March 30, 2022
Scholars Refuge Fund
We hope the senseless violence in Europe will end soon and that peace will return. The University of Haifa is in touch with Ukrainian universities and scholars to assist in any way it can.

A Scholars Refuge Fund has been launched to provide support for students at risk in the region (from undergraduate to postdoc) as well as visiting faculty positions. The University has already received dozens of applications. The immediate goal is to support 100 scholars by raising $1,250,000 for stipends, scholarships, room and board, counselling, and emotional support. 

Please join us in this effort by donating online (Allocation: Scholars Refuge Fund)
or by calling 416.972.9400 now. Thank you for your kind consideration and support.
photo credit: J Cubed Communications
Folic Acid could cut risk of Dementia
The new study was carried out by University of Haifa psychiatric epidemiologist Dr. Anat Rotstein, who is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the Zuckerman Stem Leadership Program of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, and Prof. Stephen Levine of the community mental health department at the University of Haifa.

Their research suggests that the elderly (as well as pregnant women) should be taking a folic acid pill because low levels of folate – the natural B9 vitamin – can significantly raise the risk of dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease, and premature death.
Study: Sickle Cell Mutation Driven
by Pressure, Not Random
New research, led by University of Haifa evolutionary biologist Adi Livnat (pictured) and his team, challenges the overarching assumption that genetic mutations occur randomly and are then either kept or discarded by natural selection.

In the study, published in Genome Research, scientists found that the rate of a specific mutation with important health implications is non-random, occurring more or less often in different populations that have experienced specific environmental pressures over the course of generations.
The Negev Summit:
An alliance of opposition
The meeting of foreign ministers of the US, Egypt, the UAE, Morocco, and Bahrain in Israel, along with the summit between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Emirati Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed and the open security and intelligence ties Israel maintains with a variety of Arab states, are a reflection of a revolutionary strategic shift.

In the broad historical context, Israel is institutionalizing its status as an important Middle East power. In the immediate, focused, context, these events are shaping an Israeli-Arab coalition after American policy lost its way in the region and the US caved to Iran. 
Dan Schueftan is the head of the International Graduate Program in National Security Studies at the University of Haifa.
"Rakavlit" Cable Car officially opens
President Ron Robin and University CEO and VP Michael Wainer take a test ride on the newly-opened Rakavlit cable car linking the University of Haifa to Haifa Bay.
The cable car's route runs from the HaMifratz Central Bus Station and public transit hub at the foot of Mount Carmel to the Technion and then onto the University of Haifa, for a total distance of 4.4 kilometers and an elevation gain of 460 meters. Although it is sure to become a tourist attraction, most of the passengers are expected to be students travelling to the University of Haifa and the Technion.
Join us in Haifa this year
Canadian Friends of Haifa University
416.972.9400  
Mobile: 647.274.9438
info@haifa-univ.ca www.haifa-univ.ca