World news story

UK and Israel ties boosted by new medical research funding

拢3.2 million of funding for eight joint medical research projects by British and Israeli scientists were announced today.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
BIRAX

In each project, UK and Israeli research institutions will work together on new three-year bilateral projects that use stem cells. 皇冠体育app projects aim to develop therapies for diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson鈥檚 disease, liver disease, and Multiple Sclerosis.

皇冠体育app new researches are the latest additions to BIRAX (Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange) programme, a 拢10 million joint initiative of the British Embassy and the British Council in Israel. 皇冠体育app programme invests in world-leading research jointly undertaken by scientists in Britain and Israel.

皇冠体育app Rt Hon David Cameron MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom said: 鈥溁使谔逵齛pp United Kingdom is proud to be Israel鈥檚 partner in science. In so many areas our scientists are working together and engaged in some of the most significant projects of our age. This programme is about our world-class scientists and foundations collaborating to tackle some of the most challenging health conditions facing the world today, from heart disease to Parkinson鈥檚 and diabetes. 皇冠体育appir research has the potential to change the lives of hundreds of millions of people.鈥�

Matthew Gould, British Ambassador to Israel, said: 鈥淪cience is right at the heart of the UK-Israel relationship. Top British and Israeli scientists are already collaborating to develop cures to some of the most awful diseases. I am delighted that so many medical research powerhouses have now given their support to this collaboration. 皇冠体育app new projects we are announcing today have the potential make a real difference to the lives of people who suffer from diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson鈥檚 disease.鈥�

Alan Gemmell, Director of the British Council in Israel, said: 鈥淏IRAX combines the best of what Britain and Israel can offer the world; world-class scientists working together to improve the lives of millions of people. When the UK鈥檚 education and research sectors engage with Israel, the benefits go beyond our two countries and can be truly universal鈥�

Professor Raymond Dwek, Director of Glycobiology Institute at Oxford University and Chair of the UK-Israel Science Council, said: 鈥淓very now and then a technology breakthrough in science holds promise for dramatic progress in disease therapy and cures. 皇冠体育app BIRAX initiative which is supported by leading scientists in the UK has focussed on stem cell therapies with this goal and acknowledges that the UK science base is complemented by the outstanding work in this area in Israel. This combination offers real hope of substantial progress in many disease areas.

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp quality of the scientists involved and the different areas of medicine which could benefit as a result of their research will be for the benefit everyone - something that a global university like Oxford supports strongly鈥�, Prof Dwek added.

Funding will be awarded to eleven leading universities in Britain and Israel where the researches will take place: Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, and Oxford, and Hadassah 鈥� Hebrew University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, MIGAL 鈥� Galilee Research Institute, Technion -Israel Institute of Technology and the Weizmann Institute.

For the first time, four leading medical research charities are working together to fund world-class science between Britain and Israel that investigates globally challenging conditions and diseases.

皇冠体育app British Heart Foundation, type 1 diabetes charity JDRF, the MS Society and Parkinson鈥檚 UK are the major contributors to a 拢3.2 million new research programme for leading universities across Britain and Israel.

Updates to this page

Published 11 February 2015