Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver announced the Canada-Israel Health Research Program. Photo: Twitter.

JNS.org – Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver announced that his country is teaming up with Israel on the new Canada-Israel Health Research Program, a seven-year program expected to cost $35 million that will fund as many as 30 joint research projects in biomedicine. The initiative will start with a focus on neuroscience.

The program is a partnership between Israel’s Azrieli Foundation, Canada’s International Development Research Centre, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Israel Science Foundation. Projects funded by the program will include collaborations among trainee researchers from middle-income and low-income countries in order to promote those nations’ scientific capacity.

“Canada and Israel are renowned for excellence in health research, particularly in the neurosciences,” Oliver said, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. “The Canada-Israel Health Research Program harnesses the collective energies of our two great nations to pursue basic biomedical research aimed at improving health outcomes for Canadians, Israelis, and people throughout the world. I am pleased to note that researchers in developing countries will have an opportunity to contribute to these research endeavors as well.”

Oliver’s announcement, made on behalf of Canadian Health Minister Rona Ambrose, was joined by Israeli Ambassador to Canada Rafael Barak; Dr. Naomi Azrieli, chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation; Dr. Jean Lebel, president of Canada’s International Development Research Centre; and Dr. Alain Beaudet, president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.