Academic Bridge Fellowship

US-Israel Academic Bridge Fellowship

The Academic Bridge Fellowship offers a fully-funded academic program for young Israelis at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). UPenn is one of the highest-ranked academic institutions in the world, with programs in wide-ranging fields, including science, engineering, medicine, law, business, humanities, social work, education, and numerous other fields of study.

After October 7th, faculty from UPenn organized a mission to express our solidarity with our friends and colleagues in Israel. In the face of the dramatic rise in anti-Israel sentiment on campus, we see cultural exchange as the best antidote to hateful views arising from a failure to know Israelis. We therefore initiated the Academic Bridge Fellowship, which provides young Israelis with the opportunity to interact with faculty and students in an immersive setting, providing deep connections on North American campuses, beginning this summer at UPenn and scaling, in future years, to other institutions.

About the Fellowship

The bridge fellowship is a scholarly summer internship for young Israelis, offering early exposure to the academic system in North American universities and enhancing mutual understanding between young Israelis and their North American counterparts. The program has the following goals:

1. Provide opportunities for young Israelis to gain scholarly exposure in the North American academic system, thus offering them valuable training and future connections.

2. Facilitate dialogue and mutual understanding between young Israelis and their counterparts on North American campuses.

3. Provide opportunities for North American faculty and communities to demonstrate their support for young Israelis, thus strengthening ties between our communities.

Why this program? Our premise is that cultural exchange between young Israelis and Americans is particularly important for promoting dialogue and mutual understanding. Despite the many programs aimed at North American / Israeli cultural exchange, few programs exist to bring young Israelis to North America, and those that do operate within the setting of a summer camp or a trip.

Opportunity and Eligibility

The bridge fellowship is open to any Israeli citizen eligible to travel to the US who meets English language proficiency requirements. Selection criteria include a strong commitment to spending 4-5 weeks engaged in full-time academic training/research and personal qualities that bode well for success in our program. In addition, we seek to prioritize admission of fellows who have recently completed military service or national service.

The present program encompasses two key elements: (1) Giving young Israelis the opportunity to be mentored by UPenn Professors, and (2) Bringing young Israelis together with young North Americans in a setting where they pursue academic goals and also through non-academic interactions and engagement with the local community.

Key Dates and Application Process

The program will cover all costs, including a multi-day orientation in Israel, flights to and from the US, housing on the UPenn campus, and meals. Fellows will also participate in community activities, including group trips and (optional) Shabbat meals. Bridge fellows will be mentored by UPenn Faculty (listed below) and participate in regular “Lunch & Learn” meetings where they will be exposed to the cutting-edge research environment at UPenn. A typical week during the program will include a trip on Sunday, Monday-Friday work with faculty mentors and research groups, Lunch & Learn seminars, and community outings.

May 1st – Application deadline (no costs for applicants)

June 18-20 – Orientation in Israel with UPenn faculty and Alumni

June 21 - Travel to the US (plus or minus one day, pending flight availability)

June 22 - July 22 - Program at UPenn, as described above)

July 23 - Return to Israel (plus or minus one day, pending flight availability)

Applicants must submit materials using the attached form. The application requires you to answer a list of questions and upload a video, so please be prepared to allocate 1-2 hours to complete the application.

Program Organizers

Michael Jacob Kahana, Ph.D., Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Psychology, School of Arts & Sciences

Maayan Levy, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine

Peter Decherney, Ph.D., Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Cinema, School of Arts & Sciences

Ron Berman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing, [1]

Ronny Drapkin, M.D. / Ph.D. Ronny Drapkin, Franklin Payne Associate Professor of Pathology, Perelman School of Medicine

Faculty Mentors and Lunch & Learn Speakers (DRAFT)

Michael Jacob Kahana, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Psychology, Topic: “Memory and Trauma” (Mentor)

Maayan Levy, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Topic: “New approaches for treating human diseases” (Mentor) The vision of my lab is to understand, develop, and apply the concept of metabotherapy – the usage of metabolites as vehicles and targets to prevent and treat disease. Metabolites are the quintessential effectors of cellular and organismal metabolism. They are at the core of the life history triad of growth, reproduction, and maintenance. In the lab, we are developing innovative approaches for the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer using human samples, clinical trials and mouse models of disease.

Peter Decherney, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Cinema. Topic: “Jewish Africa and Documentary Film” (Mentor) Across sub-Saharan Africa, varied expressions of Judaism are emerging, complicating the religious landscape of a continent long-dominated by Christianity, Islam, and indigenous practices. Some Jewish communities claim direct Semitic bloodlines. Others base their Jewish identity on conversion. The meaning behind this widespread phenomenon is multifaceted. While scholars are beginning to document the disparate communities of African Jews, few if any have tried to put them in conversation with each other. Fewer still have attempted to understand the practical drivers and outcomes that surround Judaism. Why do people convert to or claim a Jewish identity? What meaning does this have in African communities where Judaism is largely unknown and in the larger, contested, world of Judaism? What resources, like electricity, clean water, and funding, does this identity provide pathways to conferring? And, how do racism and antisemitism inform these processes? From our Penn Global Documentary Institute, we are helping to answer these and other questions with original research. This summer, we will return to South Africa and Uganda with students and teaching assistants to film, photograph, and interview members of the Lemba and Abayudaya communities. The Lemba claim a lost tribe heritage, based on practices, oral tradition, and DNA evidence that connects them to the Middle East. Conversely, the Abayudaya are a community who converted to Judaism over a hundred years ago. Returning to these communities, our fieldwork will center on producing short profiles of members and in gathering data for our scholarship in progress. An Academic Bridge Fellow will work with us in Philadelphia to help process our fieldwork by transcribing interviews and by logging video footage (by watching and coding it) in preparation for video post production and a scheduled January follow up trip to Uganda. The fellow will also help in researching and planning fieldwork planned for late summer.

