The UK-Israel Science Days, organised by the British Council and the British Embassy Israel, took place on 21-23rd March 2023.
Bringing together partners from academia, philanthropy and government, the events and activities organised served to facilitate collaborations and foster innovation.
The events took place around the British national Science Week, and included a special Workshop for the BIRAX Grantees to present their latest findings, as well as network with their peers working across the UK and Israel.
The workshop was held at the Wellcome Collection on Euston Road, London. Steeped in scientific history, it served as the perfect space to host dignitaries, partners and academics at the BIRAX Grantees’ Workshop which took place in conjunction with a Workshop for Partners.
The roster of scientists presented their latest insights and breakthroughs across ageing research, from age-related macular degeneration, to type 1 diabetes and beyond.
Bruno Peault of the University of Edinburgh shared an update on his group’s work on mesenchymal stem cells. Lynne Cox of the University of Oxford talked about the age-related damage seen in adults with type 1 diabetes. Tunde Peto of Queen’s University Belfast shared her updates on age-related macular degeneration. Riham Smoom of Hebrew University shared her results on breeding mice with artificially shortened telomeres.
The BIRAX Grantees’ Workshop was attended by Biogerontology Research Foundation Head of Academic Outreach, Arian Mirzarafie Ahi.
“I really enjoyed the talks by BIRAX grantees. It’s rare to hear from such a densely packed roster of experts on world-leading science. I found particularly fascinating Bruno’s results on generating new muscle cells in damaged tissue, and Riham’s work on mice with extra-short telomeres (for a mouse!),” Arian reflected.
Vetek are Conference Partners of the Biogerontology Research Foundation, with Ilia Stambler serving as Trustee of the BGRF in light of the recent VETEK and BGRF partnership. The Longevity Nation conference was held in Israel. This will create new, exciting opportunities to extend its existing mandates of supporting a higher degree of cross-sector, cross-border international collaboration for the extension of population-level healthy longevity for the mutual benefit of citizens and national economies.
The BGRF plans to work together to support and intensify Vetek’s existing involvement with BIRAX Ageing (Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership on Ageing), the multimillion-pound initiative of the British Council and the British Embassy Israel for exploring possible applications of regenerative medicine to ageing in order to deliver on the BGRF mandate of creating a technological and industrial relationship between the UK and Israel.
We look forward to continuing our global partnerships and outreach, as the world of biogerontology advances. The jelly babies inspired artwork above, found in the Wellcome Collection, was commissioned when cloning was discovered. It prompted the viewer to consider the implications of human cloning.
It is within this space of innovation, inquiry and academic excellence that we hope to move forward, forming successful and thriving partnerships with brilliant minds and visionary leaders.
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