Born Dvora Savitsky in Tel Aviv in 1941, her parents had emigrated from Poland in the 1930s. She began taking an interest in science in high school, veering towards biology. During her military service she met Chaim Teitelbaum, who would later become a senior IDF officer, and they married in 1962. Dvora studied biology at Tel Aviv University and, in 1966, completed her master's degree. She then undertook PhD studies at the Weizmann Institute under the supervision of Prof. Ruth Arnon in the Department of Immunology.

The research group had been studying immune responses and, amongst other things, was searching for ways to induce the disease known as EAE (Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis) in laboratory animals. EAE served as a model for multiple sclerosis, in which the immune system attacks myelin – the lipid layer that insulates nerve fibers and enables them to conduct electrical signals.

“Our research proved we could produce an immune response against substances such as the fatty myelin sheath,” says Arnon. “Later, we identified a specific protein in cerebrospinal fluid that caused the disease model, and found out that it was very basic; we decided to try and produce small and short artificial proteins that would cause the same effect. This would enable us to examine how they do it, and whether the level of acidity or basicity indeed affects the development of the disease. So we added Prof. Michael Sela as a co-advisor, since he specialized in producing these short proteins.”

Teitelbaum was responsible for the development of these protein-like polymers to induce EAE in laboratory animals. For over a year, she tested different compounds, in an attempt to see how they bind to lipids. But the development efforts failed – and the injected materials did not cause the disease. This led her and her advisors to propose another concept – if these artificial proteins do not cause disease, they may be able to compete with the proteins that do. This approach proved to be much more effective. Soon, they identified a group of several short proteins that have become known as copolymers, which proved effective against EAE. One of these, copolymer-1, was also very effective in preventing the disease if injected before the causative protein was introduced, as well as suppressing the disease if injected into an animal already suffering the symptoms.

This material would be termed Copaxone and was later purchased by Teva. Teitelbaum completed her doctorate in 1974, by which time the researchers managed to patent the material, equally among the three of them: Sela, Arnon and Teitelbaum. “Her doctoral dissertation was the basis for the development of Copaxone. So she was registered to the patent equally,” says Arnon. “She made an enormous contribution to the Copaxone project, in her PhD dissertation and in the years that followed. It was her project.”

Army versus professorship After completing her doctorate, Teitelbaum opted not to pursue post-doctoral training. “Raising children was very important to her, and most of the burden fell on her because our father served for long periods away from home,” says Teitelbaum's daughter, Sagit Shiran. “His military career prevented her from traveling overseas, as most scientists do at that stage of their career.”

She stayed at the Weizmann Institute and continued to work on Copaxone as a research fellow in the Department of Immunology. When Teva began to develop Copaxone as a drug, she served as consultant to the company and assisted it in planning and conducting research and experiments. “The fact that she gave up on doing a post-doc may have been good,” Arnon says. “In such circumstances, she would have moved on to study a different topic; but this way she remained a partner in developing the drug.”

Eventually, she did one year of post-doctoral training at Tufts University in the United States in 1980, but it was too late to embark on an independent academic career. Though she had moved from the engineering ranking to that of staff scientists, it did not enable her to lead her own research group, mentor students, or achieve the rank of professor. She continued to work on the development of Copaxone and its related studies almost until her death from cancer in 2008. Her children established a research fund at the Weizmann Institute in their parents’ memory, in support of collaborations between the Institute scientists and hospitals.

“She was a smart woman, but also very humble, and was never interested in standing out,” says Shiran. “She loved her work and was a scientist by nature. The scientific way of thinking accompanied her in everything she did, even if it was planning a trip abroad or inviting guests for dinner.” Arnon agreed with these words. “She was a first-rate scientist. She had science in her spirit and soul. Moreover, she was kind and everyone loved her, both at the Institute and at Teva. She knew how to push and promote things, but always pleasantly, and achieved considerably more than others. Her husband used to say she was a Dvora (Hebrew for bee) but just from the sweet honey aspect, without the sting.”

https://davidson.weizmann.ac.il/en/online/sciencepanorama/forgotten...

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Oct 22 2021, 21:46:55 UTC

דבורה טייטלבאום

' (1941–2008) הייתה ביוכימאית ישראלית, שותפה לפיתוח הקופקסון.

קורות חייה דבורה סביצקי נולדה בתל אביב ב-1941 להורים שעלו מפולין בשנות ה-30. היא גדלה בתל אביב. למדה בתיכון במגמה ביולוגית.

בשירותה הצבאי הכירה את חיים טייטלבוים, לימים תא"ל בצה"ל, והם נישאו ב-1962. היו להם שני ילדים: שי ושגית.

דבורה טייטלבוים למדה תואר ראשון בביולוגיה באוניברסיטת תל אביב וסיימה ב-1966 את התואר השני. לאחר מכן עברה למכון ויצמן למדע, והחלה בלימודי דוקטורט אצל פרופ' רות ארנון במחלקה לאימונולוגיה.

במשך שנים רבות עסקה במחקר בתחום פיתוח תרופה למחלת הטרשת הנפוצה, עליו עבדה יחד עם מיכאל סלע ורות ארנון. המחקר הביא לפיתוחו של החומר קופולימר 1, פולימר סינתטי, שהיה הבסיס לתרופה פורצת הדרך, הקופקסון, המיוצרת על ידי חברת טבע משנת 1995. ב-1974 סיימה טייטלבוים את הדוקטורט, ועד אז הספיקו החוקרים לרשום פטנט על החומר, בחלקים שווים בין שלושתם: סלע, ארנון וטייטלבוים.

טייטלבאום נשארה במכון ויצמן והמשיכה לעבוד על הקופקסון כעמיתת מחקר במחלקה לאימונולוגיה. כשהחלה חברת טבע לפתח את הקופקסון כתרופה, שימשה יועצת לחברה, וסייעה לה בתכנון וביצוע המחקרים והניסויים.

טייטלבוים יצאה ב-1980 להשתלמות של שנה באוניברסיטת טאפטס בארצות הברית.

נפטרה מסרטן ב-2008. לאחר מותה הקימו ילדיה, לזכרה ולזכר אביהם, קרן מחקרים במכון ויצמן, התומכת בשיתופי פעולה בין המכון לבתי חולים.

קישורים חיצוניים איתי נבו, ‏המדעניות פורצות הדרך שנשכחו: פיתחה את התרופה, לא את הקריירה , במדור "מדע במבט-על " באתר של מכון דוידסון לחינוך מדעי, 8 במרץ 2017 גלי וינרב, ‏ממציא הקופקסון: "עברו 30 שנה מאז שהמצאנו את המוצר; יש מוצרים שעשויים להיות יותר טובים" , באתר גלובס, 25 במרץ 2013 עודד חרמוני, הפרופסורים המיליונרים של מכון ויצמן , באתר הארץ, 4 ביולי 2004 מדענים ישראליים איתרו מאפיינים גנטיים המשפיעים על תגובה של חולי טרשת נפוצה לתרופה קופקסון , באתר מכון ויצמן, 10 באוקטובר 2007 מודעת אבל לזכרה , באתר אנדרטה https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%93%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94_%D7%98...

https://davidson.weizmann.ac.il/online/sciencepanorama/%D7%94%D7%9E...