A joint Rambam and Stanford Medicine Symposium that focused on innovations in healthcare, trauma care, and digital technologies was held at Rambam Health Care Campus at the end of June. Attendees discussed critical topics to set a foundation for future medical innovations that could improve healthcare worldwide.
The Rambam and Stanford Medicine Symposium was held at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel from June 28–29, 2022. Physician-scientists and researchers from both institutions attended and presented at the annual symposium. The collaboration between Rambam HCC and Stanford Medicine, which began in 2017, is aimed at implementing and advancing healthcare at the national and global levels.
One fruit of this collaboration has been Rambam’s establishment of a Biodesign Israel Center, a national academic center inspired by the Stanford Biodesign program for health tech innovation leaders, founded and directed by Yona Vaisbuch, MD, an ENT surgeon at Rambam.
A major focus of this year’s symposium was exploring the impact of Biodesign, a globally acclaimed methodology developed by Stanford Biodesign aimed at inspiring clinicians, engineers, and business professionals to work together in multidisciplinary teams towards a need-driven approach to health innovation. Biodesign leaders from both institutions spotlighted new technologies, including a solution, now in clinical trials, that aims to reduce unnecessary anesthesia for children needing an MRI scan.
Josh Makower, MD, professor of medicine and of bioengineering and Stanford Biodesign Chairman and Co-founder, and Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, professor of chemical and systems biology at the Stanford School of Medicine and SPARK Founder and Co-director, also attended this year's symposium. Stanford’s SPARK Program in Translational Research is dedicated to advancing academic discoveries from laboratory to patient care.
Professor Miki Halberthal, the Director General of Rambam, Thomas Montine, MD, PhD, professor of pathology at the Stanford School of Medicine, and Elon Eisenberg, MD, Dean of the Technion’s Faculty of Medicine delivered opening remarks and greetings. Professor Rafi Beyar, President of the International Friends Associations for Rambam and Rambam’s former Director, Professor Lior Gepstein, Director of the Department of Cardiology, as well as the hospital’s Division of Research were also there to welcome guests.
On the final day, the use of Big Data in medicine was highlighted. A disaster management session addressed Stanford Medicine’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A panel discussion entitled “Lessons Learned from COVID and Looking into the Future” was also presented by Rambam physician-scientists.
At the end of the Symposium, Professor Beyar commented; “I was incredibly pleased to see the progress in the annual, joint Rambam and Stanford Medicine symposium since the initial visit of Stanford Medicine Dean Lloyd Minor to Rambam in 2017. The Rambam and Stanford Medicine Symposium was a great success. We spent two days immersed in innovation, digital health challenges, and joint research projects between both our institutions. The Biodesign Israel presentations marked the grand finale of the symposium, with 8 groups and more than 40 outstanding innovators representing an unprecedented success rate that will advance Israel's role as a medical start-up nation and promote an innovative culture.”