$10M For Autoimmune Research At Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University (TAU) is to open Israel’s first multidisciplinary center for the study of autoimmune diseases.

It will collaborate with Israel’s medical centers, health services, and scientists from other academic institutions to research the chronic conditions involving an abnormal response of the immune system within body tissues.

The Colton Center, named after philanthropists Judith and Stewart Colton who donated $10 million, will grant research funding to groups of scientists from multidisciplinary areas, like computer science, engineering, mathematics, psychology, and more.

Its research will be fundamentally based on big data analytics – collecting, examining, and analyzing large amounts of data to discover insights and correlations. 

It is the fourth autoimmune disease research center founded by the Colton family. The others are at Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, and NYU.

The new center will encourage experimental and theoretical studies in immunology and conduct workshops and conferences jointly with the three other Colton Centers.

“Stewart and Judith Colton, renowned Jewish philanthropists and dear friends of TAU, have set themselves a goal: to develop drugs and treatments for autoimmune diseases,” said Prof Ariel Porat, President of TAU.

“For this purpose, they have established dedicated centers at three leading American universities, and now decided to extend this activity to TAU.

“This donation is following many years of active contribution by the Colton Foundation to TAU’s innovation and entrepreneurships in a wide range of disciplines.

“We are proud to belong to this elite group of universities, and together with them and the Colton family, we will strive to find a cure for autoimmune diseases.”