At a dedicated scientific symposium held in his honor last week, Prof. Ran Balicer, vice president and head of innovation at Clalit Health Services, was awarded an honorary professorship at Charité University in Berlin. Charité, one of the world’s leading academic institutions, operates Europe’s largest university hospital, ranked seventh on Newsweek’s prestigious list of top hospitals.
Balicer received the honor in recognition of his scientific achievements and contributions to global public health. The awarding committee stated that he is "considered one of the leading researchers in the field of artificial intelligence-based medicine, a pioneer in early disease detection, personalized medicine, and public health management."
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Right to left: Prof. Leif Erik Sander (host of the ceremony), Prof. Joachim Spranger (Dean), Prof. Ran Balicer, Prof. Christopher Baum (chairman, Berlin Institute of Health), Prof. Martin Kreis (Head of the Medical Department at Charité)
(Photo: Andrea Vollmer)
The symposium, titled “Practical Innovation: Data and Artificial Intelligence as the Foundation of Future Medicine,” was attended by senior German government officials, healthcare leaders, and Charité executives. Speakers highlighted Balicer’s role in advising the German government on shaping its digital health strategy and emphasized the growing scientific collaboration between Germany and Israel. Officials noted that to build consensus among professionals, they convened 200 senior figures for a discussion with Balicer on how digitalization can advance high-quality medical care.
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During the event, Yaniv Tessel, head of the Economic and Trade Department at the Israeli Embassy in Germany, stated that "Prof. Balicer’s international work—including advising senior UN and World Health Organization officials on health and AI—reinforces Israel’s standing as a global leader in scientific and medical innovation."
Balicer described the honor as both "exciting and gratifying" but stressed his broader pride in the recognition of Israeli innovation. "The world acknowledges and appreciates Israeli ingenuity as a beacon of knowledge and insight, particularly in preventive medicine and AI-driven personalized healthcare and disease prediction," he said. "It is especially important in these times to continue promoting Europe's recognition of the scientific and practical excellence taking place daily in Israel."