Her focus was on the medical development, and not on her career.
(translation from here)
The Medication called COPAXONE has a respected status in any list of medical inventions.
The medication developed by a team leading a breakthrough in the fight against Multiple-Sclerosis. Dr. Dvora Teitelbaum, was a significant member of that team.
The medication has a slow down effect on the progression of disease; the medication became a world-wide success.
Dr. Teitelbaum was not in the spotlight of this project. Merit and honor was granted to the group of scientist she was a part of.
Dvora, born in Israel in 1941, spent her life keen to study and research in the field of biology. She started delving into the wonders of science in her youth. She studied in Tel Aviv University and graduated in 1966. Dvora qualified for her Doctorate degree in the famous Israeli Weismann Institute where she spent most of her professional life. Dvora was a part of a team of researchers, looking for solutions, researching the field of autoimmune disorders in MS.
Dvora was in charge of testing some of the assumptions working in scientific lab-based experiments. The initial results have shown some promising prospects to turn the substance into the medication that later on was named COPAXONE. Legal and intellectual rights were registered on the invention. Over articles and conversations with the team, you can hear a clear confession of the crucial contribution of Dvora, it was “her project,” so to speak.
Sagit goes on with the life story of Dvora who, for family reasons, declined invitations to work abroad in first- line institutions, what would be swiftly taken by any other researcher.
Dvora stayed in the Weizmann Institute and continued to develop and work on her project. She became an advisor to TEVA, the pharmaceutical company who bought the rights for COPAXONE.
Dvora worked on her project until 2008, until her last days, when we all lost her to cancer.
Sagit and Shay have created a foundation dedicated to collaboration between the Weizmann Institute and hospitals conducting research projects.
Dvora was a lady with many virtues. She was clever, kind and modest. She was a scientist in her heart, but shied away from any publicity. Dinners or a trip abroad were planned as a scientific project, said Sagit. Her mellow way brought her glory and attention that not many others could achieve.