Abraham, who will soon celebrate his fifth birthday, fell critically ill on October 9 and was diagnosed with the extremely rare and serious condition.

He has been hospitalized at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool since then. Doctors told the family that the child's condition is critical and expressed concern that he might not recover with the available treatment at their facility.

"The doctors tried one treatment that didn't help, and suggested we continue with chemotherapy," the mother, Andrea, explained to philenews. However, specialized hospitals exist in Israel and the United States with a proven track record of treating the disease. In Israel, this means Sheba Medical Center.

The Cypriot people opened their hearts

Andrea's parents, both nurses, decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds needed to fly little Abraham to Israel and hospitalize him at Sheba Medical Center. Media outlets on the island rallied to their cause, and within several days, 180,000 euros ($198,000) were collected toward the required 300,000 euros ($330,000).

But then Andrea received a surprising phone call. "It was the warmest and most hope-filled phone call I ever received," she said. The call was from Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulidis, who informed her that the state would bear the costs of Abraham's transfer and treatment in Israel.

"There are no words to express my gratitude to the Cypriot government for this decision, and to everyone who stood by us in these difficult days," the mother wrote. "I want to say a huge thank you to every person who prayed, who donated, who shared our story, or simply sent us a word of love. Your response was amazing and gave us the strength to continue. The fundraising page we opened will be closed, and the funds collected will be used solely for Abraham's full recovery. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you. Together we proved that humanity has no boundaries," Andrea wrote in a Facebook post.

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Doctors of the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Center made history Wednesday by performing for the first time in Israel a surgery that delivers gene therapy directly to the brain.

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The procedure, which involved injecting the gene directly into the brain of the patient – 4-year-old Adiroop Kumar from India – lasted seven hours, and with the cost of 10 million shekels ($2.7 million) per vial was the single most expensive single surgery ever performed in Israel.

The groundbreaking treatment was conducted as part of a global study on the Upstaza gene therapy medicine, with 30 more children participating in Taiwan, Japan, China, Germany, England, France, and the United States.

In Israel, the surgery was conducted by Dr. Zion Zibly, director of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Sheba Medical Center and Dr. Lior Ungar, a senior neurosurgeon in the department. Dr. Bruria Gidoni-Ben-Zeev, head of the Pediatric Neurology Department at the Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, oversaw all the treatments, and the follow-up and medical care.

Adiroop had arrived with his mother from India specially for the procedure, which is conducted as part of the study, free of charge. A few years earlier, he was diagnosed with AADC deficiency, an incredibly rare genetic disease that is caused by changes in the gene that produces the AADC enzyme needed to produce certain substances vital for the normal functioning of the brain and nerves, such as dopamine and serotonin. The condition makes it nearly impossible for a child to lift his or her head, let alone walk and talk.

Until now, there has been no cure for AADC deficiency, which most often leads to death by the age of 10. In Israel, 10 children have been diagnosed with the disease in recent years, with four fatal cases. Around two new cases are diagnosed in Israel yearly.

Upstaza is a first-of-its-kind treatment that involves introducing a healthy gene into the patient's brain, into the area that misses the necessary gene. It has already been authorized in Europe, with Israel and the United States to follow.

"We work with hundreds of patients, and each and every one of them has a unique story. The same is true in this case, which fills us with the hope that we will be able to save many more lives in Israel and around the world. We believe that this scientific breakthrough will also serve us in other areas, and will allow us to bring relief to many patients,' Zibly said.

Adiroop's mother told Israel Hayom, "Adiroop is our second child, and in a genetic test we did at the age of six months, he was diagnosed with the disease. The doctors warned us that his life expectancy might be short. Therefore, every morning and all the time I check his breathing to make sure he is alive. I really hope that there is a chance that he will survive this terrible disease.

"We hope that in Israel we will start a new life and path for our son. We also feel in Israel and in the hospital the humanity and the kindness, we no longer feel like strangers. We love the people, the culture, the tradition, the language and the food. Indeed it is the Holy Land."

