A newly established program will foster world-class Canada-Israel collaborations in brain research

Brain Canada, Weizmann Canada and the Weizmann Institute of Science are pleased to announce their new partnership to leverage strengths and foster international collaboration between researchers in Canada and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

The Brain Canada & Weizmann Institute of Science Team Grants will support hypothesis-driven research that will advance our understanding of the brain and brain disorders.

“By merging our expertise, resources, and scientific passion, this program will expand the frontiers of knowledge and drive ground-breaking discoveries in neuroscience.” – Dr. Viviane Poupon

“Our partnership with Weizmann Canada and the prestigious Weizmann Institute of Science on this research funding program is an exceptional opportunity to unlock the true power of collaboration and deepen our understanding of the brain, the most intricate organ in the human body,” says Dr. Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada. “By merging our expertise, resources, and scientific passion, this program will expand the frontiers of knowledge and drive ground-breaking discoveries in neuroscience.”

This program encourages Open Science through the free and open sharing of scientific information. Brain Canada and the Weizmann Institute of Science are committed to pushing the boundaries of brain research for the benefit of all people in an era when neuroscience is critical to human health.

In recent years, scientists around the globe, including at the World Economic Forum, have been vocal about the fact that COVID-19 amplified the importance of global scientific collaboration, which is vital to advance science for the future of humanity. Targeting key issues of our time ― including brain health ― Canadian researchers also recognize the competitive advantage of global collaboration, being twice as likely than the world average to collaborate with international scholars.

The Weizmann Institute of Science maintains ninth place on the prestigious Leiden Ranking for research quality.

The Weizmann Institute partners with the world’s best, and it is within that spirit that the collaboration with Brain Canada was born, and the Brain Canada & Weizmann Institute of Science Team Grants program was created.

As a leading national convenor and enabler of innovative and bold neuroscience, Brain Canada works with strategic funding partners with interests across the entire range of brain research. Brain Canada brings together more than 100 partners to invest in big, bold ideas to help us better understand how to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure brain diseases, disorders, injuries, mental illnesses, and addictions.

This collaboration encourages innovative, unorthodox, and exploratory research that may be in the early and conceptual stages of project development but has potential for significant impact on our understanding of the brain. The research topic will focus on hypothesis-driven inquiries on the brain and nervous system, and may span the range of basic, translational, and clinical approaches.

“COVID-19 amplified the importance of global scientific collaboration, which is vital to advance science for the future of humanity.”

“We are incredibly grateful to our funding partners for enabling such a pioneering global initiative, to advance what we know about the brain,” added Susan Stern, CEO of Weizmann Canada. “We are also so very excited to continue to build on the breadth of vital collaborations ― between the Weizmann Institute of Science and leading researchers in Canada ― whose collective curiosity offers a powerful approach to tackle one of the most complex systems known to humankind.”

“Over the decades, our Canadian friends and colleagues have been steadfast in their support and collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science,” said Prof. Alon Chen, President of the Weizmann Institute, who is a neuroscientist. “There is so much more to explore and reveal when it comes to brain science, and many challenges yet to be solved. We are proud to be tackling this subject by unleashing ingenuity through stronger alliances with Canadian scientific expertise with the launch of this program.”

“Brain Canada brings together more than 100 partners to invest in big, bold ideas to help us better understand how to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure brain diseases, disorders, injuries, mental illnesses, and addictions.”

The Brain Canada & Weizmann Institute of Science Team Grants program has an overall pilot funding envelope of $1,500,000 CAD to support up to three team grants of $500,000 each over two years. The pilot will lead to the next phase of development for the program, which will be modified to meet evolving global research needs.

Weizmann Canada and Brain Canada also gratefully acknowledge the visionary support of Dr. Daniel C. Andreae and the Larry and Judy Tanenbaum Family Foundation in making this pilot program a reality. Larry Tanenbaum is Vice-Chair at Brain Canada and Founder of the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute (TOSI) at the Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital).

This program is made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada, and Weizmann Canada.

www.braincanada.ca