Helmsley Charitable Trust Announces $18 Million Grant to Establish 'Helmsley Health Discovery Tower,' a Joint Rambam and University of Haifa Project on Rambam Health Care Campus

HAIFA, Israel, Jan. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has awarded an $18 million grant for the construction of the Helmsley Health Discovery Tower on the Rambam campus.

Providing an ideal environment for medical research, discovery, and innovation, the Helmsley Health Discovery Tower will be a hub to foster novel ideas for the transformation of health care at the local, national, and global levels. The Helmsley Health Discovery Tower will enable unique collaboration between University of Haifa, Rambam Health Care Campus, and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and will support strategic partnerships with the medical device, pharmaceutical, and information technology industries.

The 20-story Tower will include several leading initiatives in Haifa:

• Clinical institutes of Rambam Health Care Campus in Ophthalmology and Gastroenterology, and the School of Graduate Dentistry will have a new home for providing world-class services as part of the integrated clinical activity of Rambam Health Care Campus.
• The Clinical Research Institute at Rambam (CRIR) will house centers of research excellence in the fields of brain and neuroscience, cancer, cardiology, diabetes, nephrology, human genomic medicine, medical devices, and minimally invasive surgical advances.
• University of Haifa will have a new location for its Center for Translational Research in Health Sciences and Public Health, Center for Evidence-Based Nursing Research, and Research Center for Health Sciences and Life Sciences. The University's expertise in life sciences, drug discovery, and health system models will be leveraged to address national and global health challenges.
• The Innovation Partnership Center will host start-up companies and early stage initiatives, such as incubators and technological working spaces with health science entrepreneurs. This Center will build on Israel's strengths as a start-up nation, and enable the development of patient-centered innovations.
• The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology will have facilities for medical engineering activities, focusing on biomedical engineering innovation.
• A new Congress and Exhibition Center will provide convention services and facilities for researchers, physicians, and entrepreneurs throughout Israel.

The synergy between life sciences and digital health is a unique growth engine for Haifa's economy, and one for which the Helmsley Health Discovery Tower will be an integral driver of support. It will encourage the advancement of new ideas in biological therapeutics, pharmacological products, and medical instrumentation, together with health systems and policy research. And through the Tower's incubators for new start-ups, it will offer clinician-scientists the opportunity to turn their knowledge into novel products and services.

The grant reflects Helmsley's continued commitment to supporting the growth and development of Israel for the benefit of its people and all humanity.

"The Helmsley Health Discovery Tower is an important addition to the Rambam campus and the larger Haifa community," said Mr. Sandor Frankel, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. "It will improve access to health care in the northern periphery of Israel, strengthen the region, and support greater collaboration among Rambam, University of Haifa, and the Technion -- three of Israel's great institutions -- as well as with the medical and biotech industry."

Representatives of Rambam, University of Haifa, and the Israeli government noted the significance of the grant: 

Professor Rafi Beyar, Director, Rambam Health Care Campus, said, "On behalf of Rambam Health Care Campus, I want to express our great appreciation to the Helmsley Charitable Trust and Mr. Sandor Frankel for this extraordinary contribution. The Health Discovery Tower, with its unique combination of medicine, technology, and humanitarian values, will be the cornerstone of our vision moving forward, enabling us to help not only the people of Israel but to impart critical knowledge across the globe. Together with our academic partners, we view this as a landmark project, one that will secure Rambam's place as a worldwide leader in medical research and health care."

Professor Ron Robin, President, University of Haifa, said, "The generous contribution of the Helmsley Charitable Trust will provide a jump-start for our excellent researchers in making even more significant contributions to the clinical care of the people of our region, our nation, and the world. The signing of this agreement is significant towards expansion of the University of Haifa's educational and research activities, as part of the transformation process into a 'multiversity.' I am certain that the joint activity of researchers from various fields, together with the excellent physicians of Rambam Health Care Campus, will lead to productive scientific breakthroughs."

Mr. Moshe Kahlon, Minister of Finance, said, "I congratulate the Leona and Harry Helmsley Charitable Trust for its generous and unique contribution to the Health Discovery Tower. This tower will be a flagship project for the city of Haifa and northern Israel, with the collaboration of two fine institutions – Rambam and the University of Haifa – in favor of medical innovation and research."

Rabbi Yaakov Litzman, Knesset Member; past chair of the Finance Committee; Deputy Minister/past Minister of Health, said, "I have had the privilege of working with Rambam Health Care Campus under the leadership of Professor Beyar since the Second Lebanon War, via my varying governmental roles. As Minister of Health, I have supported the unprecedented growth and development of Rambam's campus. The Helmsley Health Discovery Tower is an important project that ensures medicine and research as part of the education of future generations according to the Tora."

Mr. Yona Yahav, Mayor of Haifa, said, "Haifa is becoming the center for life science and biotechnology innovation and industry for all of Israel. The Helmsley Health Discovery Tower will be an integrative project for the City of Haifa, combining Rambam, University of Haifa, and the Technion as part of our city's culture of education, excellence, and harmonic collaborations between Jews and Arabs and all religions."

About Rambam Health Care Campus

Rambam Health Care Campus (Health Care Campus) is Northern Israel's largest academic referral hospital. Equaling standards of medicine at leading centers in the United States, Rambam is one of Israel's premiere hospitals, renowned for its excellent medical care, teaching, and research worldwide.

About University of Haifa

The University of Haifa, established in 1972, is an academic institution whose initial and central function is to carry out excellent academic teaching and research. The academic excellence is showcased in numerous diverse interdisciplinary and international programs and by means of collaborations with academic institutions around the world.

About the Helmsley Charitable Trust

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grant making in 2008, Helmsley has committed more than $2 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes.

About American Friends of Rambam Medical Center

American Friends of the Rambam Medical Center (AFORAM) is a national not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization established to promote and support Rambam Health Care Campus—Northern Israel's premier medical institution.

About American Society of the University of Haifa (ASUH)

The American Society of the University of Haifa (ASUH), a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, promotes shared American-Israeli interests and values by serving as the bridge between the University of Haifa and Israel-minded Americans throughout the United States.

About KMR

KMR is an Israeli charitable company founded in 2003 by Rambam's executive leadership. Its board of directors and Rambam personnel carry out its mission to support the hospital. Its goals are to develop and promote Rambam and its assets in order to provide medical services through its own fundraising activities.

Contact:

Laura Kam
President
Kam Global Strategies
972-54-806-8613 - Israel
016-0283-0359-Germany  
[email protected]

SOURCE Rambam Health Care Campus, University of Haifa, Helmsley Charitable Trust, American Friends of Rambam, American Society of the University of Haifa and KMR