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Six companies that operate under the auspices of the ARC Innovation Center at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer raised a combined total of over $110 million in 2021, the center reported Wednesday.

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The ARC (Accelerate Redesign Collaborate) Innovation Center, led by Professor Eyal Zimlichman, who serves as chief innovation and transformation officer at Sheba, seeks to introduce new technologies to the hospital and community ecosystem.

All six companies are based on technology invented and developed out of Sheba, and the center focuses on digital health technologies such as precision medicine, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), predictive analytics, telemedicine and mobile health.

"The ARC Innovation Center has been focusing on ground-breaking, innovative technologies with a prime directive to redesign healthcare. Our commercialization efforts enable us to expand the reach of these technologies and create global impact on a wide scale," Zimlichman explained.

The six Sheba companies that secured investments in 2021 are:

Aidoc, a provider of artificial intelligence solutions that support and enhance physicians' diagnostic power ($66 million). Aidoc's solutions use AI to analyze medical images directly after acquisition and notify radiologists directly in their workflows of cases with suspected findings. Aidoc has seven FDA-cleared solutions and has won numerous awards including the prestigious UCSF 'Best New Health Application of AI' award and TIME's 50 most genius companies.

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BELKIN Laser, a clinical-stage medical device company developing a disruptive automated one-second laser treatment for glaucoma ($13.75 million). Developed by Prof. Michael Belkin, the camera-guided system enables precise contact-free procedure through a sophisticated image processing algorithm that automatically defines the treatment location and tracks the movement of the eye.

Starget Pharma, a start-up biopharmaceutical company that develops products for the diagnosis and targeted treatment of cancer through radioactive radiation ($10 million). Starget develops unique molecules that serve as a vector for selectively transferring imaging materials and treatment to the tumor tissue. Starget's leading research product is a somatostatin-like peptide based on a technology that developed by Sheba Hospital and Tel Aviv University that is licensed exclusively to the company.

Append Medical, developer of the next generation transcatheter Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) closure system ($7.6 million). The Append Medical procedure is designed to prevent blood clot leakage by achieving complete LAA closure, avoid device-related thromboembolism by leaving minimal foreign material at the closure site, while being a simple procedure with fewer LAA pre-procedure measurements. The Append Medical solution is in pre-clinical in-vivo trials phase and is intended to become a differentiated solution in the LAA closure market, which is estimated to reach $25 billion within several years.

Innovalve Bio Medical, an early-stage medical-device company developing catheter-based heart valve therapies ($7.2 million). The company grew out of inventions and patents developed by Sheba experts Professor Ehud Raanani, director of Sheba's Cardiovascular and Thoracic Center, and Dr. Boris Orlev, head of the Sheba's Mitral Valve Surgery Unit. Innovalve has developed an artificial mitral valve that can be replaced using a minimally invasive catheter to help treat patients with heart disease. The company has achieved successful results in experiments on animals and has received US-FDA approval for a US clinical trial, as well as approval in other territories.

TechsoMed, a miotech company that is developing BioTrace, the world's first real-time monitoring and control systems for ablation procedure ($7 million). The technology is applicable to multiple fields such as oncology (tumor ablation), cardiology (heart arrhythmia) and pain management (radiofrequency neurotomy) technology. The breakthrough technology brings disruptive improvement to thermal ablation through real time AI and image analysis by interfacing with a standard ultrasound device.

Dr. Sylvie Luria, CEO of Sheba's Technology Transfer Company, which handles ARC's commercialization efforts, said, "The quality of innovation at Sheba has earned the trust of healthcare innovators and industry alike. Moreover, the funding of six companies this year is a testament to investor confidence in Sheba-developed innovations, which aim to solve complex clinical challenges and make healthcare systems more efficient."

