Previous Events

Following BGU President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz's initiative to expand international partnerships, the BGU-FOR team joined him and took an active part in the International One Health Symposium. The event provided a platform to launch collaborative initiatives.

The two-day symposium, hosted at Kumaraguru College of Technology in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, convened experts from multiple disciplines, entrepreneurs, NGO representatives, and government officials to address health research and innovation across human, animal, plant, and environmental domains. Presentations covered a broad spectrum of topics, including zoonotic disease control, human-wildlife interfaces, food and agricultural systems, technological innovations for One Health challenges, and community-driven environmental health solutions.

Prof. Dorit Nitzan delivered a keynote lecture on the One Health framework and its critical role in addressing current and emerging health challenges. Dr. Carmit Cohen served as a panelist on animal health, examining the impacts of climate change on animal and human health systems. Prof. Nitzan also facilitated an interactive One Health simulation exercise (SimEx), engaging students, staff, and symposium participants in a collaborative problem-solving scenario addressing an epidemic outbreak.

The symposium culminated in a formal collaboration agreement between Kumaraguru College and Ben-Gurion University, establishing a partnership to pursue joint research initiatives applying the One Health approach to develop sustainable solutions in areas of mutual interest.

On December 10, 2024, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev hosted an international conference titled One Health from Afar, organized by the BGU-FOR Research Center and the Laboratory for Remote Sensing and Planetary Imaging. The event brought together students with leading experts in health, environment, natural sciences, and geospatial technologies to discuss innovation through the One Health lens.

The conference underscored the interconnectedness of human, animal, plant, and environmental health. It featured keynotes from global experts such as Lorant Czaran, Executive Director of UN-SPIDER, and Dr. Shir Stibbe, who presented space-breaking insights into orbital medicine and the importance of these technologies in early warning systems, monitoring, and preventing health emergencies. She also described the contributions of human activity in space to One Health. These sessions highlighted how space and remote sensing technologies are revolutionizing public health and environmental research, tools, and applications.

The conference sessions explored diverse topics, including the use of wild-animal tracking to predict disease outbreaks, precision pest control with drones, biodiversity conservation using LiDAR, monitoring mesophotic reefs, and the application of satellite-based tools in air pollution modelling. The program showcased how cutting-edge technologies address real-world challenges like mega flash floods, wildfires, underground uranium and heavy metals, and biodiversity degradation.

The conference’s afternoon panel discussion brought together experts from academia, industry, and governmental offices to explore the future of space and remote sensing-driven innovations within the One Health framework. Networking sessions, including a vibrant poster presentation, provided an interactive platform for participants to share knowledge and forge interdisciplinary collaborations.

The One Health from Afar conference emphasized the urgency of cross-sectoral collaborations of researchers and doers who are experts in specific areas to tackle local and global One Health challenges, fostering a sense of shared responsibility among students, scientists, policymakers, communities, and industrial entrepreneurs.

To address One-Health current and future, global and national challenges, the BGU-FOR, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, held a “One Health for One Sustainable World” workshop from 8-9 July 2023 at Midreshet Ben-Gurion. The diverse group of participants included researchers from several universities, policymakers and implementers from the Ministries of Health and Agriculture (including the National Veterinary Services), regional authorities, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, experts in public health and clinical services, and civil society organizations, providing a range of expertise and opinions. The Heschel Center for Sustainability facilitated the "Maof seminar" using its methodology that drives and facilitates collaboration among experts from diverse backgrounds in addressing complex issues. Before the seminar, Professor Lucille Blumberg, a global leader in One Health and infectious diseases from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, presented the global challenges and One Health solutions practiced with her colleagues.

Ben Gurion University's second research festival was held on 18 January 2023, focusing on the establishment of the BGU-FOR center. The event was led by the President, the Vice President, and the Dean for Research and Development.  Ann Berger, Chief Executive Officer at Rosetrees and the Mania Igel Foundation, and a member of the BGU-FOR Steering Committee, participated in the event. Keynote speakers were Richard Deckelbaum, Professor of Nutrition, Pediatrics, and Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, USA, Johana Hanefeld, Professor of Global Health Policy at the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany and Dr. Bindu Nishal Andreuzza, Vice President, Agri Innovations & One Health, Sustainability Innovation Centre (SINC), IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad, India.

A Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Prof. Em. Yosef Mizrahi. Six research groups were selected to present their proposals following a call for research published in November 2022.  The BGU-FOR selection committee voted for the proposal presented by Prof. Dina Zilberg on “Solving the global shortage of Omega 3 LC-PUFAs through phytoremediation of aquaculture effluent.” Prof Zilberg's team was awarded USD 130,000 for 2023.