Christoph Thaiss, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Topic: “Gut Brain communication” (Mentor)

Ken Cadwell, T. Grier Miller Professor of Medicine, Topic: “Pathogens”, (Mentor) The Cadwell laboratory investigates how our immune system has adapted to the diverse microbial agents we encounter in our lifetime. We address this question by focusing on the gastrointestinal tract where a single layer epithelium separates our body from pathogens and microbial colonizers belonging to the microbiota. Through taking a comparative infection biology approach, our research has identified cellular mechanisms underlying the balanced immune response that is necessary for responding to life-threatening infections while avoiding chronic illnesses like inflammatory bowel disease. Ongoing projects include elucidating how symbiotic intestinal viruses, fungi, and parasites contribute to local and extraintestinal disease susceptibility, defining how the cellular pathway of autophagy mediates resilience towards infectious threats, and understanding how polymicrobial exposure in the natural environment contributes to the developmental maturation of the immune system. Through these projects, we hope to gain further insight into how microbial diversity in the intestinal ecosystem shapes host physiology and pave the way for therapies that restore balanced host-microbe relationships.

Jorge Henao-Mejia, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Topic: “mouse genetic tools” (Mentor)

Joe Zackular, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Topic: “c.diff infection”, (Mentor)

Klaus Kaestner, Thomas and Evelyn Suor Butterworth Professor in Genetics, Associate Director, Penn Diabetes Research Center (Mentor) The Kaestner lab employs modern genetic approaches to understand the molecular mechanisms of organogenesis and physiology of the liver, pancreas and gastrointestinal tract. We also use next-generation sequencing to investigate molecular differences between normal and diseased tissues, with a focus on liver cancer and diabetes. We are currently testing the hypothesis that irreparable damage to telomeres (the “caps of chromosomes”) impedes islet function in diabetic patients.

Lou Soslowsky, Fairhill Professor of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine (Mentor) The overall goals of Professor Soslowsky’s research program are to determine fundamental relationships and mechanisms of tendon and ligament injury, healing, repair, and regeneration and to use this information to develop and evaluate potential treatment modalities. Prof Soslowsky evaluates fundamental structure-function relationships for tendon and ligament. His lab has several ongoing projects in orthopaedic research and biomechanical engineering. Specific studies relate to tendon and ligament injury and repair. Trainees will assist in the research laboratory. Responsibilities might include specimen preparation, mechanical testing, data analysis, etc.

Matthew D. Weitzman. Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine And Arthur Vincent Meigs Endowed Chair in Pediatrics. Topic: “Virus-Host Interactions”, (Mentor)

Ruben Gur and Raquel Gur. Professors of Psychiatry and Neurology. (Mentors)

Brian Englander, Robert E. Campbell Associate Professor of Radiology (Mentor) We work in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer and other disease of the breast within the Department of Radiology. Current projections included percutaneous ablation of breast cancer (cryoablation and pulsed electric field ablation), evaluation of novel technology for diagnosis of breast cancer, collaboration with industry for advanced early detection through implementation of artificial intelligence. In addition, I have been involved with population health – global health and health equity – initiatives.

Kellie Jurado, Presidential Assistant Professor, Topic: “pathogenesis of emerging viruses” (Mentor)

Ronny Drapkin, Franklin Payne Associate Professor of Pathology (Mentor)

Claire Finkelstein, Topic: “On the law of armed conflict”

Tom Baker, William Maul Measey Professor of Law, Topic: “Interdisciplinarity”

Morris Cohen, Panasonic Professor Emeritus of Manufacturing and Logistics. Topic: “Manufacturing Logistics”

Abraham Wyner, Professor of Statistics and Data Science, Topic: “Using Statistics to Understand Casualties in War?

David Raizin, Professor of Neurology, Topic: “Understanding fatigue”

Martin Seligman, Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology, Director of the Positive Psychology Center. Topic: “Resilience”

Angela Duckworth, Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor and co-founder of the Character Lab. Topic: “Grit”

Itay Goldstein, Joel S. Ehrenkranz Family Professor, Professor of Finance, Professor of Economics, Topic: “Global Games and Financial Fragility"

Brian Litt, Perelman Professor of Neurology, Topic: “Brain-machine interfaces”

Konrad Kording, Penn Integrated Knowledge Professor, Departments of Bioengineering, Computer Science and Psychology. Topic: “Brains, AI and Evolution”

Ron Berman, Associate Professor of Marketing, Topic: “Marketing”

Roger Greenberg, J. Samuel Staub M.D. Professor, Department of Cancer Biology, Director, Penn Center for Genome Integrity / Basser Center, Topic: “Cancer Biology”

Kara Bernstein. Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Topic: “Imaging Living Cells”

Claudine Gartenberg, Asst. Prof. of Management, Wharton School (Topic, TBA)