Rivka Carmi

Rivka Carmi
רבקה כרמי
Rivka Carmi (2015)
Born	1948 (age 76–77) Zikhron Ya'akov, Israel
Education	The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Hadassah Medical School Soroka University Medical Center (residency in pediatrics and fellowship in neonatology) Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School (fellowship in medical genetics)
Occupation(s)	pediatrician and geneticist
Known for	Molecular basis of genetic diseases in the Negev Arab-Bedouin population; President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

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.

Between the years 2021 and 2023 she was the chairwoman of TELEM (the Council for National Research Infrastructures Committee for Bio-convergence).[37]

Currently (2025), Prof. Carmi serves as the Founding President of the Israel Academy of Science in Medicine by the Israeli Medical Association (founded in 2019),[38] Chairwoman of the TELEM Scientific Advisory Committee for Bio-convergence,[37] Chairwoman of ScienceAbroad,[39] chairwoman of the CHE Advisory Committee on Medical Education,[1] Research fellow at the Shmuel Neeman Institute,[40] board member -  8400,[41] Levinski-Wingate Academic Center,[42] Desert stars and additional startups boards.[43] 

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.[44] The executive committee decided to approve the extension despite the objections of the academic staff, which resulted in further protest.[45] The State Comptroller of Israel launched an investigation into the selection process.[46] 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.[47]

In February 2018, the executive committee announced that a new president would be elected by the end of year.[48]

Awards and recognition

• 2020 - the Landau Lifetime Award in Medicine[49]
• 2019 – Honorary degree, Brandeis University, Massachusetts, USA[50]
• 2016 – Jewish 100 awardees, The Algemeiner[51]
• 2015 – One of the BBC's 100 Women[52]
• 2015 – Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)[53]
• 2015 – The Paul Harris Fellow recognition, Rotary
• 2013 – Honorary degree, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada[54]
• 2010 – An Honorary Fellowship by the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya[55]
• 2009 – An award in excellence from the Israel Ambulatory Pediatric Association (IAPA)[56]
• 2008 – Women of Distinction Award of the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America
• 2003 – Achievement in Medicine Award by the Municipality of Beer–Sheva
• 2002 – Award for Peace from the Canada International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO), to which she served as representative of the Israeli Medical Deans
• 2001 – Lifetime Achievement Award by the Yated organization for children with Downs Syndrome

