BIRAX Grants NIS 25M for Stem Cell Research

The British Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership (Birax) will grant NIS 25 million over five years for seven joint Israel-UK stem cell research programs, according to a report in Globes.

Under Birax, joint projects have already been established by Cambridge University, Oxford University, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Nottingham in the UK and the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The projects are in multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and type 1 diabetes, as well as basic research on ways to prevent the immune system from attacking stem cells.

The grants will be financed by the Israeli and UK governments, and Britain’s Pears Foundation, Britain’s Bonita Trust, the Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust, the Rosetrees Trust, Lord Fink, the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), the Rothschild family’s Yad Hanadiv, Morris Kahn’s Aurum Ventures MKI Ltd.