The Jewish University of Colorado opens a new faculty: medical research

With a low-key ceremony, the Jewish University of Colorado (JUC) celebrated the opening of its third faculty: Ecclesiastical Medical Research, specialized in rare, mostly genetic, diseases that are common among Jews. As a Messianic Jewish institution, JUC has a special interest to do research, mostly with a social medical focus, led by Professor Georg Schuster, M.D., Ph.D. together with other professors, lecturers and researchers. The faculty relies on competence rather than local politics. Thus, the professors and other staff were recruited from around the world, for their competence and their attachment to Messianic Judaism.

Most importantly human geneticists who also take into account the spiritual and psychosocial dimension of this issue and who also understand halacha are rarely found but needed. For instance, Mediterranean fever is particularly common among people from Asia Minor and the Christian peoples of the Caucasus. Among Jews, Tay-Sachs syndrome is widespread, a disease with terrible consequences, affecting children and causing severe emotional and spiritual distress to families. For almost always the affected children die of their Tay-Sachs. To this day, there is no cure for the disease. Doctors can only alleviate the symptoms.

So it makes sense to have the risk checked before having children. But is this morally right, and at what point does social pressure dominate over ethics derived from one's own faith? From a technical point of view, a lot is possible today in the field of diagnostics. Blood samples can be used to determine how probable hereditary diseases are. But should one do everything that is technically feasible?

The Tay-Sachs risk is particularly high among Orthodox Jewish New Yorkers: around 18.5% are carriers. If both are carriers, Orthodox rabbis often advise against marriage. This is because marriage without children is not an option in Orthodoxy - but is faith allowed to interfere so much in medical decisions? Pre-birth genetic diagnostics is becoming more common, but research into therapies is lagging behind. From now on, the Jewish University of Colorado will work on these problem areas in cooperation with medical schools.

What is more, the ethical questions of the various Jewish movements are clearly different. In this context, the messianic conception of life plays a major role. For the Messianics, the embryo is already a human being immediately after fertilization. According to the Talmud, on the other hand, it is "mere water" - until the 40th day after fertilization. The task here is to "pragmatically increase medical knowledge with a lot of mutual understanding," says Professor Schuster, who heads a team of two other professors and a dozen researchers and lecturers. " We will do both: keep medicine and faith in mind at the same time."

The new faculty will not treat patients or provide medical advice itself as it is solely focussed on research. However, it gladly informs families affected with hereditary conditions where they might find a center of clinical competence.

Press Secretary: Roman Strelkov

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The Jewish University or Colorado (JUC) is the only Messianic Jewish university worldwide. It has been run by the Messianic Jewish Fellowship International for many years, however, it has started to become visible for the public only after a new communication concept and worldwide tuition free tele-learning were introduced. The Jewish University of Colorado is tuition free and accepts students both, locally as well as for its online study courses.