References

1. Solomon, Shoshanna. "Stepping down, first female university head speaks of tough choices, no regrets". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
2. "Faculty of Health Sciences - Professor Rivka Carmi, MD". in.bgu.ac.il. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
3. Doron Halutz (1 March 2012). "Juggling Act". Haaretz. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
4. "פרופ' רבקה כרמי מונתה לדירקטורית בשותפות המו"פ IMED". www.b7net.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 28 April 2021.
5. 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).
6. Scott, D. A.; Carmi, R.; Elbedour, K.; Yosefsberg, S.; Stone, E. M.; Sheffield, V. C. (1 August 1996). "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. ISSN 0002-9297. PMC 1914732. PMID 8755925.
7. Raz, Aviad E.; Atar, Marcela; Rodnay, Maya; Shoham-Vardi, Ilana; Carmi, Rivka (2003). "Between Acculturation and Ambivalence: Knowledge of Genetics and Attitudes towards Genetic Testing in a Consanguineous Bedouin Community". Public Health Genomics. 6 (2): 88–95. doi:10.1159/000073004. PMID 14560069. S2CID 10952354.
8. Scott, D. A.; Carmi, R.; Elbedour, K.; Duyk, G. M.; Stone, E. M.; Sheffield, V. C. (1 October 1995). "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. ISSN 0002-9297. PMC 1801487. PMID 7573061.
9. Birnbaum, Ramon Y.; Landau, Daniella; Elbedour, Khalil; Ofir, Rivka; Birk, Ohad S.; Carmi, Rivka (15 April 2008). "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. 146A (8): 1063–1066. doi:10.1002/ajmg.a.31903. ISSN 1552-4833. PMID 18348258. S2CID 205308681.
10. 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. (18 April 2006). "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. 103 (16): 6287–6292. Bibcode:2006PNAS..103.6287C. doi:10.1073/pnas.0600158103. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1458870. PMID 16606853.
11. Nishimura, Darryl Y.; Fath, Melissa; Mullins, Robert F.; Searby, Charles; Andrews, Michael; Davis, Roger; Andorf, Jeaneen L.; Mykytyn, Kirk; Swiderski, Ruth E. (23 November 2004). "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. 101 (47): 16588–16593. Bibcode:2004PNAS..10116588N. doi:10.1073/pnas.0405496101. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 534519. PMID 15539463.
12. Mykytyn, Kirk; Nishimura, Darryl Y.; Searby, Charles C.; Shastri, Mythreyi; Yen, Hsan-jan; Beck, John S.; Braun, Terry; Streb, Luan M.; Cornier, Alberto S. (1 August 2002). "Identification of the gene (BBS1) most commonly involved in Bardet-Biedl syndrome, a complex human obesity syndrome". Nature Genetics. 31 (4): 435–438. doi:10.1038/ng935. ISSN 1061-4036. PMID 12118255. S2CID 29915446.
13. Walder, Roxanne Y.; Landau, Daniel; Meyer, Peter; Shalev, Hanna; Tsolia, Maria; Borochowitz, Zvi; Boettger, Melanie Barbara; Beck, Gretel E.; Englehardt, Richard K. (1 June 2002). "Mutation of TRPM6 causes familial hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia". Nature Genetics. 31 (2): 171–174. doi:10.1038/ng901. ISSN 1061-4036. PMID 12032570. S2CID 33192419.
14. 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. (2 April 2001). "Positional cloning of a novel gene on chromosome 16q causing Bardet–Biedl syndrome (BBS2)". Human Molecular Genetics. 10 (8): 865–874. doi:10.1093/hmg/10.8.865. ISSN 0964-6906. PMID 11285252.
15. Haider, Neena B.; Jacobson, Samuel G.; Cideciyan, Artur V.; Swiderski, Ruth; Streb, Luan M.; Searby, Charles; Beck, Gretel; Hockey, Robin; Hanna, David B. (1 February 2000). "Mutation of a nuclear receptor gene, NR2E3, causes enhanced S cone syndrome, a disorder of retinal cell fate". Nature Genetics. 24 (2): 127–131. doi:10.1038/72777. ISSN 1061-4036. PMID 10655056. S2CID 19508439.
16. Carstea, Eugene D.; Morris, Jill A.; Coleman, Katherine G.; Loftus, Stacie K.; Zhang, Dana; Cummings, Christiano; Gu, Jessie; Rosenfeld, Melissa A.; Pavan, William J. (11 July 1997). "Niemann-Pick C1 Disease Gene: Homology to Mediators of Cholesterol Homeostasis". Science. 277 (5323): 228–231. doi:10.1126/science.277.5323.228. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 9211849.
