| 1 | Name: | Dr. Ruth Arnon | |
| Institution: | The Weizmann Institute of Science | ||
| Year Elected: | 2009 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 209. Neurobiology | ||
| Residency: | International | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1933 | ||
Prof. Arnon joined the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1960. Prior to her appointment as Vice-President, she served as Head of the Department of Chemical Immunology, and as Dean of the Faculty of Biology. From 1985 to 1994, she was the Director of the Institute's MacArthur Center for Molecular Biology of Tropical Diseases. Prof. Arnon has made significant contributions to the fields of vaccine development, cancer research and to the study of parasitic diseases. Along with Prof. Michael Sela and Dr. Dvora Teitelbaum she developed Copaxone,® a drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and is presently marketed in the USA, Canada the EU, Australia and many other countries worldwide. Prof. Arnon is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences, and serves as its Vice-President since 2004. On the world scene, she is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). She has served as President of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS), and as Secretary-General of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS), as well as in the European Union Research Advisory Board (EURAB). Her awards include the Robert Koch Prize in Medical Sciences, Spain's Jiminez Diaz Memorial Prize, France's Legion of Honor, the Hadassah World Organization's Women of Distinction Award, the Wolf Prize for Medicine, the Rothschild Prize for Biology, and the Israel Prize, Honorary degree – Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, The AESKU Prize for Life Contribution to Autoimmunity by the 6th International Congress on Autoimmunity, “Yakir” Tel-Hai Academic College, Israel, Elected to the American Philosophical Society. Prof. Arnon is also the Scientific Advisor to the President of the State of Israel. Prof. Arnon is the incumbent of the Paul Ehrlich Chair in Immunochemistry. | |||