of Israel’s scientific revolution. With 2,500 faculty and staff, 274 laboratories and hundreds of patents and successful discoveries, breakthroughs made there have impacted upon the lives of millions.

They range from ground-breaking treatments for multiple sclerosis, leukaemia and prostate cancer, to the chip-and-pin technology used for credit-card payments.

It all began with a walk in Hyde Park where, in 1933, Chaim Weizmann, the scientist and Zionist leader, met Israel Sieff, a British Jewish philanthropist, to discuss setting up a scientific research centre in what was then the British Mandate.

It was founded the following year and, 84 years later, I have come to talk to the person who best embodies the continuing link between British Jews and the Institute.