Greetings from Palermo

In June 2025, Dr. Shir Hochwald-Liber visited Palermo, Italy, to attend a conference aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in personalized medicine. EP PerMed Summer School on Innovation, Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship in Personalised Medicine covers fields such as business model development, regulation, market analysis, intellectual property protection, and academia-to-industry knowledge transfer. The conference offered lectures, workshops, and meetings with entrepreneurs, researchers, and leading industry figures across Europe. "The event was organized by EP PerMed – European Partnership for Personalised Medicine as part of a broader EU initiative. This is the first conference of its kind, and we hope that it becomes an annual event," shares Dr. Hochwald-Liber.

Dr. Hochwald-Liber, 36, married and a mother of four, obtained all three of her degrees from Bar-Ilan University's Department of Physics, after which she transferred to the realm of biomedical engineering, conducting her postdoctoral research at Prof. Rachela Popovtzer's lab. With Prof. Popovtzer's guidance, she develops a revolutionary synthetic biology-based biochip for personalized, noninvasive early detection and monitoring of gastrointestinal diseases such as Crohn's and IBS. "The technology uses biosensors, genetically engineered bacteria that react to molecular markers found in feces. With a simple stool sample, this technology can offer fast and easy early diagnosis of gastrointestinal disease, reduce unnecessary diagnostic procedures, and advance the world of personalized medicine," she explains.

Prof. Popovtzer's supervision comes into play in both the scientific-technological aspects of the system's development and its clinical applicative side. "Our relationship is based on open dialogue, professional support, and trust. She encourages me to think independently, combine disciplines, and aspire to lead this research to significant industrial application," says Dr. Hochwald-Liber. The research is conducted in collaboration with Prof. Ehud Banin of Bar-Ilan's Faculty of Life Science, and Prof. Nitsan Maharshak, Head of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at Ichilov Medical Center.

At the Palermo conference, Dr. Hochwald-Liber presented a scientific poster on the biochip's development, emphasizing early-stage differential diagnosis between Crohn's and IBS. In addition, she took an active part in various professional workshops, as well as discussions and productive dialogue throughout the conference. "Reactions to my research were very positive, and it aroused interest among researchers, entrepreneurs, and professionals from the health industry. We made several significant professional connections with researchers and entrepreneurs from across Europe, some of whom expressed interest in future collaborations, both in the research aspect and in advancing the technology," she relates. "The open discourse around the poster and during the workshops enabled natural connections with participants with complementary backgrounds and created a platform for examining new directions for continued development and implementation of the technology. Connections were also formed with industry figures who might contribute to advancing commercialization down the road. The entire experience was enriching, opened a door to future collaborations, and reinforced my desire to continue on the path of scientific entrepreneurship."