News Release
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The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
‫האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים‬
DR. CHEF:
HEBREW UNIVERSITY MEDICAL STUDENT DEVISES SPECIAL
WORKSHOP TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PATIENTS
WITH DIGESTIVE ILLNESS
Jerusalem, June 5, 2005 – A student at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical
School has combined his background as a professionally trained chef with his
medical studies to come up with a unique approach designed to markedly improve
the quality of life for people with severe digestive problems. In recognition of this
achievement, Rani Polak will be presented with a Kaye Innovation Award on
Monday, June 6, during the 68th meeting of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Board of Governors.
Polak, now in his final year of medical studies, is a multi-talented individual. He
has studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and is currently teaching at the Hadassah
College Chef’s School. He also has an MBA from the Technion-Israel Institute of
Technology.
To accomplish his objective of helping those with digestive problems to eat and
live better, Polak helped develop a cooking workshop for patients suffering from
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Patients that suffer from this disease need to
follow a difficult diet whose main restriction is low fiber content. In the special
workshop for these patients, they were taught not only the theory of how to tailor
a diet to their special needs, they also participated in the preparation of tasty and
healthy food for their own consumption.
The workshop was composed of a series of seven meetings, each lasting three
hours. The meetings started with a short lecture, given by a registered dietician,
about an element of the disease's recommended diet. The rest of the meeting was a
'hands-on' session in which Polak taught cooking methods and special recipes
dealing with various elements of the patient's diet. Each meeting ended with a
gourmet dinner, prepared by the patients. All the participants received a recipe
book containing both recipes and methods that follow the workshop's guidelines.
In a follow-up study, a significant decrease was shown in the disease activity
index of the patients that participated in the workshop. Today, these workshops
are an integral service of the IBD center of Hadassah University hospitals.
Polak’s applied research was done under the tutelage of Prof. Eran Goldin and Dr.
Eran Israeli of the Gastroenterology Department of Hadassah University Hospital,
Ein Kerem. .
“I hope that in the future this project will become the basis for a larger center
whose purpose it will be to improve the quality of life for patients with nutritional
limitations in particular and chronic illnesses in general through combining the
knowledge of doctors, chiefs and clinical dieticians,” said Polak.
The Kaye Innovation Awards at the Hebrew University have been awarded
annually since 1993. Isaac Kaye of England, a prominent industrialist in the
pharmaceutical industry, established the awards to encourage faculty, staff, and
students of the University to develop innovative methods and inventions with
good commercial potential which have benefited or will benefit the University and
society.
Note: Photo of Rani Polak available upon request.
For further information: Jerry Barach, Dept. of Media Relations, the Hebrew University,
Tel: 02-588-2904. Orit Sulitzeanu, Hebrew University spokesperson, Tel: 02-588-2811.