Zvia Agur
Professor Zvia Agur is an eminent international biomathematician, who has made major contributions to the theory of disease dynamics, chemotherapy and vaccination policies optimization. Prof. Agur is founder of the Institute for Medical BioMathematics (IMBM), has been the president of the Israeli Society of Theoretical and Mathematical Biology, a member of the Board of Directors of the European Society of Mathematical and Theoretical Biology, and an editor of several professional publications. Her innovative research work has won national and international awards, has been published in a long line of leading scientific journals and is recognized by the academic community worldwide. Prof. Agur holds a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Université Libre de Bxl in Brussels.
Education and Positions:
| Years | Education / Position |
|---|---|
| 2000 – 2020 | Chairperson & CSO, Optimata Ltd |
| 1999 – | President, Institute for Medical Biomathematics (IMBM) | 1994 – 1999 | Associate Professor, Cell Research and Immunology, Tel-Aviv University, Israel | 1987 – 1994 | Senior Scientist, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel | 1982 | PhD in Biomathematics, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Academic and Professional Awards:
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Elected as 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| 2016 | Finalist for EU Prize for Women Innovators, European Commission |
| 2004 | Best Paper Award, 6th International Conference on Cellular Automata for Research and Industry, ACRI. |
| 1989 | The Juludan Prize for Outstanding Scientific Achievements, Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa |
| 1987 | Jakubskind-Cymerman Research Prize, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel |
| 1987 | The Elaine Blond Career Development Chair, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel |
| 1974 | Aharon Katzir Prize for Scientific Writing, Israel Academy of Science, Israel |
Academic and Professional Experience:
| Period | Name of institution | Department | Rank/Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | European Parliament, Brussels | EU – Israel: 20 Years Research and Innovation Partnership | Guest of honour |
| 2010-2011 | National Research Agency (ANR), France | “Investissements d’Avenir” programme | Member of the Board of Juries | 2006 | Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF) | “Mathematics and…” | Member of the Board of Juries | 2000-2020 | Optimata Ltd. | — | Chairperson & CSO | 1994-1999 | Tel-Aviv University, Israel | Cell Research and Immunology | Associate Professor | 1992-1994 | Oxford University, UK, Jesus College | Zoology and Wellcome Centre for Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases | Visiting Senior ResearchFellow | 1991 | Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, London, UK | Biology | Visiting Research Fellow | 1989 | Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France | Physics | Visiting Scientist | 1989 | Rockefeller University, New York, USA | Neurosciences Institute | Fellow in Residence | 1987-1994 | The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel | Applied Maths. & Comp. Science | Senior Scientist | 1986-1987 | The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel | Ecology and Evolution | Scientist | 1983-1985 | The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel | Applied Maths. & Comp. Science | Postdoctoral fellow | 1975-1978 | Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel | Genetics and EnvironmentalBiology | Teaching and research assistant | 1971-1973 | Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel | Genetics and EnvironmentalBiology | Teaching and research assistant |
Recent Selected Publications:
- Kogan Y, Robinson A, Itelman E, Bar-Nur Y, Jakobson DJ, Segal G, et al. Developing and validating a machine learning prognostic model for alerting to imminent deterioration of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Sci Rep (2022) 12(1):19220.
- Agur Z. Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: On the Importance of Machine Learning Models in the Fight Against COVID-19 and on the Necessity to Scrutinize them. Isr Med Assoc J (2022) 24(11):705-07.
- Gillis A, Ben Yaacov A, Agur Z. A New Method for Optimizing Sepsis Therapy by Nivolumab and Meropenem Combination: Importance of Early Intervention and CTL Reinvigoration Rate as a Response Marker. Frontiers in Immunology. 2021;12(468).https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.616881
- Agur Z, Elishmereni M, Foryś U, Kogan Y. Accelerating the Development of Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy by Integrating Molecular Patients’ Profiles with Dynamic Mathematical Models. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/CPT.1942.
- Perlstein D, Shlagman O, Kogan Y, Halevi-Tobias K, Yakobson A, Lazarev I, et al. Personal response to immune checkpoint inhibitors of patients with advanced melanoma explained by a computational model of cellular immunity, tumor growth, and drug. PLoS One. 2019;14(12):e0226869. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226869. PubMed PMID: 31877168.
- Tsur N, Kogan Y, Rehm M, Agur Z. Response of Patients with Melanoma to Immune Checkpoint Blockade – Insights Gleaned from Analysis of a New Mathematical Mechanistic Model. J Journal of Theoretical Biology 2019:110033. doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.110033. PubMed PMID: 31580835.
- Tsur N, Kogan Y, Avizov-Khodak E, Vaeth D, Vogler N, Utikal J, Lotem M, Agur Z. Predicting response to pembrolizumab in metastatic melanoma by a new personalization algorithm. J Journal of Translational Medicine 2019;17(1):338. doi: 10.1186/s12967-019-2081-2. PubMed PMID: 31590677.
- Gillis A, Beil M, Halevi-Tobias K, van Heerden PV, Sviri S, Agur Z. Alleviation of exhaustion-induced immunosuppression and sepsis by immune checkpoint blockers sequentially administered with antibiotics—analysis of a new mathematical model. J Intensive Care Medicine Experimental. 2019 7(1):32. doi: 10.1186/s40635-019-0260-3.
- Hochman G, Halevi-Tobias K, Kogan Y, Agur Z. Extracellular inhibitors can attenuate tumorigenic Wnt pathway activity in adenomatous polyposis coli mutants: Predictions of a validated mathematical model. J PLoS One 2017 Jul 14;12(7):e0179888.
- Agur Z, Halevi-Tobias K, Kogan Y & Shlagman O. Employing dynamical computational models for personalizing cancer immunotherapy. Expert Opin Biol Ther., 26, 2016, pp 1-13.
- Elishmereni M, Kheifetz Y, Shukrun I, Bevan GH, Nandy D, McKenzie KM, Kohli M, Agur Z. Prediction of individual response to androgen deprivation therapy in hormone sensitive prostate cancer stage patients by integrating a mathematical mechanistic model of tumor progression with clinical patient characteristics. Prostate, 76(1), 2016, pp 48-57.