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Contacts between Institute scientists and their Egyptian counterparts have been increasing. This is reflected, among other things, in a growing number of visits to Rehovot by Egyptian officials and by a joint conference on weed control.
Among the Egyptian dignitaries who visited the Weizmann campus recently are Dr. Hamdi El-Banbi, Minister of Petroleum; Dr. Venice K. Gouda, Minister of State for Scientific Research; and a delegation from Egypt's National Research Center headed by its President, Prof. M.N. Mohammed Nabil Youssef-Aboul-Enein.
The conference, held at the Institute in early November, was the first in a series of annual Egypt-USA-Israel workshops on controlling parasitic weeds of the broomrape family. These meetings will take place alternatively in Israel and Egypt within the framework of a regional project sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development.
There is also a long-term presence on the campus in the person of Dr. Khaled El-Shami, the country's first doctoral student from Egypt. Holder of an M.D. from the University of Alexandria, he is now pursuing a Ph.D. in the laboratory of Prof. Lea Eisenbach of the Department of Cell Biology, where he studies genetic engineering in cancer therapy.
"Strangely enough" he says, "I feel completely at home here by now, and have a real sense of belonging. I see myself as part of a research team, part of the Institute, part of society, part of life."
The growing links between the Institute and Egyptian researchers were also noted by Egypt's Ambassador to Israel, Mohammed Bassiouny, speaking at the Clore Prize ceremony on campus in November. "The Middle East," he said, "has all the requisites for prosperity; oil, water, manpower, money and technology. All it requires is peace to turn this area into a real paradise."
Clockwise, from left): Institute President Prof. Haim Harari at the Laub International Science Youth Village with Egyptian Minister of State for Scientific Research Dr. Venice K. Gouda (l.) and Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Mohammed Bassiouny (r.);2 . Ziva Amsellem of the Dept. of Plant Genetics (left) and Dr. M.M. Abdel-Kader of the National Research Center in Cairo;3 . Dr. El-Shami and Prof. Eisenbach in an Institute cancer research lab
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