"Reaching $1 billion in investments in ARC technologies over a decade is a milestone, but the impact of these investments in improved healthcare delivery and patient outcomes is exponentially greater," Luria noted.

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Patients suffering from chronic lung diseases might soon leave symptoms like coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath behind. This week, Israel's Sheba Medical Center and the Synchrony Medical startup launched the first clinical trial of Synchrony's personalized chest physiotherapy system designed to provide efficient airway clearance.

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Synchrony Medical, a portfolio company of MEDX Xelerator, a medical device incubator formed as an initiative of MEDX Ventures Group together with Boston Scientific, Intellectual Ventures and Sheba Medical Center, has developed a novel airway clearance system based on a unique chest physiotherapy method developed at the National Cystic Fibrosis Center of Israel at Sheba Medical Center. The system includes real-time sensing to allow an adaptive treatment to achieve effective airway clearance.

The trial aims to test the functionality of the system and compare its effectiveness to standard care solutions currently used with patients who suffer from lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis.

"Effective airway clearance on a daily basis at home is the key to keeping chronic lung patients stable and breaking the vicious cycle of clinical deteriorations," said Dr. Moshe Ashkenazi, a pediatric pulmonologist at Sheba Medical Center and co-founder of Synchrony Medical.

"Our system will enable patients to receive state-of-the-art chest physiotherapy independently, in the comfort of their own home," explained Anat Shani, CEO of Synchrony Medical.

"By making this effective therapy accessible, Synchrony Medical will bring to patient's years of experience from Sheba's respiratory experts and may help minimize pulmonary exacerbations and costly hospitalization associated with chronic lung diseases. This trial brings us one step closer to our goal: improving the lives of millions of chronic lung disease patients who deserve better airway clearance solutions."

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Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer has partnered with Raanana-based startup Inspira Technologies to test Inspira's Augmented Respiration Technology as a treatment for patients in critical condition with COVID-19, Inspira announced Wednesday.

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Inspira Technologies describes its ART solution as the first technology in the world to directly oxygenate blood. Inspira explains that ART fills a gap in respiratory treatment where supplemental respiratory therapies such as high-pressure masks are insufficient and the risks from mechanical ventilation – such as medically-induced comas, intubation, and lung atrophy – are unjustified.

Director of the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit at Sheba Dr. Alexander Kogan said that the medical center was "very excited to test this breakthrough technology for respiratory distress."

According to Kogan, "With the ART system, hopefully, patients will remain fully conscious during their treatment. We will be able to avoid the use of mechanical ventilation until it's absolutely necessary and spare many patients from the risks of a medically-induced coma. Moreover, we anticipate further development of our novel renal replacement therapy technology for these critically ill patients with the help of Inspira."

Inspira co-founder and CEO Dagi Ben-Noon said, "Collaborating with the Sheba Medical Center is a great opportunity to test the ART system in a real-world environment and demonstrate its ease of use for medical staff and effectiveness for treating patients."

Dr. Sylvie Luria, manager of Sheba's technology transfer company, was responsible for facilitating the trial.

"When we came across Inspira's unique technology, we immediately saw its potential to transform the way we treat patients with respiratory issues," Luria said.

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Israel's Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer is partnering with Kaleidoscope Health Ventures to develop and execute the Chicago ARC (accelerate, redesign, and collaborate), with a vision of no less than transforming healthcare.

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The center is projected to be an anchor for the $7 billion, 100-acre Bronzeville Lakefront development on the historic site of the Michael Reese Medical Center.

The Chicago ARC aims to offer international companies a US foothold, develop health disparity solutions, incubate health innovation startups, collaborate on data science initiatives and be a gateway for global investment.

Sheba Medical Center in Israel, ranked the world's 9th leading hospital by Newsweek in 2020, has more than 70 years of clinical and research leadership. Sheba has led accelerated research and innovation on COVID-19 and other public health challenges through open collaborations with academic and government institutions, corporate partners and private and state-owned investment funds.

