Ramat Gan, Israel – Thursday, 26 January 2023: Vetek (Seniority) Association – the Movement for Longevity and Quality of Life has announced a strategic partnership with UK-based charity Biogerontology Research Foundation (BGRF), as well as the appointment of VETEK chairman Ilia Stambler to the BGRF’s Board of Trustees.
Alongside Stambler’s appointment, the charity has also announced the formation of a formal strategic partnership with Vetek (Seniority) Association – the Movement for Longevity and Quality of Life, for which Ilia currently serves as Chairman. Co-founded by former Israeli Minister for Senior Citizens Rafi Eitan, Vetek (Seniority) Association – the Movement for Longevity and Quality of Life acts for the advancement of healthy longevity for the entire population through scientific research, technological development, medical treatment, public health and educational measures, advocacy and social activism.
Its strategic partnership with the Biogerontology Research Foundation will focus initially on building an effective technological bridge for international Longevity collaboration between the UK and Israel, and will also encompass other aspects of international collaboration across science, policy and industry.
Speaking on the partnership and his new appointment, Ilia Stambler, Ph.D, Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer of Vetek (Seniority) Association – the Movement for Longevity and Quality of Life, commented: “I couldn’t be more delighted to join forces with and work alongside long-standing Longevity investor, philanthropist, technologist and thought leader Dmitry Kaminskiy as a new member of the Biogerontology Research Foundation’s Board of Trustees. As a board member of the International Longevity Alliance (ILA), I was actively involved in the ILA and Biogerontology Research Foundation’s successful joint 2018 initiative to add a new World Health Organization-approved extension code (XT9T) for ‘ageing-related’ during ICD-11, and know first-hand the first-rate work they do. Having known Dmitry for nearly 10 years, I have seen his capacity to turn vision into practical action for the acceleration and stabilisation of Longevity Industrialization many times, and can’t wait to see that same energy applied to the main objectives of VETEK (Seniority) Association’s newly-announced strategic partnership with the Biogerontology Research Foundation, and vice versa. In particular, our joint publication of the analytical report ‘Longevity Industry in Israel’ in 2019 increased the awareness about Israel’s strong capabilities in the longevity space and provided further encouragement for these capabilities. Together, we will create more projects like this.
One early fruit of their collaboration will be the Biogerontology Research Foundation’s support of VETEK’s upcoming Longevity Nation conference at Bar Ilan University, Israel, on 26-27 March 2023, where BGRF Managing Trustee Dmitry Kaminskiy will speak. By bringing together leading voices in the Longevity space and public figures, the Longevity Nation conference will strongly contribute to increasing the synergy of science, technology, and the ageing society and help advance ethical, scientific, and technological solutions for healthy Longevity for the benefit of the entire society. Building on Israel’s strengths in this area, this conference will help build in Israel the supportive Longevity ecosystem, boost the prominence of the field, and enhance Israel’s international standing and cooperation in the Global Longevity Industry. It will help build up Longevity R&D and education support programmes for stakeholders in Israel and international collaborators.
VETEK has organised or co-organised several national and international conferences on biomedical ageing and Longevity research in Israel, such as the conference in Bar Ilan University in 2017, co-sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology, and the conference in Weizmann Institute of Science in 2019, co-sponsored by the US NIH National Institute on Aging. VETEK organised several competitions for research students in the field of ageing research, with dozens of applications from all the universities in Israel. It has produced continuous educational meetings and publications in scientific literature, popular press, and social media.
The partnership between the Biogerontology Research Foundation and VETEK will create new, exciting opportunities to extend its existing mandates of supporting a higher degree of cross-sector, cross-border international collaboration for the extension of population-level healthy longevity for the mutual benefit of citizens and national economies. The charity plans to work with them to support and intensify VETEK’s existing involvement with BIRAX Ageing (Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership on Ageing), the multimillion-pound initiative of the British Council and the British Embassy for exploring possible applications of regenerative medicine to ageing in order to deliver on the BGRF mandate of creating a technological and industrial triangle between the UK, Israel, and Switzerland.
Speaking on the partnership and new appointment, Biogerontology Research Foundation Managing Trustee Dmitry Kaminskiy said “It is my great pleasure to welcome Ilia Stambler, who I have known for almost a decade as one of the most active community builders and conveyors of international collaboration across science, industry, technology and policy in the entire Longevity ecosystem, as a new member of the Biogerontology Research Foundation Board of Trustees. I am sure that he, alongside the exciting plans we’ve discussed as part of the charity’s strategic partnership with VETEK (Seniority) Association, will go a long way in extending the foundation’s long-standing mandate to promote and support the accelerated delivery of Longevity Industrialization’s major social dividends for the mutual benefit of citizens and national economies.”
About the Biogerontology Research Foundation
The Biogerontology Research Foundation is the UK’s leading charity focused on Longevity, supporting ageing research, and multiple initiatives relating to advancing Healthy Longevity and expediting the coming paradigm shift from disease treatment to personalised precision prevention. It was actively involved in the successful initiative of adding a new extension code for “ageing-related diseases” (XT9T) accepted in 2018 by the World Health Organization during the last revisions of its International Classification of Diseases framework.
About VETEK (Seniority) Association – the Movement for Longevity and Quality of Life
The main aim of VETEK (Seniority) Association – the Movement for Longevity and Quality of Life is to act for the advancement of healthy longevity for the entire population through scientific research, technological development, medical treatment, public health and educational measures, advocacy and social activism. In order to help address the ageing-related health challenges, the Vetek Association is uniquely poised to advance biomedical ageing and longevity research in Israel. It is advised by leading Israeli and international scientists in diverse fields of biomedical ageing and longevity R&D. Since its foundation by Rafi Eitan, it has been supported by noted public figures and advocates, strategically situated and connected in the Israeli and international scientific and civic establishment. Vetek association has been at the forefront of public advocacy for healthy longevity research, development and education. It has been instrumental for including the subject of “Enhancing research, development and education for healthy longevity and prevention of ageing-related diseases” as a part of the Israel National Masterplan on Aging report, published by Knesset in 2019, created numerous educational materials, and organised national and international public and academic events for the advancement of the longevity field in Israel and internationally.
