The power of positive thinking

Avisionary gift from Valeria Rosenbloom of Montreal, Canada has enabled the establishment of the Mike and Valeria Rosenbloom Center for Research on Positive Neuroscience—one of the 12 centers in the new Azrieli Institute for Brain and Neural Sciences, Weizmann’s flagship initiative.

A treasured friend of the Weizmann Institute, Valeria and her husband Mike’s (z”l) support for cancer and neuroscience research and scholarship has had a tremendous impact on both our scientists and students.

The Rosenbloom Center for Research on Positive Neuroscience will launch investigations  on human resilience to the stresses of modern life, individual differences in how we overcome trauma, injury, and age-related deficits, and the most outstanding examples of human intelligence and social collaboration. While mental resilience to chronic stress is a  topic of perennial importance, it feels particularly pertinent right now, as people  worldwide  have been forced to cope with seemingly unending isolation and restrictions on movement due to the ongoing pandemic. This center will nurture research on human flourishing— despite and even in the face of such great challenges.

“The curiosity-driven research that is the fundamental essence of Weizmann, is perfectly aligned with what I believe—and with what Mike also believed—will lead to more discoveries,” Valeria said. “Nutrition, lifestyle, clean water, air pollution, sunlight, sleep, social interaction and many other elements have an impact on our brains and our overall health, and I am very proud that this new center will help us to get a bet- ter understanding of why.”