17. Maman, Eran; Maor, Esther; Kachko, Leonid; Carmi, Rivka (30 June 1998). "Epidermolysis bullosa, pyloric atresia, aplasia cutis congenita: Histopathological delineation of an autosomal recessive disease". American Journal of Medical Genetics. 78 (2): 127–133. doi:10.1002/(sici)1096-8628(19980630)78:2<127::aid-ajmg6>3.0.co;2-l. ISSN 1096-8628. PMID 9674902.
18. Scott, Da; Kraft, Ml; Carmi, R; Ramesh, A; Elbedour, K; Yairi, Y; Srisailapathy, C. R. Srikumari; Rosengren, Ss; Markham, Af (1 January 1998). "Identification of mutations in the connexin 26 gene that cause autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss". Human Mutation. 11 (5): 387–394. doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-1004(1998)11:5<387::aid-humu6>3.0.co;2-8. ISSN 1098-1004. PMID 9600457.
19. Buskila, Dan; Neumann, Lily; Hazanov, Ilia; Carmi, Rivka (1 December 1996). "Familial aggregation in the fihromyalgia syndrome". Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. 26 (3): 605–611. doi:10.1016/S0049-0172(96)80011-4. PMID 8989805.
20. Carmi, R.; Rokhlina, T.; Kwitek-Black, A. E.; Elbedour, K.; Nishimura, D.; Stone, E. M.; Sheffield, V. C. (1 January 1995). "Use of a DNA pooling strategy to identify a human obesity syndrome locus on chromosome 15". Human Molecular Genetics. 4 (1): 9–13. doi:10.1093/hmg/4.1.9. ISSN 0964-6906. PMID 7711739.
21. Sheffield, Val C.; Carml, Rivka; Kwltek-Black, Anne; Rokhlina, Tatiana; Nishlmura, Darryl; Duyk, Geoffrey M.; Elbedour, Khalil; Sunden, Sara L.; Stone, Edwin M. (1 August 1994). "Identification of a Bardet-Biedl syndrome locus on chromosome 3 and evaluation of an efficient approach to homozygosity mapping". Human Molecular Genetics. 3 (8): 1331–1335. doi:10.1093/hmg/3.8.1331. ISSN 0964-6906. PMID 7987310.
22. Carmi, R.; Gohar, J.; Meizner, I.; Katz, M. (1 June 1994). "Spontaneous abortion–high risk factor for neural tube defects in subsequent pregnancy". American Journal of Medical Genetics. 51 (2): 93–97. doi:10.1002/ajmg.1320510203. ISSN 1096-8628. PMID 8092200.
23. Parvari, R.; Weinstein, Y.; Ehrlich, S.; Steinitz, M.; Carmi, R. (15 February 1994). "Linkage localization of the thoraco-abdominal syndrome (TAS) gene to Xq25–26". American Journal of Medical Genetics. 49 (4): 431–434. doi:10.1002/ajmg.1320490416. ISSN 1096-8628. PMID 7909197.
24. 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. (1 December 1993). "Linkage of Bardet–Biedl syndrome to chromosome 16q and evidence for non–allelic genetic heterogeneity". Nature Genetics. 5 (4): 392–396. doi:10.1038/ng1293-392. PMID 8298649. S2CID 30898539.
25. Carmi, Rivka; Boughman, Joann A. (1 January 1992). "Pentalogy of Cantrell and associated midline anomalies: A possible ventral midline developmental field". American Journal of Medical Genetics. 42 (1): 90–95. doi:10.1002/ajmg.1320420118. ISSN 1096-8628. PMID 1308371.
26. Carmi, R.; Meizner, I.; Katz, M. (1 July 1990). "Familial congenital diaphragmatic defect and associated midline anomalies: Further evidence for an X-linked midline gene?". American Journal of Medical Genetics. 36 (3): 313–315. doi:10.1002/ajmg.1320360314. ISSN 1096-8628. PMID 2363430.
27. Carmi, R.; Sofer, S.; Karplus, M.; Ben-Yakar, Y.; Mahler, D.; Zirkin, H.; Bar-Ziv, J.; Opitz, John M. (1 March 1982). "Aplasia cutis congenita in two sibs discordant for pylori atresia". American Journal of Medical Genetics. 11 (3): 319–328. doi:10.1002/ajmg.1320110308. ISSN 1096-8628. PMID 6177243.
28. "OMIM - % 313850 - THORACOABDOMINAL SYNDROME; THAS". www.omim.org. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
29. "OMIM Entry - # 226730 - CARMI SYNDROME". www.omim.org. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
30. Carmi, R.; Barbash, A.; Mares, A. J. (1 May 1990). "The thoracoabdominal syndrome (TAS): A new X-linked dominant disorder". American Journal of Medical Genetics. 36 (1): 109–114. doi:10.1002/ajmg.1320360122. ISSN 1096-8628. PMID 2139758.