Kaleidoscope Health Ventures is a venture development firm that brings together world-class startups, partners, investors and talent to address socioeconomic and health issues while providing high-value services to support a new wave of life science startups and healthcare solutions.

Under the leadership of the joint venture team, the Chicago ARC seeks to foster new capabilities that grow health ventures through access to data, experienced operators, customers and capital. Focus areas include precision medicine, big data and artificial intelligence, virtual reality, telehealth and medical technologies. As one of only four US cities with three tier-one research universities, Chicago area institutions amassed over $900 million in National Institutes of Health-funded research and development funding as of 2019.

Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot said that "The Chicago ARC will enhance our incredible reserve of STEM talent, expand our next generation life sciences ecosystem and attract further capital to accelerate growth, while also serving as a transformational epicenter geared toward creating healthcare equity across our city's South Side communities."

"Our primary purpose goes beyond turning scientific discovery into financial returns; it's about turning scientific discovery into scalable innovation that drives health equity for all. The Chicago ARC redesigns the way healthcare innovation is done to achieve this commitment. It's an especially critical goal in Chicago because there's a 30-year life expectancy gap between the city's poorest and wealthiest ZIP codes," Kaleidoscope Co-founder S. Bob Chib noted.

Chief Medical Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at Sheba Medical Center Dr. Eyal Zimlichman said that "The ARC Innovation Center aligns with one of Israel's greatest priorities – the transformation of health care.  COVID-19 has reinforced how important it is to address and achieve health equity, making new and smarter healthcare approaches even more urgent and pressing."

Sheba Director General Professor Yitshak Kreiss added, "Transforming health requires more than a single institution or nation, which is why global collaboration is so important. Israel, and Sheba as its national medical center, started the journey long ago to disrupt health care through groundbreaking technology. The Chicago ARC Innovation Center will expand our efforts in the largest global market."

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A delegation from the Sheba Medical Center in central Israel flew to Italy Tuesday to help contain the spread of the coronavirus in the Piedmont District in the country's north.

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The delegation is led by Sheba's Professor Elhanan Bar-On and consists of 21 doctors and medical experts. They will spend two weeks in Italy.

Piedmont Governor Alberto Chirio approached Israeli Ambassador to Italy Dror Eydar for assistance following the dramatic increase in coronavirus infections and the shortage of doctors and medical equipment in the district.

"Israel is helping its friend in a time of need. It has been one of our values throughout history," Eydar said.

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The baby boy was flown in a specialized ambulance plane after the complex operation was expedited by the Israeli Embassy in Nicosia, the Cypriot Health Ministry, and Israeli and Cypriot doctors.

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Israel's Ambassador to Cyprus, Sammy Revel, told Israel Hayom: "The Syrian baby was born with a rare heart defect. The Cypriot Health Ministry turned to us, and we received all the necessary permits from the authorities in Israel. On Thursday [the baby] was urgently flown via air ambulance to Israel, and was immediately transferred to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. He is supposed to undergo life-saving surgery there. This is an expression of solidarity, to save the life of a baby is always the right thing to do."

In January 2018, Israeli doctors helped save a three-day-old Syrian baby who was also flown in from Cyprus.

Israel has treated thousands of sick and wounded Syrians throughout the ‎country's long-running civil war.

In 2016, the IDF launched a ‎humanitarian aid program dubbed Operation Good Neighbor to "provide humanitarian aid to as many people as possible while maintaining Israel's policy of non-involvement in the [Syrian] conflict," according to the IDF's official website.

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Nearly 40,000 Israelis are currently under home quarantine, as are 2,479 healthcare workers, including 949 doctors.

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A ministry official said the step taken to stem outbreak will be exacerbated next week, saying an official statement on the issue will be made on Saturday evening.

