UK-Israel partnership to advance innovative research on aging

AJN Agency. – Israel and the United Kingdom will work on research on aging and promote joint projects related to it. As part of this collaboration, on November 3-4, Tel Aviv University held a mixed conference on interdisciplinary aspects of aging research, including: molecular aging, social aging, disease, age-dependent interventions, quality of life, etc.

Participants in the conference included the British Ambassador to Israel, Neil Wigan OBE, the President of the British Council, Stevie Spring, and Lord Robert Winston of Hammersmith, along with prominent researchers from Israeli and British universities.

The conference was part of a joint initiative between Britain and Israel for Research and Academic Exchange (BIRAX), Tel Aviv University, the British Council in Israel, and the UK Embassy.

In addition, as part of the conference, a new grant program of 1.6 million pounds (7 million shekels) was launched to fund collaboration between Israeli and British researchers in the field of aging research. The call for proposals is now open. It’s the fifth BIRAX conference since its launch 10 years ago.

Sharing our knowledge face to face says Professor Karen Avraham, Vice Dean for Preclinical Affairs at the Sackler School of Medicine and Chair of the TAU Conference. The pandemic has revealed that aging can be both precarious and disabling, and I hope the issues of aging and the elderly will gain greater public awareness. In a world where our lives are getting longer, we must ensure that quality of life is preserved in old age as well, and we are here to discuss this. Israel and the United Kingdom, as two progressive Western countries, share knowledge in many fields, and gerontology is one of the most important of these. Today’s conference portends cooperation between Israel and other progressive Western countries on these issues, and I believe we will see more such conferences in the future.

British Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan said: “Scientific collaboration between the UK and Israel is one of our most important areas, and we are working to expand it significantly in the future. It is always exciting to see innovative research proposals emerging from BIRAX – in aging research and other academic fields – that have potential. real impact on the future of all of us.

Stevie Spring, President of the British Council, said: “For a decade of its existence, BIRAX has strengthened scientific collaboration between the UK and Israel, allowing both countries to complement their strengths in research, science and medicine. The British Council is proud to have enabled the two countries to join forces to tackle one of the world’s greatest challenges. : healthy aging.