31. Gale, Rena; Redner-Carmi, Rivka; Gale, J. (1 October 1977). "Accumulation of Carbon Dioxide in Oxygen Hoods, Infant Cots, and Incubators". Pediatrics. 60 (4): 453–456. doi:10.1542/peds.60.4.453. ISSN 0031-4005. PMID 905008. S2CID 27446461.
32. "Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Former Presidents". In.bgu.ac.il. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
33. "Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - BGU President - Prof. Daniel Chamovitz". In.bgu.ac.il. 1 January 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
34. "A member of the Advisory Board of the Genesis Prize Foundation". The Genesis Prize.
35. "UK-Israel Science Council British Council". www.britishcouncil.org.il. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
36. "במוסדות להשכלה גבוהה קידום וייצוג נשים -תשע"ה 2015 דו"ח הועדה" (PDF).
37. "האקדמיה הלאומית הישראלית למדעים The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities - TELEM Forum". www.academy.ac.il. Archived from the original on 4 January 2025. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
38. Partnership (IAP), the InterAcademy. "Rivka Carmi". www.interacademies.org. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
39. "Prof. Rivka Carmi". ScienceAbroad. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
40. "Rivka Carmi". Samuel Neaman Institute. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
41. "Team & Board". 8400 Health Network. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
42. "חברי דירקטוריון". המרכז האקדמי לוינסקי-וינגייט (קמפוס לוינסקי) (in Hebrew). Retrieved 26 January 2025.
43. "הועד המנהל של עמותת כוכבי המדבר". thedesertstars. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
44. צור, ירדן (22 November 2017). "חרף ההנחיות, אונ' בן גוריון רוצה להאריך את כהונת הנשיאה; הפרופסורים מתנגדים". הארץ (in Hebrew). Retrieved 26 November 2017.
45. צור, ירדן (21 December 2017). "מחריף המשבר באונ' בן גוריון: נעצר הליך מינוי הרקטור החדש". הארץ (in Hebrew). Retrieved 6 February 2018.
46. "מבקר המדינה בודק הארכת מינויה של נשיאת אוניברסיטת בן גוריון". ערוץ עשר (in Hebrew). Retrieved 6 February 2018.
47. (Tzur) צור, (Yarden) ירדן (2 January 2018). "(The president of Ben-Gurion University responds to the protest) נשיא אוניברסיטת בן גוריון מגיב למחאה". הארץ (in Hebrew). Ha'aretz. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
48. צור, ירדן (5 February 2018). "אוניברסיטת בן גוריון: נבחר נשיא חדש עד תום 2018". הארץ (in Hebrew). Retrieved 6 February 2018.
49. "Winners announced for 2020 Landau awards despite coronavirus pandemic". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
50. "Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Brandeis University to Honor BGU President Emerita Rivka Carmi with Honorary Doctorate". in.bgu.ac.il. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
51. "JEWISH 100 awardees". The Algemeiner. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
52. "BBC 100 Women 2015: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
53. "Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire". GOV.UK. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
54. "Honorary degree, Dalhousie University". Dalhousie University.
55. "An Honorary Fellowship by the Interdisciplinary Center". idc.ac.il. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
56. "An award in excellence from the Israel Ambulatory Pediatric Association". inn.co.il. Retrieved 8 July 2009.

External links

• The Most influential Jewish educators - 2014
• Ben-Gurion University's announcement of Prof. Carmi's appointment as President
• Prof. Rivka Carmi - Queen of the Desert
• President's Report 2011
• President's Report 2010
• President's Report 2009
• President's Report 2008
• President's Report 2007
• Interview from 3 January 2018 President Carmi discussing the extension of her term.