The British Council and the British Embassy Israel, have given the go-ahead to seven, new, three-year bilateral scientific projects in the field of research on ageing. The work will be carried out by top institutions in the UK and Israel. The projects will be awarded nearly £2.8 million in total from BIRAX, a £10 million program to support cutting edge UK-Israeli research. BIRAX Ageing will look at the effects of ageing on human health, and the use of precision medicine and big data in ageing research. It will bring together scientists from the Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, King’s College London, and Queen’s University Belfast. The projects will focus on various aspects of ageing and how it affects diabetes, vascular disease, neuro-degenerative disease such as Multiple Sclerosis, brain imaging, as well as the use of technology for macular disease research. British Ambassador to Israel, Mr Neil Wigan said: “I am excited that seven new projects have been selected for the first call of BIRAX Ageing, the latest phase of our flagship science research program. These cutting-edge research collaborations not only position the UK and Israel at the forefront of ageing research world-wide, but also reaffirm the close connection between British and Israeli academic communities and establishments. Through these meaningful and sustainable collaborations, we can together tackle universal ongoing challenges”. BIRAX was initiated 8 years ago by the British Council, British Embassy in Israel and the UK Science and Innovation Network in collaboration with the Pears Foundation as a founding partner. So far, BIRAX has funded 19 research projects tackling some of the world’s most challenging health conditions and diseases by employing pioneering regenerative medicine and stem cell therapies and using the most advanced and cutting-edge technologies.
