Prof. Aron Popovtzer, a graduate of the Hadassah-Hebrew University School of Medicine, has returned to the Hadassah Ein Kerem campus as the new head of the Sharett Institute of Oncology. A specialist in head and neck cancer, Prof. Popovtzer also trained at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. On his return to Israel, he served for five years as the deputy head of the oncology institute at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.

Among his many achievements is the directing of clinical trials for a new Israel-invented high-tech method of attacking malignant tumors with alpha rays, which he will add to Hadassah's arsenal of treatments for cancer. Another important development at Sharett is the upgrading of equipment of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for genomic sequencing of the tumors for every oncology patient.

Commenting on the excellent doctors at Hadassah, Prof. Popovtzer stressed the importance of being available for consultation by patients nationally. “We have many great doctors in numerous cancer fields,” he says. “Our goal is to make sure that they are at the center of everything and that patients take advantage of the expertise in Jerusalem for treatment and consultation.”

Prof. Popovtzer succeeds Prof. Tamar Peretz, who led the institute for 26 years.