Ram Reifen

Ram Reifen (Hebrew: רם רייפן; born April 26, 1954) is an Israeli Academic scholar, a pediatric gastroenterologist, a professor of Human Nutrition, at The Robert H Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Reifen is also a frequent member of nutrition forums of the World Health Organization and a member of the United European Gastroenterology Organization. Furthermore, Reifen is the inventor and founder of ChickP Protein, a food-tech startup for generating pure protein from Chickpeas.

Biography
Reifen was born and raised in Rehovot, Israel, to Chana and Yaakov Reifen. Reifen received his MD in 1982 and was certified as a pediatrician in 1989. In 1994, Reifen received a Board Certification in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition from the Israel Medical Association.

In 1994, Reifen joined as a lecturer at the School of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem at Rehovot. He continued his academic career there until receiving a full professor status in 2012.

In 2005, Reifen Founded and served as an Academic Director of the M.Sc. Nutritional Sciences Program for international students. Since 2014, Reifen has been the Director of the Research Centre for Nutrigenomics and Functional Foods at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

International Activity
Reifen is a member of national and international committees on nutrition and food-related subjects, as well as a member of World Health Organization and European Union committees. In 1997-2001 Reifen was a member of a subcommittee on nutrition and colon cancer of the World Health Organization. In 2008, Reifen was a member of an expert committee on Magnesium in Water at the World Health Organization.

Notable Studies
Reifen conducted research in developing countries around the world. In his observations, Reifen discovered that children in those societies suffer from severe Vitamin A deficiency. Due to Reifen and several other researchers’ findings, the World Health Organization has recommended the administration of drops of vitamin A to pregnant women in the developing world and to the baby immediately following birth.

ChickP
After conducting a 15-year research on chickpeas, Reifen developed a process for extracting the chickpea protein. This process became a registered patent belonging to Reifen and the Hebrew University and a business venture that later developed into ChickP Protein Ltd, a company managed by Reifen. ChickP Protein Ltd is currently marketing an Isolate protein powder used in many commercial planet-based products replacement for Meat, cheese, fish and eggs.

Personal life
Reifen is married to Dr. Ella Reifen, a head and neck surgeon. They have two children, Ruth and Chanan.