Technion President’s Award for Exceptional Achievement Awarded to Prof. Yair Goldberg from the Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences

Prof. Yair Goldberg, a faculty member in the Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences, received the Technion President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement this week for his tremendous contribution to human health, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was awarded the honor for his thorough work and its impact on human health in Israel and worldwide.

“The President’s Award is given for outstanding achievements that have a significant impact on society,” said Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan at the event that opened the session of the Technion Board of Governors. “Prof. Goldberg is a very humble researcher, but his work during the pandemic largely dictated how Israel, and the entire world, managed the pandemic. Prof. Goldberg, a statistician, showed us all that theoretical statistics can bring about significant change in the world.”

Prof. Yair Goldberg, a biostatistician with extensive knowledge of statistical theories and applied research in human health, leads an interdisciplinary research group at the Technion. This group harnesses statistical methods and computational learning to solve theoretical and applied problems. During the COVID-19 period, he played a crucial role as a leading statistician who helped decision-makers at the Ministry of Health manage the pandemic response. He conducted joint research with leading experts and decision-makers, including Prof. Nachman Ash, who was the national overseer in the fight against the coronavirus, and Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of Public Health Services at the Israeli Ministry of Health. The findings from these studies led, among other things, to understanding the decline in vaccine efficacy over time and to the decision to allocate booster shots to the elderly population. These findings were presented to the FDA and formed the basis for the organization’s decision to promote booster shots, which significantly reduced morbidity and mortality during the Delta wave.