Embassador Matthew Gould
Over 200 young leaders of science and innovation from various fields of research and applied sciences attended a spring reception at the British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould’s Residence, including President of Ben Gurion University and co-chair of the Life Sciences Council Prof. Rivka Carmi, UJIA director Natie Shevel MBE and science philanthropist Morris Kahn.
The event, sponsored by APAX Partners, brought together up and coming leading figures from top Israeli academic institutions and the world of science for a networking event. The event, part of the Embassy’s GREAT campaign in Israel, showcased UK science and innovation. Ambassador Gould explained: “It occurred to me since I’ve been here, ever more strongly, that both countries are both scientific superpowers. We both have disproportionate number of top universities, top laboratories, Nobel Prize winning scientists; we should be working incredibly closely together.
There is a huge unfulfilled potential for collaboration, and this is why we set up the Life Sciences Council, why we set up the regenerative medicine initiative under BIRAX, to really try and give scientific collaboration a push. Collaboration between the UK and Israel will not only do wonders for science but wonders for the whole world and I can’t think of a better foundation for the relations between UK and Israel than a really strong partnership in science."
The Residence turned into a traditional British pub for the evening, and guests could enjoy pints of bitter from the all-oak bar, and play snooker, pool, and darts in between discussing the latest breakthroughs in cancer research.Further informationBIRAX is Regenerative Medicine Initiative, a five-year programme that aims to raise £10 million and will give generous support to 15 joint high quality UK-Israel research projects. The UK-Israel Life Sciences Council – a group of 19 top scientists from both countries, decided that the BIRAX programme should focus on the area of regenerative medicine. This senior group of scientists includes four Nobel prize winners, three members of the House of Lords, presidents of universities, and some of the most distinguished scientists in the world.
