Francesca Levi-Schaffer

Francesca Levi-Schaffer is a Full Professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) in the Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine. She holds the Isaac and Myrna Kaye Chair in Immunopharmacology since 1994. She earned her PharmD at the University of Milano, Italy, and a PhD in Immunology from the Weizmann Institute, Israel.

• Education: PharmD, University of Milano, Italy; PhD in Immunology, Weizmann Institute, Israel; Post-doctoral training, Harvard Medical School, USA

Her research focuses on mast cells and eosinophils in allergic diseases, their activating/inhibitory receptors, cross-talk mechanisms, and hypoxia effects. She develops monoclonal antibodies targeting these receptors for allergy and cancer therapy, and explores microbiome interactions in atopic dermatitis and asthma.

Prof. Levi-Schaffer has mentored over 40 MSc, PhD, and post-doctoral students and holds two patents with one provisional pending. Her scientific awards include the 2015 Otto Loewi Memorial Lecture, 2007 Knight of the Order of Merit of Italy, 2007 Woman in Inflammation Award, and the 2001 Premio Internazionale Sicilia-Il Paladino.

• Leadership: Chair of IUPHAR National Committee (2011); Founder and Chair of IUPHAR Immunopharmacology Section (2012)
• Committee Involvement: Israeli Ministry of Health Committee for Human Experimentation of New Drugs; World Allergy Organization (WAO) Executive Committee; European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) task forces; EU COST Action BM1007

She teaches pharmacy, medical, and nursing students and has delivered invited lectures internationally.