According to Channel 13 News, the government is likely to announce extensive civilian restrictions under which all nonessential places of business will be closed. A measure of this nature is expected to impact over half of the Israeli economy but will exclude the banking sector, food production facilities and supermarkets, and pharmacies.

At this time, however, the government does not plan to officially declare either a special situation in the home front or a national emergency situation, as each would carry various financial ramifications that need to be further explored, the report said.

Civil Service Commissioner Professor Daniel Hershkowitz said he would issue instructions for government workers to work from home insofar as the option exists. Detailed instructions will be published in due course.

On Thursday, Dr. Avi Irony – head of the emergency department at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer – along with other emergency room doctors and 11 nurses were put under quarantine, after one of the doctors contracted coronavirus while visiting France. The doctor who returned from France worked two shifts in the emergency room before the quarantine protocol was updated. Every patient he treated will be contacted.

This week Assuta Hospital's Ramat HaHayal branch in north Tel Aviv was forced to cut back on the number of scheduled operations after 28 operating room nurses were exposed to a colleague identified as having contracted the virus. That nurse was not in contact with any patients.

A total of 16 staff members at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv are hospitalized in isolation after coming into contact with a coronavirus patient who was treated in the hospital's emergency room using standard protocols.

Eight of the staff at Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikva are hospitalized in isolation, as are eight staff members at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

Dr. Zeev Feldman, chairman of the Organization of the State Employed Physicians of Israel and deputy head of the Israeli Medical Association, said, "We must ensure the protection of medical staff in order to handle the coronavirus. We, the medical teams, are in the eye of the storm.

"The men and women of Israel expect us to give them the best medical treatment possible, and we expect the government of Israel to supply us with the equipment, protection, and of course the best expert guidance for how to treat patients while protecting our safety," Feldman said.

The Health Ministry has issued new protective gear protocols for doctors ordering them to wear surgical masks every time they treat any patient suffering from respiratory illness.

Meanwhile, Jewish, Christian and Muslim authorities said religious services would continue to be held but announced new precautions.

At the Western Wall, authorities will limit entrance to an enclosed area and set up tents that each accommodate up to 100 people at one time, in compliance with Health Ministry instructions.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation said there would be no restrictions on worship in the main plaza as it constitutes a "wide, open space."

The Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem called on churches to enforce the Health Ministry's guidelines, including in Sunday services.

The Islamic Waqf said Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque would be held as normal but encouraged people to pray in the outer courtyards and refrain from crowding inside the mosques. It advised the elderly and sick not to enter crowded mosques and urged everyone to "maintain personal hygiene."

On Friday, the Health Ministry shut down Israel's professional soccer leagues through the end of March. During the last week of the month, league and health officials are due to conduct a situation assessment and decide until when the ban will remain in place. Israel Professional Football Leagues Chairman Erez Kalfon said: "With a heavy heart, we are forced to announce a halt to all soccer games in Israel's professional leagues in accordance with instructions from Health Ministry experts.

"At this time, as we are in the middle of a global crisis, we must all act responsibly and follow instructions from experts to protect the health of the public," Kalfon said.

The Israeli Basketball Association, which also suspended its season, said in a press release that the "decision was made in order to protect the health of the players, the referees, the coaches, and other employees. We are calling on everyone to protect their health in these difficult times and are hoping for better times."

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Riki Rosen, a senior nurse in the Sheba Medical Center in central Israel was alerted by her husband to a commotion near her seat, as passengers tried to help a 50-year-old man who had collapsed by pouring water over him, unwittingly exacerbating his situation.

"My husband told me that someone had collapsed and people were pouring water over him," she told Israel Hayom. "Doing this is very dangerous because it can make him suffocate. I went over there, made sure to stop him from getting up and then we placed him in a row of seats and lifted his legs. These steps are important and they can be life-saving."

She said that after stabilizing his vitals, a physician from first class arrived and evaluated his condition. "I am glad everything turned out to be ok, it was not a pleasant scene," Rosen says.

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