Picture: Israeli Singer Achinoam Nini entertains the audience at the Rambam Awards ceremony © Paul Melling Writer: Roberta Neiger, ProText
The second annual Rambam Summit, "Where Medicine, Technology and Humanity Intertwine", turned its attention this year to pediatric medicine. Held on May 30-31, 2011, the summit was attended by hundreds of distinguished figures from the spheres of medicine, economics, science, politics and academia from Israel and abroad. The summit featured scientific lectures, presentations of new research, guided tours of the hospital, and even a robotic prostate operation, done by Dr. David Samadi of Mt Sinai Medical Center, which was broadcast live by video conference.
During the conference, the master plan was revealed for the new Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital, which represents advances in all areas of pediatrics. The plan was presented in the presence of 50 distinguished guests from Friends of Rambam branches in Great Britain, the USA and Canada.
Rambam also offered summit participants tours of the hospital’s new Emergency Trauma Department and clinical research laboratories. The group had the opportunity to view the western campus, where construction of the world's largest fortified emergency hospital and the future Ruth Rappaport Children's Hospital and Joseph Fishman Oncology Center are underway.
Summit participants visited the laboratory led by Prof Lior Gepstein, who discussed his research with embryonic stem cells. They toured the diabetes research laboratories with Prof Derek LaRoith, who presented his work and spoke on innovations in the area of pediatric diabetes.
At a festive gala dinner at the Dan Carmel hotel, summit participants gathered for the Rambam Awards Ceremony. There, six exceptional individuals were chosen by the Rambam Committee for Honorable Award Candidates for their leadership and contributions to humanity at-large. The recipients included Ms. Gila Almagor Agmon, Mr. Harvey Krueger, Mr. Nochi Dankner,
Dr. Donna E. Shalala, the Hon. Laura Wolfson Townsley and the Fishman Family. Among those attending the gala were Haifa Mayor Mr Yonah Yahav, and prominent physicians from throughout Israel.
