Ruth Arnon

Ruth Arnon is an Israeli biochemist and immunologist, born in Tel Aviv in 1933, who spent her career at the Weizmann Institute of Science, where she holds the Paul Ehrlich Professorship of Immunology. Working with Michael Sela, and with the then doctoral student Devorah Teitelbaum, she helped show that a synthetic copolymer could suppress the animal model of multiple sclerosis, work that led to the drug glatiramer acetate, marketed as Copaxone and submitted to the United States regulator in 1995. She held senior posts at the institute, including dean of biology and vice president, and later led the Israel Academy of Sciences. Her recent research concerns a universal influenza vaccine and a cancer vaccine. Nothing here is medical advice.