David Erlich

David Erlich was born in 1895 in Pinsk and immigrated to Israel with his parents in 1924. He was best known for his work in the fields of surgery, hematology and urology. He was the director of the Department of Surgery at Rambam Hospital and the first dean of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's Faculty of Medicine. He retired in 1978 as a practicing physician, while continuing to write for medical journals, conduct research and fundraise for local hospitals. He received the Israel Prize in 1992 and died in 1995.

Shaul Feldman

The influential neurologist, Shaul Feldman, was born in Odessa in 1923 and is best known for his fundamental research on neurophysiology. After studying medicine in Geneva, Feldman returned to Israel during the War of Independence and served as an IDF medical doctor at Sheba Medical Center - Tel Hashomer Hospital. In 1962, he was appointed chief physician in the Department of Neurology at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. Eventually he became the director of that department, a role he served until his retirement in 1988. He received the Israel Prize in 2005 for Medical Research and died in 2011.

Michael Plich

Dr. Michael Plich was born in 1940 near Kamianets-Podilskyi in Ukraine. From 1969 to 1980 he was a lecturer, first, at the School of Medicine in Novosibirsk, Russia, and then in Tbilisi, Georgia. After immigrating to Israel in 1980, he worked at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.. He has developed new methods of cardiac catheterization, which have been applied around the world. Dr. Plich passed away in 2017 but this year, the Israel Cardiology Association awarded him a lifetime achievement prize.

Gideon Mer

Gideon Mer was born in 1894 in Lithuania and moved to Palestine in 1914 after studying medicine in Russia and France. During World War I, Mer served as a medical officer in the Jewish Legion. When Hebrew University opened its doors, he joined the department of preventative medicine. In 1927, he took the role of station manager of the Malaria Research Station at the Hebrew University of Rosh Pina. During World War II, he served as a colonel. Mer later became chief malaria adviser to the Health Ministry, of which he was acting director in 1956 and 1957. He is credited with the final extermination of malaria in Israel and was recognized as a global expert in the field by the World Health Organization. Gideon Mer died in Rosh Pina in 1961.

Zvi Sliternik

Best known for his work in the field of entomology, Zvi Sliternik was born in 1897 in Proskurov. He studied medicine in Russia but did not complete his degree before immigrating to Palestine in 1919. In Israel, he helped to develop inexpensive and efficient methods of fighting malaria, which was ultimately eradicated in Israel in 1962. Sliternik served as director of entomological service in the IDF in 1948 and was subsequently director of the entomological department in the Health Ministry from 1949 to 1962. He died in 1996.

Hillel Yaffe

A child who received a traditional Jewish education, Hillel Yaffe was born in 1864 in a small village in Ukraine. Yaffe immigrated to Palestine during the First Aliyah. A physician, Yaffe is best known for his work to eradicate malaria, which plagued the people of Hadera during his time. An advocate for public health, Yaffe was the first to used eucalyptus trees to help dry the swamps in Hadera. The Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera is named after him due to his tireless efforts to rid the town of malaria. He died in 1936 and was buried in Zichron Ya'acov.