Bio-Innovation Agreement to Strengthen Ties between Canada and Israel

A recently signed agreement aims at encouraging academic and entrepreneurial ties in the field of bio-innovation between a Canadian and an Israeli university.

The agreement will establish a strong relationship between the University of Toronto (Canada) – in the form of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering – and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) – in the form of the Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering.

The agreement, which is called the Jerusalem-Toronto Bio-Innovation Partnership, will strengthen the exchange of students, faculty, and ideas between the academic and entrepreneurial environments of the two universities. In addition, it will provide financial support for students in engineering, biology, and computer science to conduct research in the partner country over a 12-week period.

An intensive eight-week educational program – the Transdisciplinary Innovation Program – that weaves together computer vision, big data, and bioengineering will also be offered to students from the University of Toronto, enabling interaction with Nobel laureates, work under the mentorship of Israeli scientists and entrepreneurs, and the opportunity for students to pitch ideas to investors.

Faculty and student groups will travel between the two countries to advance the collaboration, and a joint BioDesign program will bring together engineers, clinicians, and business and engineering students to share and create knowledge with tangible impact.

Dr. Meric Gertler, president of the University of Toronto, said, “The forthcoming projects with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem are important to the University of Toronto. They underscore a commitment on the part of both universities to harness the power of Israel’s and Canada’s brightest minds to find solutions to the world's pressing social and medical problems. They will provide exciting opportunities in the near-term and, I believe, stand to have meaningful long-run impact by virtue of the skills investment and advances they entail.”

Dr. Menahem Ben-Sasson, president of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said, “The Hebrew University is very pleased to expand its partnership with the University of Toronto. This agreement will bring about new exchanges of people and ideas between two of the world’s leading centers of research and academia. Furthermore it will drive cooperation in medical, social and entrepreneurial studies and research that will benefit Canada, Israel and the entire world.”

Related Links:
University of Toronto
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem