Rivka Carmi Explained
Rivka Carmi (Hebrew: רבקה כרמי; born 1948) is an Israeli pediatrician and geneticist. She served as President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) from May 2006 until December 2018. Carmi is the first woman to be appointed president of an Israeli university.[1]
Early life
Carmi was born in Zikhron Ya'akov, Israel. Her mother, Zipora, was a social worker. Her father, Menachem, was an accountant, a painter and an amateur archaeologist who died when Carmi was 14 years old.
She was an officer in the Israeli Defence Forces (Captain), and served as the commander of academics officers' training school. During the Yom Kippur War, she helped establish the missing in action (MIA) accounting unit in the IDF.
Carmi is a graduate of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Hadassah Medical School.[2] She completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in neonatology at the Soroka University Medical Center and an additional fellowship in medical genetics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University Medical School.[3] [4]
Medical and academic career
Carmi’s research focused mainly on the delineation of the clinical manifestations and molecular basis of genetic diseases in the Negev Arab-Bedouin population.[5] [6] [7] [8] Author of over 150 publications in medical genetics, her research included the identification of 12 new genes[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] and the delineation of 2 new syndromes,[28] [29] [30] one of which is known as the Carmi Syndrome. Carmi's first academic publication (1977) described an accumulation of carbon dioxide oxygen hoods, infant cots and incubators in possible relation with the sudden infant death syndrome phenomenon.[31] Her community outreach projects were aimed at preventing hereditary diseases and advancing women's education in the Bedouin community. She was involved with the establishment of biotechnology initiatives at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and served as the Acting Director of the nascent National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev.[2]
She served as President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) from May 2006 – December 2018.[32] She succeeded Avishay Braverman, and was followed by Daniel Chamovitz.[32] [33]
Public positions
Carmi is a member of the Advisory Board of the Genesis Prize Foundation.[34] She is a founding member of the UK-Israel Science Council and served as its co-chair alongside Professor Raymond Dwek in the years 2010–2017.[35] On April 4, 2013, the Minister of Justice, MP Tzipi Livni, appointed Carmi to be part of the Rivlin Committee. The committee examined the compensation agreement for workers of the nuclear research facility in Dimona that were exposed to ionizing radiation and diagnosed with cancer.
In May 2014 Carmi was appointed to the Locker Committee which examined Israel's national defense budget. In 2011 she was appointed chairperson of the Promotion and Representation of Women in Higher Education Institutions Committee (the Carmi Team).[36] In 2015 she headed the task force of the Israeli Medical Association established to study the status of women in medicine.
Controversy
In November 2017, the search committee for president recommended extending Carmi's tenure as president by two additional years, through May 2020. In response, the academic senate held an extraordinary meeting, in which it declared that the search committee failed and called for the resignation of the chair of the executive committee, Asher Heled.[37] The executive committee decided to approve the extension despite the objections of the academic staff, which resulted in further protest.[38] The State Comptroller of Israel launched an investigation into the selection process.[39] In response, Carmi stated: "What I have in mind is the good of the university, so once a person is elected to head it, I will be the first to congratulate, to vacate my place and to pave the way for anyone found to be suitable – even if it is earlier than the two years that I was asked to fill.[40]
In February 2018, the executive committee announced that a new president would be elected by the end of year.[41]
Awards and recognition
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Solomon. Shoshanna. Stepping down, first female university head speaks of tough choices, no regrets. 2021-04-28. www.timesofisrael.com. en-US.
- Web site: Faculty of Health Sciences - Professor Rivka Carmi, MD. 2021-04-28. in.bgu.ac.il.
- News: Juggling Act. 2012-03-01. Haaretz. Doron Halutz. 2018-08-23. en.
- Web site: פרופ' רבקה כרמי מונתה לדירקטורית בשותפות המו"פ IMED. 2021-04-28. www.b7net.co.il. he.
- Bet-Or H, Weizman D, Elbedour K, Shoham-Vardi I, Carmi R . 2000. Community based program to prevent hereditary deafness among the negev bedouins in israel. J Med Genet. A15. 37.
- Scott. D. A.. Carmi. R.. Elbedour. K.. Yosefsberg. S.. Stone. E. M.. Sheffield. V. C.. 1996-08-01. An autosomal recessive nonsyndromic-hearing-loss locus identified by DNA pooling using two inbred Bedouin kindreds. American Journal of Human Genetics. 59. 2. 385–391. 0002-9297. 1914732. 8755925.
- Raz. Aviad E.. Atar. Marcela. Rodnay. Maya. Shoham-Vardi. Ilana. Carmi. Rivka. Between Acculturation and Ambivalence: Knowledge of Genetics and Attitudes towards Genetic Testing in a Consanguineous Bedouin Community. Public Health Genomics. 6. 2. 88–95. 10.1159/000073004. 14560069. 2003. 10952354.
- Scott. D. A.. Carmi. R.. Elbedour. K.. Duyk. G. M.. Stone. E. M.. Sheffield. V. C.. 1995-10-01. Nonsyndromic autosomal recessive deafness is linked to the DFNB1 locus in a large inbred Bedouin family from Israel. American Journal of Human Genetics. 57. 4. 965–968. 0002-9297. 1801487. 7573061.
- Birnbaum. Ramon Y.. Landau. Daniella. Elbedour. Khalil. Ofir. Rivka. Birk. Ohad S.. Carmi. Rivka. 2008-04-15. Deletion of the first pair of fibronectin type III repeats of the integrin β-4 gene is associated with epidermolysis bullosa, pyloric atresia and aplasia cutis congenita in the original Carmi syndrome patients. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A. en. 146A. 8. 1063–1066. 10.1002/ajmg.a.31903. 18348258. 205308681. 1552-4833.
- Chiang. Annie P.. Beck. John S.. Yen. Hsan-Jan. Tayeh. Marwan K.. Scheetz. Todd E.. Swiderski. Ruth E.. Nishimura. Darryl Y.. Braun. Terry A.. Kim. Kwang-Youn A.. 2006-04-18. Homozygosity mapping with SNP arrays identifies TRIM32, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, as a Bardet–Biedl syndrome gene (BBS11). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. en. 103. 16. 6287–6292. 10.1073/pnas.0600158103. 0027-8424. 1458870. 16606853. 2006PNAS..103.6287C. free.
- Nishimura. Darryl Y.. Fath. Melissa. Mullins. Robert F.. Searby. Charles. Andrews. Michael. Davis. Roger. Andorf. Jeaneen L.. Mykytyn. Kirk. Swiderski. Ruth E.. 2004-11-23. Bbs2-null mice have neurosensory deficits, a defect in social dominance, and retinopathy associated with mislocalization of rhodopsin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. en. 101. 47. 16588–16593. 10.1073/pnas.0405496101. 0027-8424. 534519. 15539463. 2004PNAS..10116588N. free.
- Mykytyn. Kirk. Nishimura. Darryl Y.. Searby. Charles C.. Shastri. Mythreyi. Yen. Hsan-jan. Beck. John S.. Braun. Terry. Streb. Luan M.. Cornier. Alberto S.. 2002-08-01. Identification of the gene (BBS1) most commonly involved in Bardet-Biedl syndrome, a complex human obesity syndrome. Nature Genetics. en. 31. 4. 435–438. 10.1038/ng935. 1061-4036. 12118255. 29915446.
- Walder. Roxanne Y.. Landau. Daniel. Meyer. Peter. Shalev. Hanna. Tsolia. Maria. Borochowitz. Zvi. Boettger. Melanie Barbara. Beck. Gretel E.. Englehardt. Richard K.. 2002-06-01. Mutation of TRPM6 causes familial hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia. Nature Genetics. en. 31. 2. 171–174. 10.1038/ng901. 1061-4036. 12032570. 33192419.
- Nishimura. Darryl Y.. Searby. Charles C.. Carmi. Rivka. Elbedour. Khalil. Maldergem. Lionel Van. Fulton. Anne B.. Lam. Byron L.. Powell. Berkley R.. Swiderski. Ruth E.. 2001-04-02. Positional cloning of a novel gene on chromosome 16q causing Bardet–Biedl syndrome (BBS2). Human Molecular Genetics. en. 10. 8. 865–874. 10.1093/hmg/10.8.865. 0964-6906. 11285252. free.
- Haider. Neena B.. Jacobson. Samuel G.. Cideciyan. Artur V.. Swiderski. Ruth. Streb. Luan M.. Searby. Charles. Beck. Gretel. Hockey. Robin. Hanna. David B.. 2000-02-01. Mutation of a nuclear receptor gene, NR2E3, causes enhanced S cone syndrome, a disorder of retinal cell fate. Nature Genetics. en. 24. 2. 127–131. 10.1038/72777. 1061-4036. 10655056. 19508439.
- Carstea. Eugene D.. Morris. Jill A.. Coleman. Katherine G.. Loftus. Stacie K.. Zhang. Dana. Cummings. Christiano. Gu. Jessie. Rosenfeld. Melissa A.. Pavan. William J.. 1997-07-11. Niemann-Pick C1 Disease Gene: Homology to Mediators of Cholesterol Homeostasis. Science. en. 277. 5323. 228–231. 10.1126/science.277.5323.228. 0036-8075. 9211849.
- Maman. Eran. Maor. Esther. Kachko. Leonid. Carmi. Rivka. 1998-06-30. Epidermolysis bullosa, pyloric atresia, aplasia cutis congenita: Histopathological delineation of an autosomal recessive disease. American Journal of Medical Genetics. en. 78. 2. 127–133. 10.1002/(sici)1096-8628(19980630)78:2<127::aid-ajmg6>3.0.co;2-l. 9674902. 1096-8628.
- Scott. Da. Kraft. Ml. Carmi. R. Ramesh. A. Elbedour. K. Yairi. Y. Srisailapathy. C. R. Srikumari. Rosengren. Ss. Markham. Af. 1998-01-01. Identification of mutations in the connexin 26 gene that cause autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss. Human Mutation. en. 11. 5. 387–394. 10.1002/(sici)1098-1004(1998)11:5<387::aid-humu6>3.0.co;2-8. 9600457. 1098-1004. free.
- Buskila. Dan. Neumann. Lily. Hazanov. Ilia. Carmi. Rivka. 1996-12-01. Familial aggregation in the fihromyalgia syndrome. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. 26. 3. 605–611. 10.1016/S0049-0172(96)80011-4. 8989805.
- Carmi. R.. Rokhlina. T.. Kwitek-Black. A. E.. Elbedour. K.. Nishimura. D.. Stone. E. M.. Sheffield. V. C.. 1995-01-01. Use of a DNA pooling strategy to identify a human obesity syndrome locus on chromosome 15. Human Molecular Genetics. 4. 1. 9–13. 0964-6906. 7711739. 10.1093/hmg/4.1.9.
- Sheffield. Val C.. Carml. Rivka. Kwltek-Black. Anne. Rokhlina. Tatiana. Nishlmura. Darryl. Duyk. Geoffrey M.. Elbedour. Khalil. Sunden. Sara L.. Stone. Edwin M.. 1994-08-01. Identification of a Bardet-Biedl syndrome locus on chromosome 3 and evaluation of an efficient approach to homozygosity mapping. Human Molecular Genetics. en. 3. 8. 1331–1335. 10.1093/hmg/3.8.1331. 0964-6906. 7987310.
- Carmi. R.. Gohar. J.. Meizner. I.. Katz. M.. 1994-06-01. Spontaneous abortion–high risk factor for neural tube defects in subsequent pregnancy. American Journal of Medical Genetics. en. 51. 2. 93–97. 10.1002/ajmg.1320510203. 8092200. 1096-8628.
- Parvari. R.. Weinstein. Y.. Ehrlich. S.. Steinitz. M.. Carmi. R.. 1994-02-15. Linkage localization of the thoraco-abdominal syndrome (TAS) gene to Xq25–26. American Journal of Medical Genetics. en. 49. 4. 431–434. 10.1002/ajmg.1320490416. 1096-8628. 7909197.
- Kwitek-Black. Anne E.. Carmi. Rivka. Duyk. Geoffrey M.. Buetow. Kenneth H.. Elbedour. Khalil. Parvari. Ruti. Yandava. Chandra Naidu. Stone. Edwin M.. Sheffield. Val C.. 1993-12-01. Linkage of Bardet–Biedl syndrome to chromosome 16q and evidence for non–allelic genetic heterogeneity. Nature Genetics. en. 5. 4. 392–396. 10.1038/ng1293-392. 8298649. 30898539.
