Judy Siegel-Itzkovich

Judy Siegel-Itzkovich is the health and science reporter at The Jerusalem Post. She has been writing for the paper since February 1973.

She has published over 31,000 news stories, features and columns as a Post journalist – more than any other journalist in the world. A Master's degree graduate of Columbia University in New York who made aliyah immediately after completing her studies and within weeks joined the paper, she has a strong background in biology but received her BA and MA in political science because she could not bear to kill animals for lab experiments.

She ravenously reads professional medical and science journals. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University – the first Israeli newspaper reporter to do so – in November 2015 and has received numerous awards such as the Hadassah Women’s Organization Women of Distinction Award in the Knesset, Yeshiva University in Israel’s community service award and Tishkofet’s public service award. She is also a fluent English and Hebrew translator and editor in her specialized fields.


ELEVATED EMOTIONAL connection among people who have suffered in which one person’s emotions are felt and understood by another without explicit explanation could increase vulnerability to personal distress.

Hebrew University study discovers hidden mental health risks for youth during war

‘WE WANTED TO explore whether feelings like disappointment or anger toward technology can give way to forgiveness, allowing people to keep using it without resentment’

Can you forgive your computer, smartphone, or app when it breaks down?

A tourist covers her face near Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem as a sand storm hits.

Air pollution: A persistent plague on the lungs of Jerusalemites


Type-2 diabetes raises schizophrenia risk in elderly, especially women, Israeli researchers found

Type-2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, characterized by high blood-sugar levels and associated with damage to blood vessels, the heart, and the nervous system.

PROF. STEPHEN LEVINE, from the University of Haifa.

Treating skin deep wounds: Vital work of plastic surgeons coping with Gaza war victims

The government has said that 20,000 Israelis have been wounded and injured at the hands of enemy terrorists since the heinous incursion of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups on October 7.

‘WE WORK together as a team and must treat not only the patients but also their family members with warmth.’

Jerusalem public spaces lay barren as flowers die and go months without being replaced

In some areas, the colorful annuals have been replaced with pre-made carpets of living grass that need quite a bit of water and regular mowing.

Flower-free at Elie Wiesel Plaza in the Yefe Nof neighborhood in Jerusalem.

HUJI study links October 7 trauma to surge in OCD among Israelis

Nearly 40% of survivors near Gaza show probable OCD, with new compulsive behaviors tied to trauma from the Hamas attacks.

Prof. Eyal Kalanthroff

Can one trust ChatGPT? Hebrew U and Cambridge University mathematicians find out

ChatGPT generates responses by predicting sequences of words learned during its training. Now, a new Israeli study shows that ChatGPT’s unpredictability may limit its reliability in a math classroom.

THE EXPERIMENT, by two education researchers, asked the chatbot to solve a version of Plato’s slave-boy experiment of the ‘doubling the square’ problem.

Israel's latest innovation to fight PTSD: Animated characters and neuromodulation devices

Now, for the first time, the US Food and Drug Administration has cleared a neuromodulation device for treating PTSD.

Prism simulation.

In Israeli first, Galilee Medical Center performs deep brain surgery under hypnosis

At the end of the operation, the neurosurgeon declared that he had never before encountered a patient so calm and at ease during an awake brain surgery.

DR. UDI BONSHTEIN practices hypnosis on a patient

Digital terrorism: Hebrew U study examines hate speech and the wounds of war after Oct. 7

In the chaotic weeks after October 7, social media feeds filled with grim images of violence – and, for many users, a torrent of anti-Israel and antisemitic abuse.

 Social media and digital online concept, man using smart phone.

Invisible war wounds: Taub Center says vital to strengthen support for Jewish, Arab youngsters

To alleviate the unique difficulties of the Arab population, the researchers recommended designing dedicated programs for financial assistance, psychological support, and equality in responses.

CHILDREN USE splashing paint to create art in July at the soccer field in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, where a Hezbollah rocket killed 12 Druze children and wounded 42.

Engineering a new future: Sci-Tech Schools’ new hesder yeshiva

Israel Sci-Tech Schools has inaugurated a new ultra-Orthodox hesder yeshiva – combining military service with religious studies.

Israel Sci-Tech Schools’ Hermelin College in Netanya combines Torah study with academic excellence in practical engineering tracks.