| Giora Ram | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 22, 1947 Budapest, Hungary |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Fields | Medical Physics, Mathematics and Computer Sciences |
| Alma mater | Hebrew University of Jerusalem, B.Sc. Weizmann Institute of Science, M.Sc. The Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital England, Ph.D.. |
| Doctoral advisor | Prof. John Stewart Orr |
| Known for |
In Medical Physics – Development of Medical systems, in the area of Cardiology and Neurology. |
Giora Ram (Hebrew: רם גיורא) (Born March 22, 1947) is an interdisciplinary scientist in physics, mathematics, computer science and medicine.
He is graduate of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot and The Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London, England.
His Ph.D. is in the area of Medical Physics and Image Processing, his works were published in International Scientific Journals.
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Giora Ram was born in Budapest, Hungary (as Weiser György) to a Hungarian Jewish family. His grandfather was a famous chief hazan-Cantor (Weiser Fulop (Hebrew: וייזר פיליפ) of Nyíregyháza. His songs appeared in records in 1910. Thank to a contribution by George Soros, two of his songs (#15,#16) appeared on recent CD-Jewish Cantorial Music from Hungary 1906–1929.[1][2]
His mother (Esther, Hoch=Ram, 1909–1986) a Holocaust survivor from Auschwitz, who lost her husband and all her eight sisters and two brothers and their children during World War II, survived the war with her two children (Robert-Dov and Zsuzsi-Rachel (1937–1998), Dov Ram (b. 1935), Res. Brigadier General Israeli Navy). She married Weiser Salomon (1907–1967), who came back from Siberian labor camp in 1945. Giora (György) was born in 1947 and his brother Pinchas (Tibor) in 1950.
The Weisers were active Zionists and their house often used as gathering and last stop before leaving the country illegally to Palestine. In 1949 they tried to escape to Austria and from there to Israel. The two eldest children Dov (14) and Rachel (12) joined a youth group who successfully crossed the border and reached Israel. A few days later the rest of the family with another group tried to leave, but they were captured at the border. Giora (2) was separated from his parents and put in a Monastery; his parents were imprisoned for about a year and all their property were confiscated by the Hungarian authorities. Giora went to regular school in Budapest and also to 'Cheder' (alternatively, Cheider, in Hebrew חדר, meaning "room") until 1956, when the family immigrated legally to Israel.
They stayed at the Orthodox quarter of Viznitz Bnei Brak for about a year, mainly because of their uncle, Rabbi Davidovitz, who later prepared Giora for his Bar Mitzvah. They moved to a new immigrant village north of Netanya. In 1965 he finished his undergraduate studies at Bar-Ilan high school, Netanya and was drafted to the Israeli Army (Israel Defense Forces), where he served in various duties. He was honorably discharged after the "Six Days War" in 1967 (Res. Navy's "Science Officer").
In 1970 Ram received his B.Sc. in Mathematics and Statistics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (supplement studies in Economics and Computer Sciences). To finance his studies, he was employed at the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics by the office of the Prime Minister of Israel. He worked with Prof. Benjamin Mazar in Archeology excavating the Temple Mount. Ram received a special study grant from the Pinchas Sapir fund.
In his Mathematical studies in the area of Functional Analysis, he was exposed to the Radon–Nikodym theorem, which later was used for Computer axial tomography (CAT) in Medical imaging systems.
Ram was one of the early students of Prof. Amir Pnueli and received his M.Sc. in Computer Sciences (Image Processing) from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot in 1973.[3] At the Institute, he was engaged in various scientific activities including research works at the Geophysical Laboratory headed by Prof. Ari Ben-Menahem, developing and implementing computer algorithms and programs to process and analyze seismology and physics related data. One program for the reconstruction of Astrophysical phenomena from radiation detected data was related to Radon transform. This was the basis for the Computer axial tomography (CAT) scanner invention led by Godfrey Hounsfield and Allan M. Cormack from EMI, England, who received the Nobel Prize in 1979. Ram developed compilers and interpreters for FORTRAN, BASIC, and LISP, he also taught gifted children at summer camps at the Weizmann Institute.
In 1973, he was chosen by the European Space Agency in Germany from a large number of International candidates, to develop their METEOSAT satellite image simulator (Meteosat-1 was launched in 1977). He was also with European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands, and assisted in resolving certain technical problems for their Satellite system.
In 1975, Ram returned to Israel and joined Elscint Ltd., to develop the first Nuclear Medicine data processor and analysis system (DYCOM) connected to a Gamma camera. He was sent to Elscint's London-based International Sales and Service office in 1978 as a Product Manager. In London, he was accepted by the British Council for National Academic Awards for Ph.D. studies in Medical Physics/Imaging at The Royal Postgraduate Medical School and Hammersmith hospital and collaboration with The Polytechnic of Central London. He earned his degree in 1984, and his work was filed with the British Library (system number: 011681140) and partially published in various International scientific journals.
At the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, he developed and implemented a unique prototype system for a new imaging modality using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) method.
In 1980, Ram joined Capintec Inc. (New Jersey, USA), as director of R&D. He was responsible for the development a multi-modality imaging system (PACS), which was presented at the RSNA meeting in Chicago in 1982; he was also involved in the development of a Radiation Therapy Planning (RTP) system.
In 1983, Ram and his family returned to Israel and continued his research and business activities. Among his many projects implemented are the establishment of the Imaging Laboratory at Tadiran and the imaging related activities of the Israeli aircraft project for the Israeli Air Force – the IAI Lavi.
He was nominated in 1983 as the president of Cardiac Care Units Ltd, in Haifa, a company in the Cardiac monitoring area, where he implemented a comprehensive reorganization plan, defined new product line, in Holter ECG monitoring area, received FDA approval, and in 1986 and 1987 received the "Approved Exporter Award", from Ariel Sharon, Minister of Industry and Trade. Ram met with Ariel Sharon several times, first in 1977 when he formed Shlomtzion (political party), and several times between 1984–1987, while Sharon was Minister of Industry and Trade.
Ram is the President and founder of Imexco General Ltd.,[4] a medical monitoring innovator in Neurology, Cardiology and Pain since 1987. In 1991 he negotiated and sold a new neuro-brain monitor – the FDA approved Neuritor,[5] through a license agreement, to a newly formed subsidiary of the Israel Aircraft Industries that went public in the US by Oscar Gruss[6] in 1993.
Ram speaks Hungarian, Hebrew, English and German, divorced and has three children (Rakefet (b.1975), Marganit (b. 1981) and Erez (b. 1994), his hobbies are antiques and collectibles, painting and wood carving.
AHA, ACC, SNM, AAN, RSNA, CARDIOSTIM