June 25, 2026 – Prof. Lior Gepstein, Director of the Division of Cardiology and the Division of Research at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) in Haifa, Israel, has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant—one of the European Union’s most competitive and distinguished research funding awards.

In addition to his leadership roles at Rambam, Gepstein is a senior faculty member at the Technion’s Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. This marks the fourth ERC grant he has received in recent years, underscoring his continued leadership in cardiovascular research.

The €3.375 million grant, which includes funding for research and advanced equipment, will support Gepstein’s development of a novel approach to understanding and treating cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias—serious conditions that remain a leading cause of illness and death worldwide.

His research combines advanced three-dimensional models of human cardiac tissue that replicate the unique characteristics of individual patients with innovative optogenetic technologies to better understand, prevent, and treat cardiac arrhythmias. The project has the potential to transform the field by advancing personalized approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of these life-threatening disorders.

Professor Gepstein is one of only seven researchers in Israel to receive an ERC Advanced Grant this year. Their pioneering projects cover diverse fields, including type 1 diabetes, brain development, RNA biology, and more.

Rambam is immensely proud of this outstanding achievement and of the international recognition it brings to the hospital’s commitment to excellence in clinical research and innovation.

Based on an original Hebrew language article that first appeared on ynet.