Join the national mission to accelerate research and medical breakthroughs, and help us develop new methods for disease prevention, identification, and early treatment.
Step 1
Join by signing a form that gives your consent to share your medical information with the national medical database. This database will reflect the diversity of the Israeli population
Step 2
Provide a simple blood sample that will be sent to labs where genome sequencing will be performed. This will help us establish a secure, unidentified medical and genetic database
Step 3
The hundreds of thousands of volunteers who join the project will be partners in a national research platform that will enable faster, more targeted research – essential for helping everyone to lead
a healthier life
“Today, we only treat diseases many years after they have taken root in our bodies and once they have already started to display various symptoms. This is far too late! One of Psifas’s goals is to identify these diseases during the incubation stage, when there’s still a chance to stop it in its tracks.”
Prof. Gabriel Barbash – Psifas Director
“Today, we only treat diseases many years after they have taken root in our bodies and once they have already started to display various symptoms. This is far too late! One of Psifas’s goals is to identify these diseases during the incubation stage, when there’s still a chance to stop it in its tracks.”
Prof. Gabriel Barbash – Psifas Director
About
Psifas is a national project for the promotion of health in Israel, with the joint participation of the Ministries of Health, Treasury, Defense, Education, and the CHE (Council for Higher Education) and the PBC (Planning and Budgeting Committee), the National Digital Agency and the Innovation Authority. It is managed through inter-university cooperation and currently operates in partnerships with Clalit Health Services and the Rabin, Carmel, Soroka, Lynn, HaEmek, and the Sheba, Ichilov, Wolfson and Hadassah Medical Centers. Within Israel, the project is overseen by the Privacy Protection Authority and the National Cyber Directorate. The list of partners is updated periodically.
Through the establishment of a national research data system that combines medical and genetic information, we will be able to identify chronic diseases like diabetes, liver and kidney disease, cancer and stroke, and treat them more effectively.
The decision to launch this project has put the State of Israel at the forefront of modern healthcare, shoulder to shoulder with the world’s most advanced countries, such as the USA and the UK, which decided to establish large medical and genetic databases for the advancement of medical science.
How can I join Psifas?
Anyone over the age of 18 insured by Clalit Health Services is welcome to volunteer.
During your visit at any of the health organizations that have partnered with Psifas, Psifas’s research coordinator; a certified professional on behalf of MDA or the hospital will present to you a consent form to sign. This authorizes Psifas to securely access your medical information from the HMO and the medical centers treating you, while removing your identifying details (like your name, address, and ID number). After you have joined Psifas, a blood sample will be taken and sent for genetic sequencing.
All clinical information and genetic sequencing results will be stored in the research database, with all identifying details completely removed, so you could not be identified in any way.
Your Information is Secured
The development of the database will be performed while maintaining confidentiality and protecting your privacy. All data processing and analysis will be conducted solely on unidentified information. No researcher throughout the entire chain of information and data processing will have access to your identifying information.
PSIFAS project continues the sequencing process of blood samples from over 57,000 volunteers who joined to advance the medicine in Israel. At this stage, new volunteers cannot join, except for those recruited through a targeted enrollment process with a referral from a physician participating in a specific PSIFAS research.
We will continue to provide updates when general enrollment reopens.