Amit Nahum

I have started my research activity as an MD PhD student at The Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, at The Ben-Gurion University, Israel. Completed residency in pediatrics in 2006, and followed that with a fellowship in immunology at the Hospital For Sick Children, Toronto Canada. At the Immunology department in Toronto I have studied basic molecular mechanisms related to immunodeficiency. I have studied in depth the clinical and immunological aspects of Chronic Mucocoutaneous Candidiasis and innate immune defects related to chronic candidiasis and combined immunodeficiency. I was a recipient of the Robert A. Good – Jeffrey Modell, Fellowship in Transplantation and Immunodeficiency, research. After finishing my fellowship I have continued as a clinical assistant and research associate under the guidance of Professor Chaim M. Roifman at the immunology laboratory at the hospital for Sick Children. Upon my return to Israel I have established the immunology research section and joined the pediatric immunology and allergy clinic at the in Kaplan Medical Center. I have continued research as part of the Canada-Israel Immunodeficiency Research Alliance. Among recent studies, we have gained an important understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying candidiasis infections in immunodeficient patients, revealing that mutations in the DNA binding domain of STAT1 can cause progressive immunodeficiency with severe bacterial and viral infections and autoimmunity. Another study conducted with the Liver Transplant Clinic, revealed a unique immunologic mechanism underlying severe allergic reactions to food occurring in post liver transplantation patients.

Recently I have assumed the position of Pediatrics department head, at Soroka University Medical Center and establishing a new research facility in immunology with the emphasis on primary immunodeficiency. In our division we serve several hundreds of patients a year with nearly 50 patients receiving IVIg. When encountering the vast unmapped field of, immunology related problems, in our population, I see the establishment of a research laboratory and clinical center as an indispensable tool with great potential for discovery of new immunodeficiency diseases and hopefully allowing further insight of immunology.

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