- Carmi. Rivka. Boughman. Joann A.. 1992-01-01. Pentalogy of Cantrell and associated midline anomalies: A possible ventral midline developmental field. American Journal of Medical Genetics. en. 42. 1. 90–95. 10.1002/ajmg.1320420118. 1096-8628. 1308371.
- Carmi. R.. Meizner. I.. Katz. M.. 1990-07-01. Familial congenital diaphragmatic defect and associated midline anomalies: Further evidence for an X-linked midline gene?. American Journal of Medical Genetics. en. 36. 3. 313–315. 10.1002/ajmg.1320360314. 1096-8628. 2363430.
- Carmi. R.. Sofer. S.. Karplus. M.. Ben-Yakar. Y.. Mahler. D.. Zirkin. H.. Bar-Ziv. J.. Opitz. John M.. 1982-03-01. Aplasia cutis congenita in two sibs discordant for pylori atresia. American Journal of Medical Genetics. en. 11. 3. 319–328. 10.1002/ajmg.1320110308. 6177243. 1096-8628.
- Web site: OMIM - % 313850 - THORACOABDOMINAL SYNDROME; THAS. www.omim.org. 2016-09-08.
- Web site: OMIM Entry - # 226730 - CARMI SYNDROME. www.omim.org. 2016-09-08.
- Carmi. R.. Barbash. A.. Mares. A. J.. 1990-05-01. The thoracoabdominal syndrome (TAS): A new X-linked dominant disorder. American Journal of Medical Genetics. en. 36. 1. 109–114. 10.1002/ajmg.1320360122. 1096-8628. 2139758.
- Gale. Rena. Redner-Carmi. Rivka. Gale. J.. 1977-10-01. Accumulation of Carbon Dioxide in Oxygen Hoods, Infant Cots, and Incubators. Pediatrics. en. 60. 4. 453–456. 10.1542/peds.60.4.453 . 0031-4005. 905008. 27446461 .
- Web site: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Former Presidents . In.bgu.ac.il . 2020-02-19.
- Web site: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - BGU President - Prof. Daniel Chamovitz . In.bgu.ac.il . 2019-01-01 . 2020-02-19.
- Web site: A member of the Advisory Board of the Genesis Prize Foundation. The Genesis Prize.
- Web site: UK-Israel Science Council British Council. www.britishcouncil.org.il. en. 2017-07-24.
- Web site: במוסדות להשכלה גבוהה קידום וייצוג נשים -תשע"ה 2015 דו"ח הועדה.
- News: חרף ההנחיות, אונ' בן גוריון רוצה להאריך את כהונת הנשיאה; הפרופסורים מתנגדים. צור. ירדן. 2017-11-22. הארץ. 2017-11-26. he.
- News: מחריף המשבר באונ' בן גוריון: נעצר הליך מינוי הרקטור החדש. צור. ירדן. 2017-12-21. הארץ. 2018-02-06. he.
- Web site: מבקר המדינה בודק הארכת מינויה של נשיאת אוניברסיטת בן גוריון. ערוץ עשר. he. 2018-02-06.
- News: (Tzur) צור. (Yarden) ירדן. (The president of Ben-Gurion University responds to the protest) נשיא אוניברסיטת בן גוריון מגיב למחאה. הארץ. Ha'aretz. 21 January 2018. he. 2 January 2018.
- News: אוניברסיטת בן גוריון: נבחר נשיא חדש עד תום 2018. צור. ירדן. 2018-02-05. הארץ. 2018-02-06. he.
- Web site: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Brandeis University to Honor BGU President Emerita Rivka Carmi with Honorary Doctorate. 2020-06-09. in.bgu.ac.il. en-US.
- Web site: JEWISH 100 awardees. The Algemeiner. 30 March 2016.
- News: BBC 100 Women 2015: Who is on the list?. 17 November 2015. BBC News. 3 August 2019. en-GB.
- Web site: Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire. GOV.UK. 18 May 2015.
- Web site: Honorary degree, Dalhousie University. Dalhousie University.
- Web site: An Honorary Fellowship by the Interdisciplinary Center. idc.ac.il. 6 May 2010.
- Web site: An award in excellence from the Israel Ambulatory Pediatric Association. inn.co.il. 8 July 2009.